The Power of Language Quotes

“Multilingual experience not only changes brain structures involved in language processing but also alters the connectivity among brain areas and structures that are not specific to language, and changes performance even when no language is involved.”
― Viorica Marian, The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds

“Here is an example of how English has changed over the course of just one thousand years, using the 23rd Psalm: Modern Expanded Bible (2011) The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in green pastures. He leads me to calm water. King James Bible (1611) The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. Middle English (1100 to 1500) Our Lord gouerneth me and nothyng shall defailen to me. In the sted of pastur he sett me ther. He norissed me upon water of fyllyng. Old English (800 to 1066) Drihten me raet ne byth me nanes godes wan. And he me geset on swythe good feohland. And fedde me be waetera stathum.”
― Viorica Marian, The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds

“A review of the literature on creativity and bilingualism found that twenty out of twenty-four studies on this topic reported that bilinguals performed better than monolinguals on various creativity tasks”
― Viorica Marian, The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds

“intercultural dating improved performance on standard creativity measures, including coming up with multiple possible solutions and bringing together different ideas to arrive at a single solution. The longer the duration of past intercultural romantic relationships, the higher the ability of current employees to generate creative names for marketing products. The higher the frequency of contact with foreign friends, the higher the performance on creative outcomes like entrepreneurship and workplace innovation. Even the creativity of the fashion lines at major fashion houses is related to the amount of time fashion designers spend immersed in a different culture.”
― Viorica Marian, The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds