"PHILOSOPHICALLY SPEAKING...":

Does the language in which we are thinking about an ethical dilemma affect our decisions? Researchers are finding that, yes, considering a moral problem in the language we learned as a child can yield different decisions from those we reach considering the same problem in another language in which we are fluent. (The specific languages do not seem to matter.)

"Why does it matter whether we judge morality in our native language or a foreign one? According to one explanation, such judgments involve two separate and competing modes of thinking—one of these, a quick, gut-level “feeling,” and the other, careful deliberation about the greatest good for the greatest number. When we use a foreign language, we unconsciously sink into the more deliberate mode simply because the effort of operating in our non-native language cues our cognitive system to prepare for strenuous activity. ... An alternative explanation is that differences arise between native and foreign tongues because our childhood languages vibrate with greater emotional intensity than do those learned in more academic settings. As a result, moral judgments made in a foreign language are less laden with the emotional reactions that surface when we use a language learned in childhood."
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-morality-changes-in-a-foreign-language/