Are you trying to learn a new language in a foreign land? You might be better off if you stopped looking at that picture of your family and friends. New research from Columbia University found that prompting   someone who is learning a new language with images and reminders of their own culture could temporarily ruin everything that the brain was trying to build. When native Chinese students were asked to talk with a Caucasian avatar   and a Chinese avatar, their English skills were so different. Simply exposing students to a Chinese person affected their ability to speak English. Subjects who talked with the Chinese version felt more comfortable in their speech, but they produced 11% fewer words per minute. They actually became less fluent speakers. To make sure it wasn't just the avatar, researchers also showed people random images of China while the participants told a story. When pictures of their homeland appeared, fluency dropped 16% and volunteers were 85% more likely to use a literal   translation, for example, calling _ "happy nuts", because that's literally what the Chinese word for pistachio means. When the students were shown pictures of fish with one swimming ahead of the others, their culture would change how they look at the photo. With Chinese prompt, like photos of the Great Wall or Chinese Dragon, etc. they saw more students thinking that the fish was being chased, while an American prompt, like pictures of Marilyn Monroe or Superman, saw those students believing that it was a leader fish. The bottom line is: when attempting to learn a new culture it is far better to surround yourself with that culture than create an island of the old one. According to the research, which is a better way for a student in a foreign land to learn a new culture?
To surround himself with that culture. To create an island of the old one. To see random images of China. To talk with a Caucasian avatar.