Hi, I'm Janelle, and you're listening to The Moment at Clicked. Join me as I dive into the minds of fellow multi-linguals to uncover the myth of the click. Is it real? Do others experience it too? Let's find out. Today I'm here with Ashley, English language trainer and communication coach for athletes and sports professionals. You can find her on Instagram at Breakaway English and also check out her podcast, Accents in Sports, on your favourite streaming service. The links are in the description. So, Ashley, do you think it's possible to be the same person in two or more languages? Yes, I definitely think it's possible to be the same person and have similar personalities in both languages, but I also think that in each language you develop characteristics that maybe are related to the cultural part of that language. So, for example, in English, I find that I'm a little bit more even keeled, I'm a lot more calm. I take things a little bit more with a grain of salt, you know, I don't get so sensitive about things, but because I live in Spain, most of my life is in Spanish. I've lived here for 20 years. I've adapted some of those, or I've kind of adapted or taken on, I've taken on some of those characteristics of the Spanish culture. So, I'm a little bit more reactive, and I think it's all in the effort to blend in. So, even though I speak the language, there are parts that make me want to blend in, and so I change my personality a little bit to adapt to the local personality, right? So, it's interesting. So, yeah, I'm a little bit more reactive. My intonation changes really quite drastically if I'm angry in Spanish versus if I'm angry in English. So, do you get angry in Spanish? Yes, I actually get more angry in Spanish than I do in English. So, and especially, this is part of my personality that I think is so funny because when I get angry, I typically express that anger in Spanish, not in English. And I think it's because it's all of that, like, it's a little bit more of a dramatic language. Showy, emotional. So, yeah, when I get angry, I express myself in Spanish. I usually don't go to my first language for anger is not English, which I think is really interesting. Yeah, it is. I like this idea that we have this possibility to access different emotions in different languages. And I wonder if that makes us feel... Does that make you feel like there are two versions of you or does it make you feel like you are the same person but sort of accessing these... I don't know, I haven't finished my own sentence, but what I mean is, do you find that this has just unblocked a part of you that was already there? Yeah, maybe these are parts of my personality that have always existed, and they just were untapped because it never... They were never stimulated, right? It wasn't in the place to grow or to develop. Yeah, but also, I don't know that I think it's such a good thing because I actually like myself better in English. Wow, that is controversial. You know, I think I realized this one time when I was doing this really big hike, and I was in a new situation, and I was in this very steep atmosphere, like an environment, in a very steep environment with really high mountains, and I associate myself getting blocked and having extreme breakdown with having to deal with it in Spanish. Because I was with Spanish friends, I'd never been in this situation before, and so I was... I was thinking afterwards, I was thinking, if I had been in the situation in English, I think I would have reacted differently. Wow. So sometimes I think that my reactivity and my emotional emotionality or my quick reactions to emotions is a disadvantage in Spanish, because I find myself in English just more easygoing, and I accept things a little bit with a different emotion. That's so interesting. I mean, you're like busting my myth that there is this moment. You're sort of talking a little bit about, I'm going to frame it a little bit in this way, where there's this idea that, or I have this idea that these two sort of versions of ourselves can sort of merge into one, and we become this sort of whole person. And the idea I think comes from when you start learning a language, this is happening to me in Italian now that I'm here in Italy, I'm starting from zero, and I feel like so distant from myself, I feel like when I try to speak in Italian, the few words, the few sentences that I can say, it's like, oh, there's so much to learn, there's so far to go. Whereas in Spanish, I reach that goal, I reach that goal of feeling myself in Spanish, and so the person that I am in English and in Spanish is the same to me. Of course, there will be differences, but I feel that. And so when I hear you speaking about this and you say that there are these moments under sort of a high pressure moment or high stress moment when you needed to, perhaps you would have liked to have reacted more evenly, you weren't able to do that because of the situation you're in. And I wonder whether that means that these two identities sort of don't merge. What do you think? I think there was a time when I did feel completely myself in both languages. And I think it was a little bit earlier on in my language learning journey where I just felt so identified. I just felt more myself in Spanish. I felt like I was able to express myself fully as I needed to be in both languages. But I think that the longer I'm dipping into both languages throughout my life, and sometimes I have my professional languages English, but then my day-to-date languages, Spanish, and going through and then learning to adapt to the culture. I see, yeah, I guess it's just these different facets of my personality coming through. And yeah, maybe I think, well, I think if I had had this situation in English, I would have reacted differently, or I would have been different. I don't know if that makes sense. But it's further along. So now that I've been fluent in Spanish for almost 20 years, and I've lived the language and I've lived in the culture for more than 20 years, I think I start kind of seeing the way that I react differently. But I still feel the same. I feel like I am the same person. There are just maybe things that are ingrained in you from when you're born, because it's your mother tongue, right? Like I learned English first. So my first reactions to things happened in English. But now because of my day-to-day interactions in Spanish, it's starting to be more Spanish as my first reaction. And it's like, wait a second, but I like my first reaction in English better. Maybe, maybe it's just a justification for your hot temper. Maybe it's a nice excuse. I blame it on the Spanish. Spanish, yes. They're so volatile. It's so funny, yeah. I think, of course, I'm just joking, and there's a lot of... I can't pretend to know you in such great detail, but yeah, I think it is... It's definitely something that I think, in a way, I question whether we sort of just are carving these paths that end up leading back to who we are, but sort of being able to open these sort of windows or doors to be able to get there. Well, and as we're speaking, I'm starting to remember things like the reason I moved to Spain, I originally came to Spain and I spent a few years, and I so identified with my Spanish self, and it's what I said. I felt like that was who I was supposed to be, right? Like, I was like, this is who I was supposed to be. I was supposed to be born in Spain. I was supposed to grow up listening to Flamenco and, you know, half of that ingrained in my, like, the beat and the rhythm and grains, you know. But then, as I've lived here longer, I've kind of seen, okay, there are different parts of my personality that come through in each language, but yeah, I think that they, in the end, they're the same person. It's just when you're trying to find yourself, maybe when you're younger, you kind of are like, oh, I really identify with this idea or this opinion or this ideology or this language or culture. So yeah, I think that that's kind of what led me there, because I felt so fully realized in this culture, right? But now it's kind of like, okay, wait a second, but there's this, like, there are these two personalities now, right? At least I think, or not two personalities, but different personalities in my, my personal, like in myself. So, from parts of you that shine true, perhaps. We've got a tear to my eye because of what you said, where you are really that idea that we, um, yeah, that, like, what brought, what brings us to, to connect with a certain language or a certain version of ourselves that comes out when we are speaking or connecting with a different culture. And I think I felt the same when I, when I was living in Argentina, when I was traveling through Central and South America. But yeah, when I, yeah, when I could really feel like myself, I felt like, I don't know, I think you see what reflected when you go home to your, you know, to Australia in my case, you say, wow, you know, I feel so different to, um, not, not just because of the language, but yeah, it's really interesting. Yeah. Of course, I can express myself in certain ways, but there are things maybe more easily, I can express myself sometimes more easily. But at the same time, I'm lacking that part of me that is expressed in Spanish. Exactly. And it's the best, I think it's the best when you find people that you can just go in and out of both languages, um, seamlessly and because it's, it's, you know, sometimes you can express things better in one language when you're speaking in the other, right? So if you can dip in, I have friends where we will be speaking in Spanish and then we'll change to English, you know, for one phrase and then we'll go back to Spanish and that's when you really feel like, oh, yeah, okay, this is who I am. I'm both languages, right? Yeah, I'm both languages. I love it. I think we could summarize all of that with that last comment. Okay, so let's move on to talk about creativity. How would you define the words creative? As in, what does it mean to be creative? Okay, so I think that being creative is like letting yourself kind of imagine something and then expressing it in a way that works for you. So basically like bringing your imagination to life. Okay, that's quite succinct. I love it. Thanks. I know it's like a really deep question. Um, but yeah, I think it's just finding the way to express what you have in your mind. It could be with words, it could be with art, it could be with dance or anything. But also... Do sports? Yeah, I don't know if you can be creative through sport. Is that being creative? I'm not sure I've never thought about it. It's an interesting topic. I dropped that in there because of what you do and you're a sports person. You work with sports people and I wonder if if sport is a way of being creative. The way of expressing my creativity. Well, I read something once by someone somewhere, not very clear, but somewhere in the back of my mind this came, this came to me where there's a period of creativity where we need to switch off and that's where innovation comes from, where we sort of, I think it's the four parts to like innovation or something like that, which I related to creativity. And one of those was sort of like having this idea and then sort of switching off from that idea, going and doing something else and then coming back to