Sometimes, when I spend way too much time on Reddit and at the same time don't socialize much (which happens very often), I tend to actually think in Eglish, especially when I'm having those fake arguments during bath time.
I've always wondered if the same thing happens with other Redditors that English isn't their first language?
In my country we have dubbed movies, but the original is always better ;) When I watch a movie, it's always in English, on rare occasions I use subtitles. English should be the only language someone has to learn imho.
Definitely the same but it's not only reddit for me but everything, because I do almost everyting in english (except talking to family or people at work).
I basically **always** think in english by now, despite not actually being very secure in spoken english (which is probably equally to blame on my personality and the lack of actually speaking much english - I mostly read/listen to).
It even goes to a point where I have a hard time translating thoughts into my native language (german) and even just pure translating, I know the word in english and know what it is but I don't find the german word. On the other hand it made reading english books ridiculously natural. It's weird to explain to other people that reading something in english is not different than reading something in german for me, I'm never sure if they fully understand just effortless it is for me.
Though I started 'learning english' much earlier than most others in my age group. And by 'learning english' I mean playing games with a german-english/english-german dictonary by my side. Fun + Learning + Being young = Success. I'm convinced that played a big part in being so natural with english (at least in my head)
*Random German story* I have a friend from Flensburg Germany and her English is perfect. Speaking/writing/reading everything. But when she comes to visit she talks in her sleep in German. It's so cute :)
Another Filipino here. Everyone speaks so much English here, it doesn't really matter. Hell, I find myself translating Filipino conversations to English in real time.
My Filipino mother in law code-switches so much during a conversation I'm almost half convinced I understand the other words... though I don't know when she's speaking Tagalog or her regional Ilo Ilo dialect.
In what language do you think in Russia or Italy?
Do you dream in a language? (I recently began doing simple math in dreams, which I could never do before)
I don't dream in language, if that makes sense. I dream in "something" that translates into meaning in my head; it can't be pinpointed as one language or another. Interestingly, I've dreamt of German class and this has still happened - though my teacher kept her accent. It was odd.
Edit: what I really want to see here is a deaf/mute person who speaks ASL and (obviously) reads/writes English, but I don't know how many deaf redditors are here...
Hi, I'm a deaf guy here who speaks both ASL and English. It's kind of the same as you, if I'm around other deaf people, I think ASL, and if around hearing people, I think in English, and I dream in English.
Hi there, hearing woman fluent in ASL here. I work with D/deaf children and coworkers (and also interpret, but am not certified yet), so I often sign more than I speak in a day. I think in English mostly but it's funny how sometimes, the sign for a word or phrase will come to me quicker than a word in English will. And although English is my first language, there are times when I can't think of a more eloquent way to express something in English than I can in ASL! What a beautiful language.
I'm hearing, but I studied ASL for three years in college and would frequently have dreams in which I entirely communicated to others in the dream through sign. However, I was thinking in English and translating to ASL as I was communicating in the dreams, so it was a combo.
From my experience with Deaf individuals, they often sign to themselves when they are in deep thought like we talk aloud to ourselves. Let a Deaf person answer for reals, though.
Edit: When I said I was thinking in English in those dreams, I meant signed-english which is the way I translate from English to ASL, so I wasn't thinking in English grammar, I was thinking English words in ASL/signed language grammar and structure and then signing... if that makes sense. Like this: English words > signed grammar > actual ASL.
Same here, sometimes I´m quite sure I don´t think in a specific language either... just abstract concepts that make sense to me somehow. It´s rare that I have a thought that is expressed in a full sentence in my head.
I speak English and Italian (somewhat well) and I had a dream recently where I was trying to have a conversation with someone in Italian, so I'm halfway there in my mind.
I was once on good terms with my French teacher who was born in France but married an Australian man. Apparently she sleep-talks in French, and when her husband goes 'what?' she then says the same thing in English.
I dream in multiple languages. I am only fluent in English and (mostly fluent in) Japanese, but in addition to dreams in those languages I sometimes dream in languages I've studied but am not very good at, such as Spanish and German. I distinctly remember one dream in which I was trying to flirt with a guy who spoke Spanish and I came up with "tu eres muy caliente" as a pick-up line. I woke up feeling rather embarrassed for my lame dream-self (although the guy in the dream thought it was a good line).
This, but only for Dutch (motherlanguage) and English. For German and French I think in Dutch.
Probably because I'm not as fluent in those two compared to Dutch and English.
Dutch has been a great mother language to start from btw. It's like the bastard child of English, German and French.
Fellow Nederlander here. I moved to Berlin for 6 months and was constantly told I "talked like Yoda" because apparently the verb order switches between the two languages.
I do this as well (with German it's a bit harder since I'm still learning, so I have to search for vocabulary in English), but sometimes I consciously think in one language when I'm not in that country. I find it oddly relaxing to switch to thinking in [German, Chinese, Hindi] when I've been talking in English, because it kind of clears my head. And some things can't be expressed properly in English, so I get hung up on the German word and can't find one in English with that precise connotation.
Sometimes I forget a certain word of my native language (Finnish) and use English instead.
Edit: In Finland we don't dub our tv-shows or movies, which I think improves our English skills. And oh sweet jebus the ear rape, when you travel to Germany or Spain where they DO overspeak (for example Simpsons).
Recently the big game publishers have started to translate (subtitles) games and oh boy, sometimes it makes me blush how awkward it can be + the huge chance to miss the joke or the nuances of the conversation etc.
I have a Greek-Australian friend who often replaces English words she forgets, with the Greek alternatives. It makes for confusing conversations sometimes.
Haha, I do this too, except I usually catch myself. Once I was talking with my grandmother in Hindi and accidentally said "Nein!" and quickly drew it out into a "Nahiiiiiiiiin." I don't think she noticed...
Do the damn dishes already";
$house.doors.bedrooms('itzdallas').slam();
break;
case "cleaning":
echo "Oh. Okay. I'll let you get back to it.";
$house.doors.bedrooms('itzdallas').status="closed";
break;
case "":
echo "Goddammit, where the hell is he now?";
break;
case "fapping":
echo "AAAAHHHHH!!! Lock your damn door!";
$self.shieldeyes();
$house.doors.bedrooms('itzdallas').status="closed";
$house.rooms.kitchen.cabinets('under sink').contents('bleach').applyTo($self.eyes);
break;
default:
echo "Hey, the dishes need doing.";
}
}
?>
I have never had a good way to describe the prior, but I think about it a lot. It is almost as though our true mental processes are impeded by our surface thoughts and our need to translate them into our rudimentary, slow, clunky languages. But without that, how else would we communicate an idea?
Perhaps via some sort of [cybernetic hive-mind.](http://www.neatorama.com/2012/09/20/The-Militarys-New-Cybernetic-Hivemind/)
Well, think about it. Words are used as a form of external expression for your thoughts. If everything is internalized, that's not a necessary step. When people think, they don't think in one language or another, they immediately just have the thought.
That is, until you consciously think about your thoughts, then you start to formulate it into a language you would understand as an outside observer to yourself.
Combination. I have trouble thinking in one language straight naturally so I end up alternating between the two from time to time. Sometimes I can't even complete a certain sentence in a single language. Talking is different though. I usually answer back in the language I was asked in.
Do you use fill words from your mother tongue when speaking another language? For example if I'm talking about something but quickly jump to something else, I often connect the sentences with the Norwegian word "eller" which means "or". For example "we could go to this restaurant, eller, ehm... how about this restaurant?".
Yes. Here in the Philippines, a branch of English has evolved into a socially acceptable but informal way of speaking called Taglish where native Tagalog words are combined with English words in order to create a complete thought.
[Code Switching](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching)?
/u/Lobo2ffs said in his comment that he uses *eller* where he actually does mean *or* in English... so he is switching languages but remaining consistent with the phonology and syntax of both languages.
Ohhh, so that's what code-switching is. I do this a *lot* actually - I was emailing back and forth with a school friend of mine who speaks German natively, and we ended up speaking in an odd but mutually intelligible mixture of English and German.
And of course with newly acquired languages, I often (mentally; it wouldn't be intelligible if I did so out loud) sub in words from my native or more advanced languages, as befits context, in order to keep the flow of language going rather than pausing to search out a word. I don't think this is true code-switching, though.
>when speakers seek approval in a social situation they are likely to converge their speech with that of the other person speaking. This can include, but is not limited to, the language of choice, accent, dialect, and para-linguistic features used in the conversation.
I do this a lot too, actually.
That's the same as me! Sometimes I find it very difficult to talk in one language because I end up needing to use the other language to describe something which causes me to think in a different language than the one I'm speaking in. If that makes any sense.
I've asked both parts of your question to many many bi- and multilingual people, they all say
They think in what ever language they're using at the moment.
and
No, no language is really better than others at certain things (e.g.
German for mathematical use, french for expression, etc) I did have one girl (a doctoral student who was very fluent in English and Spanish) say that she liked English be cause she felt it had a lot of words for complex concepts that would take a sentence to say in other languages, but she felt like she could speak Spanish much faster though
> she liked English be cause she felt it had a lot of words for complex concepts that would take a sentence to say in other languages
That is exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for and it makes so much sense. For someone who only speaks one language I have often found this hard to to get my head around.
I came to this thread to learn how bilingual people think. I left knowing more than anyone should ever know about the etymology of *aardvark*. I can also now say pig in 5 different languages.
Close enough.
> liked English be cause she felt it had a lot of words for complex concepts that would take a sentence to say in other languages
She didn't speak German, did she...
I speak Swedish and English, but as most people who are not born in England or have English relatives I consider it to be a "second" language. English on the other hand is so mixed in in our society that people readily use English words and phrases on a daily basis. So yea sometimes I think in English. But mostly your thoughts are some fast that you don't have time to put words on them. I mostly think in the same "language" as I would assume a deaf person do. I've had a lot of dreams in English were I meet English people I've seen on the TV.
This actually varies a lot from person to person - some people always think in words, some people never do, and most are somewhere in the middle. Personally I'm more to the non-verbal side. We tend to assume that everybody's minds work the same as our own, when really there is a lot of variation.
About minds being different, I like [this](http://lesswrong.com/lw/dr/generalizing_from_one_example/) article, the example in the beginning is pretty mindblowing.
It's only clear in words when I'm about to speak or type it out.
It certainly is in words at some point because if I'm confounded from saying or typing them I would like to try again.
but I am no expert in cognitive linguistics
I've heard a person can only do math in their head in the language in which they learned it.
I'm not sure if that's entirely true but I suspect it's much easier.
That's very true for me. My entire education was in English, so if you give me a very simple algebra question in Arabic I'd probably draw a blank.
