How mother tongue moulds us

Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women who research what happens to our thoughts, feelings and behaviours when we speak many languages. To what extent do we have a “mother tongue” – and what happens if we stop using it? Dr Aneta Pavlenko is a Ukrainian-American linguist who looks at the emotional impact of moving between languages. Professor Núria Sebastián Gallés is a Spanish cognitive psychologist who studies bilingual toddlers and young babies. Produced by Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander (Image: (L) Aneta Pavlenko, courtesy Aneta Pavlenko. (R) Núria Sebastián Gallés, courtesy Núria Sebastián Gallés.)

You can listen to How mother tongue moulds us online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

How mother tongue moulds us is an episode from The Conversation by BBC.

This episode is 26:28 long.

This episode was published on Mar 16, 2026.

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