it and having that new perspective to go back to the same idea, something like that. Oh my gosh, yes. My most creative moments come when I'm training. I'm always like, I can't stop in the middle of a rest break after sprint. I'll be doing 10 intervals or something. And then the rest moments, the rest between the sprints or the intervals, I'll have a moment of inspiration. I can't stop my training in the middle of this hard workout to write down something. So yeah, it's very frustrating because I'll have these moments of inspiration and creativity of like, oh, I need to do that. But then when I get home, I forget about that. And it's so frustrating. But I know that it stimulates my creative muscle, being out training and pushing myself, kind of disconnecting from like, okay, I have to create and sitting down and trying to do something when I take a break and I go do what I love. And also, when I'm just not thinking about that, it's like the idea is blood, right? Yeah. So the other day, I actually stopped on my bike ride and I was like, I'm just going to do a voice message to myself because I can't, this is too good to not like to let go. And I have to record this so that I can at least go back to it, even if it's like complete crap or something. But I have to record it now so that I don't lose it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, we've touched on something quite interesting, I think. And I think the people listening, especially with those sports people, I think, will be like, hmm. Yeah. And like, I read, I've read about, you know, I've been reading a lot about going for walks or just doing exercise. And a lot of people, a lot of writers go for walks. And that's where they find their words or they get inspiration to write something. And it's like, take a notebook with you. I can't put a notebook in my sweaty bike jersey. So I have to find a new method. But yeah, I definitely think that exercise stimulates creativity for sure. Yeah. Okay. I love it. Okay. So then going back to decide like, okay, creativity in a nutshell. Right. How does this impact when we speak two languages? So does speaking two or more languages make you more creative? Yeah. So I think that attracts people who liked to be creative. So I wouldn't say that speaking Spanish makes me more creative because I don't feel more creative. I'm just the same. But I am a creative person, naturally. So I think most people who like to speak other languages kind of have that kind of chip, right? Or not just speak, but like actually live in like, you know, adopt another language. I think that it attracts creative people. I love it. Okay. So this sort of grand question, which of your languages is more creative? I think that my first language might be more creative. I think that I think it's because it's how I learned to be creative. So I think, but you know, it's interesting. I mean, for example, when I write, I find that my Spanish writing is a lot more developed and kind of more interesting than my English writing. It's funny, you know, because when I first built my web page for my business, I did it in Spanish. That was the first I started writing everything in Spanish. And then I went back and was like, okay, I have to like change this into English. And it sounds like crap. It doesn't sound as good in English. So I have to kind of get help from my family. It's so sad. So yeah, I don't know. I don't know which one is more creative. Hmm. I have to think about that. We can leave it as a sort of question and a question for everyone who's listening in a sense. Well, what, what do you think is your creative language? Oh, nobody's actually asked me. Maybe I should like cut this and leave it as like a at the end of this series. You will find out my opinion on all of the above. But really, I think it's a big question. I empathize with my interviewees now, my guests. So the last question is, or the last topic perhaps, is imagine being an entrepreneur or a creator in a language besides English. What would motivate you to transform that business, that creation from that language into English? What would motivate you? Motivation brought our audience, reaching more people like what I did. I built everything in Spanish because I was envisioning my first clients based in Spain, which is where I'm based. But I know that I want to grow and reach more people and that I need to have it in English. So I've got my web page in both. And then now I do all of my posting on Instagram and social media in English because you have the translator tool. You can translate the posts into whatever language. So it's a little bit easier. So yeah, I think I started out using Spanish, but now I've gone to just using English. Well, that concludes the episode. Thank you so much for having me. And it was really fun and I'm excited to see what you're going to do with the English creative hub. Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Once again, I'm Janelle and you've been listening to The Moment It Clicked. It's been a pleasure having you with us for the first episode. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe, rate it, and leave a review. You can catch the latest episodes, bonus content, and apply to become a guest on the show at www.english-creative.com/podcast. There are so many door opening opportunities when you are able to talk about your project in English. The question is, are you ready? Head over to www.english-creative.com. For your free, I'm ready in road map. You're first up towards transforming your project into English. I can't wait to connect with you there. Until next time, keep exploring, stay curious, and let your creativity shine in every language.
