Language forms so many of our attitudes, prioritizes our values and forms us to a greater extent than we realize. I would suggest that the studies you cite to may be flawed.
The Enlightenment took place among intellectuals in several countries. But in each country in great part thanks to its language, the Enlightenment was very different.
If you compare German society to French society, you notice great differences in temperament, priorities and values. History and geography as well as the accidents of genetics play a role in the development of the contrasting cultures. But so does language. French is historically derived from latin. German from the old germanic languages. That has made a difference in the sounds that the children hear from their first moments on earth, and eventually in the sounds of their music and their environment. English is a combination of various languages especially French and a Germanic language. That this awkward, unpredictable (in terms of sounds and pronunciations) and very inclusive, sort of sop-it-up-it-sounds-like-it-might-be-a-word language controls our communications, but more important the sounds of the human environment in which we live, makes us different from non-English-speaking people.
At this time, I live in a community in which many, many people speak Spanish. Just this past weekend, the Spanish-speakers in our community were celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Lots of music, lots of chatter and lots of laughter interspersed with cheers. The melodious sound of the Spanish language expressed in the Mexican culture around me contrasts greatly with the rhythmic, irregular beats of the English language and the music that our language produces.
One language does not express the same feelings or ideas as another. And the proof is the extent to which in our century we borrow just the right word from another language to express a thought that comes from another culture. The Germans are incredibly efficient but they use our word efficient to describe that characteristic because they don't have a word for it. We talk about reason and rationality, but when we use those words, we do not begin to capture the reverence for "reason and rationality" that the French feel when they use the word "raison."
Tran is describing a cultural difference that is expressed in the Vietnamese language. Yes. Language does make a difference.
And by the way, the English language has no equivalent for the word, "macho." We just don't really grasp it even. "Macho" is a strut, a way of being, a way of kissing, a way of saying, "I am a man." We probably wouldn't have allowed that word to grow up in our language even it had been born to us. (I'm a woman so I am not especially defending that word. It's just an example.)
Another example: The first time a German-speaking person addressed me as Frau Doktor (my husband has the PhD.), I laughed and laughed. It sounded so terribly serious. But in German, my husband's position gave me rank and position (not money unfortunately). At least when we were there, women were commonly addressed by their husband's title. Herr/Frau Oberwachmeister, Herr/Frau Diplomkaufman, etc. That makes a huge difference in the life of a community. Especially when it is Herr/Frau Burgermeister -- Mr. AND MRS. (?) Mayor.
Language makes a huge difference. And you can't express all thoughts in all languages. Many things simply cannot be translated.
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