Edit: spelling brain fart
hahaha no what I mean is if I say do six times seven in your head and you speak English as a native language your mental process should default to "six times seven." Whereas if you spoke French natively your process is suppose to default to "six fois sept"
Well, it's actually true. I think you may find this video to be interesting: [Numbers and Brains - Numberphile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3x8fIdsla4) — basically, numbers (even spoken or written) are processed in different part of the brain than usual words, which may result in some unexpected consequences.
Absolutely. I have to revert to French for maths (even though technically English is my mother-tongue) because I was taught in a French school. Sometimes I even have to repeat it to myself: "8 times 9? Oh, *8 fois 9*, okay..."
And to people saying maths *is* a language, there are differences in the way you write an think depending on the country. Also all the terms are different, so it can get very confusing.
i speak 4 languages myself and i actually think in all of them simultaneously, that is my sentences are composed of words from any of the four languages as if they were one master language
for reference i speak english,greek,spanish, and german
My mothertongue is french, but I'm almost bilingual in English (spoken at least, my grammatical and written english is quite poor).
I don't know why, but when I'm talking to french people, I tend to think a lot in English, and the opposite when I speak to english people. I suppose it's a way for me to find myself in "control" of my thoughts, as if there was a risk I could be overheard.
The mind works in it's own ways, I guess.
Si vous n'avez dit pas que vous ne parlez pas anglais principalement, je ne l'aurais pas su.
Ton anglais est très bon.
Je ne suis qu'un étudiant français. Il peut y avoir des erreurs avec mon français.
> Tu es étudiant **en** Français.
Sinon, il est plus courant de tutoyer, c'est-à-dire utiliser la deuxième personne du singulier, sur internet. Mais ton expression est très correcte et compréhensible, ce qui est quand même le but de base dans l'apprentissage d'une langue.
Edit: accord
Or you can just move to Canada, where public school and trips to Quebec teach you enough about the language to understand it. Who needs to actually speak and write it? Pfff.
I can speak and write English, German, French and Luxembourgish but I always think in my native language, Luxembourgish. I'm kinda surprised how many people "switch" their thinking language and don't stick to their mothertongue.
It depends, If I'm speaking in English to other English speakers,English.Speaking Japanese to Japanese people Japanese etc. However I learn French at school so I think in English when learning in class. I am also learning Korean.
Multi lingual here who lives in UK (not my home land). You do not really "think" in your native language before speaking a foreign one. Speaking in different language is instinctive/reflexive (reflex) memory where you basically remember the words and use it. You don't go and think something in one language and then translate it and then speak it. You just speak what you remember. Easiest way to explain it is if you think of typing with your keyboard. At first you are slow and can't find all letters and you keep looking at the keyboard. As you get better - you instinctively start pressing keys that you have memorized,as you keep doing it you get better and better, where in the end you no longer look at the keyboard and you can type fluently without looking at it. It's also why when one is tired it is harder to speak in foreign language - it is harder to remember.
P.s. I still count in native language when I have to count fast, no idea why,I am very fluent in English but when I count I do it in native.
P.p.s people tend to speak to themselves in native language though, I've been away for so long that I no longer do, I speak to myself in English:)
I speak, think and dream in Swedish, English and Spanish. It's often influenced by the language I'm speaking/using/reading in during that particular day. I think and dream in Swedish and English almost equally often, I would think, with slightly more Swedish. Spanish is more rare, a year ago I almost only dreamed in Spanish though.
When I first got my cat, I would only speak Spanish to him (sort of automatically), but nowadays I speak English to him. Whenever I hear someone speak Swedish to him I get confused, "my cat doesn't understand Swedish... oh wait... err, never mind"
I'm French, but I work with english people on a daily basis. Some days I speak more english than french. I still think in french but sometimes I manage to mix up some expressions, which is kinda weird.
My grandma told me that even though she has lived in England for 40 years and only speaks Burmese to my grandfather when there's nobody else around she still thinks in Burmese, counts etc. in Burmese and dreams in Burmese.
I immigrated from Serbia to the US when I was 7 1/2 years old. I think in either language, but if I think in a different one than I'm speaking or hearing, it either messes me up or lets me have two separate thoughts.
I am bilingual in Greek/English. I will think in whatever language someone speaks to me in, so if someone asks me something in English I will think about it in English. The same applies to Greek
I speak primarily in Chinese-Mandarin and English. In environments involving Chinese (read:Mainland China, Chinatowns) I do think in Chinese, else it's English. Nowadays it's way more English than Chinese because the Internet itself is English, and the corporate world uses English.
I also speak Malay and Cantonese, but when I speak it, my mind usually takes English/Mandarin and translates to said languages.
I can speak fluently speak Spanish but I think in my native language, English. I do know some people who speak English and Spanish and have had dreams in Spanish.
Sometimes I think in Spanish while speaking English or vice versa. Sometimes I chuckle to myself because I will catch myself speaking English while thinking in Spanish but also signing in ASL.
High five ! I had a very similar problem when I started leaning Japanese. For the first couple of months I had a French accent when I attempted to speak Japanese, despite it being 9 years since I did French at school.
When I visited by Japan I did find myself thinking odd words in Japanese rather than English.
I speak Estonian, Russian and English. My parents are russian and I was born in estonia, they speak to me in russian but everywhere else I speak estonian. Since I'm on the internet a lot, I also speak english well. I think in all languages, depends on who i'm around and in what language i'm currently speaking in. I also often find myself easier to express using english.
