Language shapes the way we see

This afternoon I skimmed the article "How does our language shape the way we think" by Lera Boroditsky at Edge. It's insightful and points to some topics I hadn't thought about that haven't been mentioned in other articles that have been published recently. I especially liked its focus on Russian and English.

In the Peace Corps office, it is common for staff to speak in the language that they think best describes what they are trying to express, jumping in conversation from Ukrainian to English to Russian. Volunteers do it as well, but to a much smaller degree. Often I want to stress a word for its connotation; some examples being awkward, exciting, pathetic, and ignorant. I don't know the proper equivalents, the dictionary definitions don't do justice. I never want to be a translator. There's too much power in tone.