Absolutely! A lot of an country's or region's culture and history is reflected in their language. In their expressions, vocabulary, loan words, etc.

Spouse is Kenyan and I have learned a fair bit of Swahili. My spouse is fluent in English, Swahili, and their tribal language which I know basically none of.

I never could have imagined how much it would help me understand them better by understanding their language. It has profoundly changed me as a person.

Language is not purely functional, it is woven into who we are and how others perceive us to be. I started learning to simply participate more with them and their family, now I am experiencing my brain be rewritten.

As a person who only spoke English well into adulthood and then is rapidly learning a very different language and culture, I feel like I have a POV that nobody else in my life understands.

Thanks for asking :)

Diversifying your means of understanding can feel really rewarding(and challenging).

As for missing something…I think we overestimate how much language shapes thinking. Most meals are just a version of pizza.

Speaking from my own personal experience, recall and exposure as a whole give a definitive perspective on the human experience, as well as contributes to those you exonerated along the way.

As a whole I've found it isn't a huge difference as a single event in the grand scheme but it can really add up over time.

Yes.

When talking with the average American back home, there are lots of things you can sense they don't notice and don't seem to think about, especially if they've never even travelled.

From small things like always being cognizant of time zone differences and phone number country codes you use, to bigger things like seeing how crappy American restrictive zoning laws, suburban hellscapes, and car-centric society are.

Also, from the weeb perspective, going from needing anime subtitles to almost not needing them is pretty interesting.

I don't know if no one can understand my POV, but I get myself into strange situations that are awesome. I speak English, Chinese and Spanish. Once I was in Brazil and while they speak Portuguese, everyone understands Spanish, but not necessarily English. Especially if it's for a local tourist activity. I saw a pirate ship and thought my kids would love it. So I talked them into selling me tickets and boarded the ship. What I didn't know was it had nothing to do with pirates, it was a boat to go to an island. And everyone was drunk on caiprinahas.

Anyway while on the boat, suddenly the boat guide person said it's dancing time. I swear to God every one just started synchronized dancing. I thought it was a flash mob.

Then when we got to the island, on our local side, everyone was dancing and eating Brazilian food. I noticed a fence and looked over and realized half the island was for American tourists. And wow the difference was stark. The Brazilians were dancing and having fun. The Americans were overweight laying on beach towels and not moving. Really makes you think about culture differences.

Ultimately, I don't know if people can understand my view points. But I am super grateful I know the languages I do because I get to have experiences others simply can't. As well as I don't worry about visiting random nations because I'll almost certainly find someone who can speak a language I know. Like I had to speak Spanish once on top of the great wall.

Definitely. I spent several years living in a South American country, one that is considered almost "high income" for the region. Uruguay. Now back in the States I still recognize how much less we USA folks could live on if our society was not so pushed by constant consumption by the corporatocracy's propaganda.

Learning to think in another language. Learning how even everyday things like doors and locks are different. Feeling distant from yet also slowly growing into that new to me culture

Smaller space, more use of renewables for heat, cooking, electric generation. Smaller cars than the giants on US roads that everybody here seems to "need". Yet many of those very small cars are indeed USA street legal if Hyundai/KIA, GM, etc imported the Brasil-Made Chevrolet Onyx, the Argentina-made small Chevrolets, the South American KIA Picanto, VW "city car" the Volkswagen Up! (Already on EU streets in an even smaller version)

Grocery stores with more home made and store made products. Yet without the massive duplication we have of entire aisles of breakfast cereals, soaps, etc. There was a reasonably broad degree of consumer choices but not the overwhelming and ridiculous amount here.

People shopping in small amounts for what they need that day. Rather than huge hauls from Costco?

And the universal and affordable healthcare. Which was not the single-payer free-at-service nonsense that some US politicians claim everywhere in the world' has. (Dear Bernie, NOBODY in the world has that!) Paid out of your local social security tax equivalent if employed, or about $60 US per month to buy into it if neither employed nor on benefits. Small "ticket charges" for physicians, labs, imaging, and about a $40 US ticket charge for the hospital ER. ZERO charge for hospital stay and all labs, tests, etc during that stay.

Mandatory voting with real competing parties and coalitions of parties. Military used almost only for UN peacekeeping.

There were frustrating times, and I personally had family reasons to return. But I still miss it, and sometimes envy those of my Uruguayan friends who could afford to travel to the US and my US friends that could afford homes in Uruguay while keeping a home also in the US.

One learns in ones bones that the US way is not the only way.

If you mean that "thinking" in another language influences things like your outlook and even reaction to things... you'd be correct. It's been studied and documented that with every language you learn, you also get something of a personality upgrade that comes with being able to understand and convey concepts specific to that language.

It's not exactly as elaborate as gaining an whole new pov, but it's nonetheless similar.

I don't feel like nobody can understand my POV. I grew up moving country to country and my classmates growing up led similar lives and probably had similar POVs. It was only in college that I realized most people lived their whole childhoods in one city, not counting vacations.

I think you'd be interested in looking into the concept of "Third Culture Kids". I think the original book may be a bit outdated and lack some of the complexity of modern globalization, but it definitely made me realize a lot of things about myself when I read the book the first time way back.