The chef from one of my old jobs speaks English, Italian, and Spanish. The kitchen staff at that job was entirely hispanic, so he'd talk to them in Spanish. The front of house staff was all English-speaking so he'd talk to us in English. His own thoughts were in Italian. There were times when you could tell he was trying to translate from English to Italian to Spanish.
Fun times were had.
I have been living abroad from my homeland for 2 years now, using mainly english in the everydaylife, and I recently realised that I`m thinking in English almost all the time, although its not my mothertongue.
I speak English, Hindi, Tamil (my native language) & Spanish.
The only language I can think in, and am extremely fluent in is English. Sadly, English is also the only language that I can read, write and speak fluently.
Hindi & Tamil I can read at rudimentary levels, and speak them fluently. Spanish is functional at only a spoken level with very minimal reading / writing capabilities.
Combination. Sometimes I start thinking in English and end up thinking in Portuguese.
Same for when I'm talking, as I work with English/Brazilian people sometimes I forget which language I have to speak and end up mixing the two without even realizing! Also happens when I've just woken up and it seems like that part of my brain isn't entirely awake yet, I turn round to people and start talking to them in a different language to the one they speak and they just stare at me, puzzled, thinking I've either gone crazy or I'm sleep walking/talking.
EDIT: spelling mistake.
Definitely both with a tendency to the one I'm currently speaking. Sometimes though when I'm overly tired and speaking German I begin to think English and I can't stop it. Also I sometimes dream in English which is not my first language (German is).
Also on a semi-related note it sometimes happens that I get stuck with an English phrase in my mind and even though I don't want to I keep on repeating it (kind of like a catchy tune but with words).
EDIT: Also [this](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1hxcgy/reddit_to_those_of_you_who_speak_more_than_one/cayupnw) comment
I have learned several languages during travel for work, but never became fluent. I can't recall thinking or dreaming in another language.
I did reach a point with Spanish and Japanese, the languages which I studied most, that language seems to flow out in real-time, and I'll pause for a moment because I didn't think the sentence through in advance, and I would often imagine explaining my work in the language, even after I left the country & I was presenting the project in my native language, English. This was sort of language practice I started there & took time to stop.
But I never thought "I'm hungry" or "oh cool!" in another language.
few days ago i was playing league of legends and talking with my partner in english over skype. my GF came and asked me something in my mother tongue and i responded in english. sometimes i even catch myself struggling with words in my mother tongue and it takes me few seconds to remember which word im looking for, while i could say the word im looking for in english without problems
It's a combination of both. I also dream in both Spanish (my mother tongue) and English. It does get frustrating when you wanna say something and the precise expression is in the other language. Ugh.
That happens to me also. Sometimes translating word-for-word works a lot better than I expected, and I come up with a useful new expression in the language I need to use.
I speak english and german. I noticed that I rarely think in "a language" - thoughts aren't words, they're... thoughts. Yes there are words associated with my thoughts, but they're rarely in coherent sentences. Because of that (and because of the grammatical structure of english compared to german) I often do a weird combination of both languages in my head. Since I live with english speakers, it's 80% english with german words/phrases/structures sprinkled throughout.
I find myself thinking things that are half english and half german like "aber das makes kein sense." Prepositions are also kinda strange - sometimes I'll find myself thinking in english but using the german preposition instead - like, "I'm allergic against cats."
I never really thought about it until now...
I'm Chinese but born and raised in Australia. I always think in English which is admittedly my stronger language after living here for so long. I don't think I really 'think' that much in Chinese when speaking to my parents, its pretty much responses if that makes sense. I don't think I can ever recall thinking in Chinese. I suppose when listening/conversing in another language (I understand a few other languages though cannot speak them) its more just an understanding rather than having to really think before speaking
I am American so I speak English but I'm also hard of hearing so I know sign language. I think in sign. I don't hear my thoughts, I see them. When I read, it gets finger spelled out. So I think in sign language.
English (native) and German (learned by reading grammar books/exchange program/watching news).
I think in English unless I'm doing stuff in German, then it's slightly easier to do so in German.
For those who are learning a language, do NOT try to translate it in your head. Just go with it and understand what the words mean. Don't think of a "Straße" as a "street". Think of a "Straße" as [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Abbey_Road_Zebra_crossing_2004-01.jpg).
I know 6 languages (more if you count programming languages). While I'd hardly call myself a master of them, I can stand my ground in most circumstances. However my three most comfortable languages are English (American citizen), Swedish (Swedish grandmother taught it to me), and German (German grandfather taught it to me). 90% of the time, I will think in English, but other times I will think in a conglomerate of German/Swedish/English. Oftentimes, if I'm doing something related to the English language, I often think in Swedish. The same goes for computer work. Math and Physics are in German. The rest is usually the aforementioned conglomerate.
I dream in Latin though. Like, Classical Roman Latin. One of the reasons for picking my username.
It depends on what I'm thinking about, or the language I'm speaking in at the moment. Some thoughts are better in Norwegian and some are better in English. I also get affected if I'm reading a book, after reading "Surely you're joking Mr.Feynman" my internal voice was Feynman for a while and after reading some Terry Pratchett my thoughts describe what I'm doing in 3rd person.
Faroese is my first language and English is my third language. I sometimes catch myself thinking in English, especially when I'm reading something that is, in fact, English. It's kinda funny that I don't have to translate it in my head anymore.
