Is learning a language brainwashing?

[Husseinisdoingfine]

Is learning a language brainwashing myself in a culture? I'm actively teaching myself Arabic as I am half Lebanese (half-Lebanese, half-Russian), and I want to be able to communicate with my relatives in Lebanon. I also want to visit Lebanon, and know for once what Lebanon is, and who are these people for whom I'm genetically related to. Am I going to be brainwashing myself with Arab culture? 

I ask this because the goal of spirituality is to expand our sense of selves. Higher conscious people (SDi is a good example of this) have greater senses of identity which encompass more of the universe as they become more conscious. Will this be lowering my sense of self? 

When I was a young child, I was sent to a Russian language school every Saturday, which was primarily focused on language and culture, to what extent was this brainwashing? 

Edited June 19 by Husseinisdoingfine
grammar issues and typos

[integral]

Learning a language is not about adopting a belief system. Learning something new doesn’t mean you suddenly believe it blindly there’s still some discernment between your models of the world around you. While learning the language you’re going to learn about the culture and you’ll be able to compare different cultures to each other with more detail than you did before.

that being said language does affect the thinking process and you could go deeper into that to explore how it shapes Our worldview.

but if you’re really worried don’t worry you’re already fully brainwashed at multiple levels in every direction and every dimension lol

Edited June 19 by integral

[UnbornTao]

In any case, learning a new language helps you create a contrast to help you see that how your culture thinks isn't set in stone. It can bring new ways of thinking and provide new words that describe experiences that may be inaccessible on your native language. So learning a new one is generally positive.

Edited June 23 by UnbornTao

[Yimpa]

Create your own language. That would be a breakthrough! 

[Leo Gura]

It is, but that's the least of your problems.

Language is an enabling platform, like an operating system. It lets you do a lot of advanced stuff but at the cost of some limits and biases.

Edited June 19 by Leo Gura

[Nemra]

@Husseinisdoingfine

Imagine if you didn't know English. What could have been different?

Brainwashing is somewhat necessary at the beginning.

[Davino]

1 hour ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Is learning a language brainwashing myself in a culture? I'm actively teaching myself Arabic as I am half Lebanese (half-Lebanese, half-Russian), and I want to be able to communicate with my relatives in Lebanon. I also want to visit Lebanon, and know for once what Lebanon is, and who are these people for whom I'm genetically related to. Am I going to be brainwashing myself with Arab culture? 

You are already brainwashed by Russian culture. There is no way arround social brainwashing for the first solid 16 years of your life.

If anything, getting in contact with other culture reflects your own cultural brainwashing as well as the brainwashing from the new culture. Language is an extremely deep topic and the way it interconnects with sociology and what I call "the tribe personality of a nation" is fascinating.

1 hour ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

I ask this because the goal of spirituality is to expand our sense of selves. Higher conscious people (SDi is a good example of this) have greater senses of identity which encompass more of the universe as they become more conscious. Will this be lowering my sense of self? 

Exactly the opposite. You will learn different ways of thinking, behaving and looking at the world. Each language is an emergent phenomenon of a group of people. I'm not pulling this out of my ass but from actual experience. I'm fluent in 5 languages and I've had the luck to study and live in different countries as I was growing up. Few things have been so life transforming as learning languages and getting to know different cultures. It's really rewarding, I encourage you to keep learning Arab and getting to know the culture. It's actually very beautiful when you really immerse yourself in it as an insider and not as a tourist. Luckily you have family and that's a great motivation for learning Arabic!

1 hour ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

When I was a young child, I was sent to a Russian language school every Saturday, which was primarily focused on language and culture, to what extent was this brainwashing? 

To the extent to which you are not able to contrast it by exposure to another culture. We are fish in water in our mother tongue and culture (till we get outside of it and cognise the world through a radically new language and culture) we cannot see in what ways we have been brainwashed. By this process you will become mature and more intelligent, new brain connections are made and actually new insights flourish as each language presents a unique thought corrent and words that are exclusive to it.

If a word doesn't exist in your language, there is no way for you to point to that aspect of reality. I actually struggle a lot with this as I want to communciate concepts that are from other languages through a system that didn't emerge with that need of communication. 

[Lila9]

Language is not completely separate from culture because it has been developed within a culture.

Understanding the culture helps to better understand the language.

I have read that speaking different languages allows us to express different aspects of our personality. I do feel like another person when I speak in different languages.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

Is it recommended that I join culture clubs at my local University?

It is a good way to socialize, but, again, the concern of brainwashing myself into a culture.

[gambler]

aren't you already "brainwashed" in a culture? more specifically, western culture? 

anyways i've seen many polyglots and even befriended a right-wing jewish linguist who is fluent in arabic, and learning the language at a native level did not "brainwash" them. and yes, to learn the language and maintain their fluency they always stay immersed in the societal/political world of the middle east, and around arabs, and therefore are immersed in its culture. again, not a single one of them "brainwashed" themselves by immersing themselves in it. as for the conservative jew, he is still vehemently anti-arab, despite being around them, befriending, socializing, listening to our music, etc. 

Edited June 20 by gambler

[shree]

I speak Croatian, German and English. Each of them is very different, and I notice that Everytime when I speak another language I slightly change my personality and tone of voice. But I don't think there is much more to it than that.

[shree]

On 19/06/2024 at 11:05 PM, Leo Gura said:

Language is an enabling platform, like an operating system. It lets you do a lot of advanced stuff but at the cost of some limits and biases.

If you don't speak English you are running on a Symbian in 2024.

[Carl-Richard]

Life is brainwashing. Rinse it well.