With English you get to lose nuances and to simplify your thoughts.
As a result, you cannot put exact words on your emotions or your thoughts and you start to think and feel differently (and not in a nicer way).
Hm.. I feel no difference there between my native language and English. I use the latter every day, and everything I read (and I read a lot) is in English - I've only read two books in my native language the last thirty years or so. I don't feel any difference in how I can express myself.
However: I am kind of a different person when I speak English. My personality changes. Not for the worse though (and that's where I don't agree with the "and not in a nicer way", that's not how it is for me).
English is one of the languages on earth with by far the most words, and with some of the most extraordinary writers. You can give as much nuance as you want.
The problem is that, as a non-native speaker, the words carry less emotional weight somehow than my native language. This is not specific to English, and it's not because of a lack of familiarity. It's most visible in swear words - I have no problem saying any swear word in English, while I still get slightly squeamish with certain swear words in my native language.
It's basically a part of how you can't really absorb certain cultural aspects of a language, even if you learn about them. They're never going to be a part of your own internal culture if you didn't grow up with them.
Exactly! Swear words are a great example, "I love you" another. "I love you" is just something "people say in movies and books", whereas the one in my language is what my mom told me. Big difference!