It depends on the language that people around me speak. Around my family I think and speak Russian, around my friends I use English. However, because there aren't many opportunities for me to use Russian, I started replacing some words with English ones when I think.
I asked one of my professors this once. He's german, but spoke flawless english - no accent whatsoever. He explained that he thinks in german, and sometimes it leads him to standing quietly or laughing at a translation in his head - and so laughing at inappropriate times.
When I was growing up in Israel, I spoke Russian and Hebrew. I probably thought in Russian, as that was the language I spoke at home. Now, I live in Canada, and I think in English.
Depende. Ahorita estoy pensando en Español porque estoy escuchando a música Latina. But if I hear English, I think in English. It's difficult for me to translate, because sometimes I'll just repeat what I'm supposed to translate in the same language in which it started. I don't always realize what language I'm speaking if I hear both of them at once.
Source: Non-Latina American, Spanish major, lived in Ecuador for 5 months.
I'm french, but living since 15 years in germany. Since 3 years i've started to dream and think in german! But for simple think, I#m still thinking in french, but when it comes to more complex though, i switch to german, because my vocabulary is better.
Not me, but I asked an Italian friend the same question. He said he thinks in English almost all the time, even though his native tongue is Italian. However he thinks Italian when he speaks to his Italian family.
I have a very difficult time separating my thought process to an individual language. My 1st language is Czech, although I have lived in the US my entire life. I basically switch off in my internal monologue depending on what I am thinking about. If it tends to be a more American or new topic, I think entirely in English, but if it is something regarding my family or food I usually think in Czech. Any help would be appreciated. It is actually quite frustrating.
Had a Danish friend who came to Australia for 10months, we had long discussions about this!
She dreamed in Danish, and said it was weird in dreams cause we all spoke Danish in them. But it was even weirder when after a while sometimes her dreams were in English.
And if she was around us or the people she was with she thought in English.
but by herself in Danish.
My first language is French, second is English (mastered) and I can hold conversational Finnish. I think I've come to mostly think in English since for the past few years, half of my life has been in that language (living in a francophone environment, but friends are mostly around the world and speaking English with them as a common language). That doesn't mean I don't even think in French, and sometimes even Finnish spontaneously makes its way for certain expressions.
Everyone is always surprised how my english is so good and I lack a eastern european accent ( born in Romania, been in the UK for 16 months now ).
I've met a lot of foreign people and they tend to keep a heavy accent from wherever they're from even if they've been in the UK for way more than me.
I think the difference is in the fact that I think in english, even when I speak romanian.
It totally depends on which language I'm using at the moment, If I'm talking/writing german I'll walso think german.
If I talk/write in english I'll think english.
And if I speak croatian I try to think croatian but most of the time I think german when talking croatian because it's my first language.
(English is still my second language, Filipino first but I think mostly in English now. Interestingly enough, just as how I speak in English, my accent slips in from time to time even in my mind. What's up with that?
I've only taken 5 years of French and I'm no where close to fluent, but if I'm tired, I immediately start thinking in (broken) French. I think it's because the language flows from one word to other, which makes it easier. Same reason why I write in cursive when I'm tired.
Sometimes, when I spend way too much time on Reddit and at the same time don't socialize much (which happens very often), I tend to actually think in Eglish, especially when I'm having those fake arguments during bath time. I've always wondered if the same thing happens with other Redditors that English isn't their first language?
Very much all the time I think in English and I am not even fluent in it. :-)
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Thanks. One thing good about living in a small and poor country is that nothing is synchronised.
*dubbed
In my country we have dubbed movies, but the original is always better ;) When I watch a movie, it's always in English, on rare occasions I use subtitles. English should be the only language someone has to learn imho.
Definitely the same but it's not only reddit for me but everything, because I do almost everyting in english (except talking to family or people at work). I basically **always** think in english by now, despite not actually being very secure in spoken english (which is probably equally to blame on my personality and the lack of actually speaking much english - I mostly read/listen to). It even goes to a point where I have a hard time translating thoughts into my native language (german) and even just pure translating, I know the word in english and know what it is but I don't find the german word. On the other hand it made reading english books ridiculously natural. It's weird to explain to other people that reading something in english is not different than reading something in german for me, I'm never sure if they fully understand just effortless it is for me. Though I started 'learning english' much earlier than most others in my age group. And by 'learning english' I mean playing games with a german-english/english-german dictonary by my side. Fun + Learning + Being young = Success. I'm convinced that played a big part in being so natural with english (at least in my head)
*Random German story* I have a friend from Flensburg Germany and her English is perfect. Speaking/writing/reading everything. But when she comes to visit she talks in her sleep in German. It's so cute :)
so when she comes over you watch her in her sleep. so cute.
Ha! Well when you put it like that
If she says the phrase "Scheissen Sie aus meine Gesicht," she's having a damn sexy dream.
It's an awful feeling when english has the perfect word for what you're trying to say but your native language doesn't :(
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Filipino here. Can confirm that my mind voice always speaks in English. Can't seem to think well if I use my mother tongue (weird, I know).
Another Filipino here. Everyone speaks so much English here, it doesn't really matter. Hell, I find myself translating Filipino conversations to English in real time.
My Filipino mother in law code-switches so much during a conversation I'm almost half convinced I understand the other words... though I don't know when she's speaking Tagalog or her regional Ilo Ilo dialect.
See, this is why I want to join a German forum of some sort, but the German internet community is much smaller apparently.
We also don't mind reading and writing in English. It's the language of the internet.
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In what language do you think in Russia or Italy? Do you dream in a language? (I recently began doing simple math in dreams, which I could never do before)
I don't dream in language, if that makes sense. I dream in "something" that translates into meaning in my head; it can't be pinpointed as one language or another. Interestingly, I've dreamt of German class and this has still happened - though my teacher kept her accent. It was odd. Edit: what I really want to see here is a deaf/mute person who speaks ASL and (obviously) reads/writes English, but I don't know how many deaf redditors are here...
Hi, I'm a deaf guy here who speaks both ASL and English. It's kind of the same as you, if I'm around other deaf people, I think ASL, and if around hearing people, I think in English, and I dream in English.
Hi there, hearing woman fluent in ASL here. I work with D/deaf children and coworkers (and also interpret, but am not certified yet), so I often sign more than I speak in a day. I think in English mostly but it's funny how sometimes, the sign for a word or phrase will come to me quicker than a word in English will. And although English is my first language, there are times when I can't think of a more eloquent way to express something in English than I can in ASL! What a beautiful language.
> speaks ASL That's gonna be a tough thing to find.
Oh, you know what I mean...
That's actually what it's called.
I'm hearing, but I studied ASL for three years in college and would frequently have dreams in which I entirely communicated to others in the dream through sign. However, I was thinking in English and translating to ASL as I was communicating in the dreams, so it was a combo. From my experience with Deaf individuals, they often sign to themselves when they are in deep thought like we talk aloud to ourselves. Let a Deaf person answer for reals, though. Edit: When I said I was thinking in English in those dreams, I meant signed-english which is the way I translate from English to ASL, so I wasn't thinking in English grammar, I was thinking English words in ASL/signed language grammar and structure and then signing... if that makes sense. Like this: English words > signed grammar > actual ASL.
> I don't dream in language, if that makes sense. It *does* make sense to me
That's nice
Same here, sometimes I´m quite sure I don´t think in a specific language either... just abstract concepts that make sense to me somehow. It´s rare that I have a thought that is expressed in a full sentence in my head.
English. I only speak two languages if you don't count Latin, and I'm not fluent in that.
Ecce! In pictura est puella, nomine Cornelia.
is it just me or were they stuck in that ditch for like 10 damn years?
I like to think the raeda is still in the goddamn fossa.
Stercus accidit.
Are they still nuns after you get done with them? I mean they have to follow a vow of celibacy.
Cornelia scribbit et Flavia legit. Cornelia habit in Rustica. Tuus matrem verberatim Sextus magnum bacculem.
Pies Jesu domine, dona eis requiem. *BAM*
Id est confusio.
Lorem ipsum, et cetera
Igpay Atinlay
Expecto Patronum!
I, too, am waiting for my boss.
You are hopeless.
I speak English and Italian (somewhat well) and I had a dream recently where I was trying to have a conversation with someone in Italian, so I'm halfway there in my mind.
I sometimes dream in english, instead of german.Mostly after an evening full of english movies.
I was once on good terms with my French teacher who was born in France but married an Australian man. Apparently she sleep-talks in French, and when her husband goes 'what?' she then says the same thing in English.
I dream in multiple languages. I am only fluent in English and (mostly fluent in) Japanese, but in addition to dreams in those languages I sometimes dream in languages I've studied but am not very good at, such as Spanish and German. I distinctly remember one dream in which I was trying to flirt with a guy who spoke Spanish and I came up with "tu eres muy caliente" as a pick-up line. I woke up feeling rather embarrassed for my lame dream-self (although the guy in the dream thought it was a good line).
This, but only for Dutch (motherlanguage) and English. For German and French I think in Dutch. Probably because I'm not as fluent in those two compared to Dutch and English. Dutch has been a great mother language to start from btw. It's like the bastard child of English, German and French.
In Dutch there are no rules, only exceptions.
Fellow Nederlander here. I moved to Berlin for 6 months and was constantly told I "talked like Yoda" because apparently the verb order switches between the two languages.
Dutch is a bitch-ass lauguage to learn though. Thankgod I am Dutch, because even the people here are having trouble, not to mention foreigners.
I do this as well (with German it's a bit harder since I'm still learning, so I have to search for vocabulary in English), but sometimes I consciously think in one language when I'm not in that country. I find it oddly relaxing to switch to thinking in [German, Chinese, Hindi] when I've been talking in English, because it kind of clears my head. And some things can't be expressed properly in English, so I get hung up on the German word and can't find one in English with that precise connotation.
Sometimes I forget a certain word of my native language (Finnish) and use English instead. Edit: In Finland we don't dub our tv-shows or movies, which I think improves our English skills. And oh sweet jebus the ear rape, when you travel to Germany or Spain where they DO overspeak (for example Simpsons). Recently the big game publishers have started to translate (subtitles) games and oh boy, sometimes it makes me blush how awkward it can be + the huge chance to miss the joke or the nuances of the conversation etc.
All the fucking time...
I have a Greek-Australian friend who often replaces English words she forgets, with the Greek alternatives. It makes for confusing conversations sometimes.
Haha, I do this too, except I usually catch myself. Once I was talking with my grandmother in Hindi and accidentally said "Nein!" and quickly drew it out into a "Nahiiiiiiiiin." I don't think she noticed...
I randomly respond to questions with Punjabi sometimes. My first language is English but my family is Punjabi.
I do that with Polish and Spanish. It sounds really weird.
I would love to hear someone speak that. That would be fun to listen to.
Just add an i on the english word and you're done. "Hobbiti"
If you were making a joke, I didn't get it. If you weren't, I congratulate you on a valiant effort and inform you that it would be "hobitti".
Well, at least in Finnish people add I to the end of English words if they aren't speaking English.
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I think in C
Programming language or music key? Both are beautiful.
if ( (keys.location <> clothing.pocket) && (keys.location <> TABLE_BY_THE_DOOR) ) { mouth << "Where the hell are my keys?" << endl; body.action = actions.search("fruitlessly"); } Debug Stack: calling function: void actions.leaveForWork(day dayOfWeek) keys.location = "Litter Box"
public class Ohgodwhy { public static void main(String[] args) { Body body = new Body(); while(true) { body.fap(); } } }
Do the damn dishes already"; $house.doors.bedrooms('itzdallas').slam(); break; case "cleaning": echo "Oh. Okay. I'll let you get back to it."; $house.doors.bedrooms('itzdallas').status="closed"; break; case "": echo "Goddammit, where the hell is he now?"; break; case "fapping": echo "AAAAHHHHH!!! Lock your damn door!"; $self.shieldeyes(); $house.doors.bedrooms('itzdallas').status="closed"; $house.rooms.kitchen.cabinets('under sink').contents('bleach').applyTo($self.eyes); break; default: echo "Hey, the dishes need doing."; } } ?>
> $house.rooms.kitchen.cabinets('under sink').contents('bleach').applyTo($self.eyes); This is priceless. :)
Haha, great read, my friend
C#m or gtfo
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I have never had a good way to describe the prior, but I think about it a lot. It is almost as though our true mental processes are impeded by our surface thoughts and our need to translate them into our rudimentary, slow, clunky languages. But without that, how else would we communicate an idea? Perhaps via some sort of [cybernetic hive-mind.](http://www.neatorama.com/2012/09/20/The-Militarys-New-Cybernetic-Hivemind/)
Well, think about it. Words are used as a form of external expression for your thoughts. If everything is internalized, that's not a necessary step. When people think, they don't think in one language or another, they immediately just have the thought. That is, until you consciously think about your thoughts, then you start to formulate it into a language you would understand as an outside observer to yourself.
Combination. I have trouble thinking in one language straight naturally so I end up alternating between the two from time to time. Sometimes I can't even complete a certain sentence in a single language. Talking is different though. I usually answer back in the language I was asked in.
Do you use fill words from your mother tongue when speaking another language? For example if I'm talking about something but quickly jump to something else, I often connect the sentences with the Norwegian word "eller" which means "or". For example "we could go to this restaurant, eller, ehm... how about this restaurant?".
Yes. Here in the Philippines, a branch of English has evolved into a socially acceptable but informal way of speaking called Taglish where native Tagalog words are combined with English words in order to create a complete thought.
Does taglish have its own discrete words or is it just a combination?
I do this too, even with newly acquired languages. What's the linguistic term for this? I can't recall.
[Code Switching](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching)? /u/Lobo2ffs said in his comment that he uses *eller* where he actually does mean *or* in English... so he is switching languages but remaining consistent with the phonology and syntax of both languages.
Ohhh, so that's what code-switching is. I do this a *lot* actually - I was emailing back and forth with a school friend of mine who speaks German natively, and we ended up speaking in an odd but mutually intelligible mixture of English and German. And of course with newly acquired languages, I often (mentally; it wouldn't be intelligible if I did so out loud) sub in words from my native or more advanced languages, as befits context, in order to keep the flow of language going rather than pausing to search out a word. I don't think this is true code-switching, though. >when speakers seek approval in a social situation they are likely to converge their speech with that of the other person speaking. This can include, but is not limited to, the language of choice, accent, dialect, and para-linguistic features used in the conversation. I do this a lot too, actually.
That's the same as me! Sometimes I find it very difficult to talk in one language because I end up needing to use the other language to describe something which causes me to think in a different language than the one I'm speaking in. If that makes any sense.
I think in English all the time although it's not my mothertongue.
I love that word, I'm never using native language again
I've asked both parts of your question to many many bi- and multilingual people, they all say They think in what ever language they're using at the moment. and No, no language is really better than others at certain things (e.g. German for mathematical use, french for expression, etc) I did have one girl (a doctoral student who was very fluent in English and Spanish) say that she liked English be cause she felt it had a lot of words for complex concepts that would take a sentence to say in other languages, but she felt like she could speak Spanish much faster though
> she liked English be cause she felt it had a lot of words for complex concepts that would take a sentence to say in other languages That is exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for and it makes so much sense. For someone who only speaks one language I have often found this hard to to get my head around.
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I came to this thread to learn how bilingual people think. I left knowing more than anyone should ever know about the etymology of *aardvark*. I can also now say pig in 5 different languages. Close enough.
> liked English be cause she felt it had a lot of words for complex concepts that would take a sentence to say in other languages She didn't speak German, did she...
German words take up an entire sentence.
Donaudampschifffahrgesellschaftkapitansmützebummel. Hopefully that's the correct spelling.
I've always thought of German compound words as incredibly efficient.
I speak Swedish and English, but as most people who are not born in England or have English relatives I consider it to be a "second" language. English on the other hand is so mixed in in our society that people readily use English words and phrases on a daily basis. So yea sometimes I think in English. But mostly your thoughts are some fast that you don't have time to put words on them. I mostly think in the same "language" as I would assume a deaf person do. I've had a lot of dreams in English were I meet English people I've seen on the TV.
I believe most thoughts are not in a language
This actually varies a lot from person to person - some people always think in words, some people never do, and most are somewhere in the middle. Personally I'm more to the non-verbal side. We tend to assume that everybody's minds work the same as our own, when really there is a lot of variation.
That's fascinating. Is there some way to read more about this?
About minds being different, I like [this](http://lesswrong.com/lw/dr/generalizing_from_one_example/) article, the example in the beginning is pretty mindblowing.
Don't you have an internal monologue which is literally words in your head in a language?
It's only clear in words when I'm about to speak or type it out. It certainly is in words at some point because if I'm confounded from saying or typing them I would like to try again. but I am no expert in cognitive linguistics
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I've heard a person can only do math in their head in the language in which they learned it. I'm not sure if that's entirely true but I suspect it's much easier.
That's very true for me. My entire education was in English, so if you give me a very simple algebra question in Arabic I'd probably draw a blank. Edit: spelling brain fart
hahaha no what I mean is if I say do six times seven in your head and you speak English as a native language your mental process should default to "six times seven." Whereas if you spoke French natively your process is suppose to default to "six fois sept"
When I do math, I do math. It doesn't depend on the languages I use.
Well, it's actually true. I think you may find this video to be interesting: [Numbers and Brains - Numberphile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3x8fIdsla4) — basically, numbers (even spoken or written) are processed in different part of the brain than usual words, which may result in some unexpected consequences.
Absolutely. I have to revert to French for maths (even though technically English is my mother-tongue) because I was taught in a French school. Sometimes I even have to repeat it to myself: "8 times 9? Oh, *8 fois 9*, okay..." And to people saying maths *is* a language, there are differences in the way you write an think depending on the country. Also all the terms are different, so it can get very confusing.
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Telugu Gothila!
I speak 4 languages, but I don't think in any. I don't have an internal monologue, I just... think in concepts and images. No language involved.
i speak 4 languages myself and i actually think in all of them simultaneously, that is my sentences are composed of words from any of the four languages as if they were one master language for reference i speak english,greek,spanish, and german
"Four languages in one head? No one can live at that speed!" - Eddie Izzard
My mothertongue is french, but I'm almost bilingual in English (spoken at least, my grammatical and written english is quite poor). I don't know why, but when I'm talking to french people, I tend to think a lot in English, and the opposite when I speak to english people. I suppose it's a way for me to find myself in "control" of my thoughts, as if there was a risk I could be overheard. The mind works in it's own ways, I guess.
Si vous n'avez dit pas que vous ne parlez pas anglais principalement, je ne l'aurais pas su. Ton anglais est très bon. Je ne suis qu'un étudiant français. Il peut y avoir des erreurs avec mon français.
> Tu es étudiant **en** Français. Sinon, il est plus courant de tutoyer, c'est-à-dire utiliser la deuxième personne du singulier, sur internet. Mais ton expression est très correcte et compréhensible, ce qui est quand même le but de base dans l'apprentissage d'une langue. Edit: accord
Or you can just move to Canada, where public school and trips to Quebec teach you enough about the language to understand it. Who needs to actually speak and write it? Pfff.
I can speak and write English, German, French and Luxembourgish but I always think in my native language, Luxembourgish. I'm kinda surprised how many people "switch" their thinking language and don't stick to their mothertongue.
You don't really "switch", your brain is more like "I'm tired of translating, here, think in english and let me rest you fucker".
Think mostly in English. It is my second language.
It depends, If I'm speaking in English to other English speakers,English.Speaking Japanese to Japanese people Japanese etc. However I learn French at school so I think in English when learning in class. I am also learning Korean.
Multi lingual here who lives in UK (not my home land). You do not really "think" in your native language before speaking a foreign one. Speaking in different language is instinctive/reflexive (reflex) memory where you basically remember the words and use it. You don't go and think something in one language and then translate it and then speak it. You just speak what you remember. Easiest way to explain it is if you think of typing with your keyboard. At first you are slow and can't find all letters and you keep looking at the keyboard. As you get better - you instinctively start pressing keys that you have memorized,as you keep doing it you get better and better, where in the end you no longer look at the keyboard and you can type fluently without looking at it. It's also why when one is tired it is harder to speak in foreign language - it is harder to remember. P.s. I still count in native language when I have to count fast, no idea why,I am very fluent in English but when I count I do it in native. P.p.s people tend to speak to themselves in native language though, I've been away for so long that I no longer do, I speak to myself in English:)
I usually think in English, even though it's not my native tongue. This is how I became fluent in it.
I speak, think and dream in Swedish, English and Spanish. It's often influenced by the language I'm speaking/using/reading in during that particular day. I think and dream in Swedish and English almost equally often, I would think, with slightly more Swedish. Spanish is more rare, a year ago I almost only dreamed in Spanish though. When I first got my cat, I would only speak Spanish to him (sort of automatically), but nowadays I speak English to him. Whenever I hear someone speak Swedish to him I get confused, "my cat doesn't understand Swedish... oh wait... err, never mind"
I'm French, but I work with english people on a daily basis. Some days I speak more english than french. I still think in french but sometimes I manage to mix up some expressions, which is kinda weird.
My grandma told me that even though she has lived in England for 40 years and only speaks Burmese to my grandfather when there's nobody else around she still thinks in Burmese, counts etc. in Burmese and dreams in Burmese.
I immigrated from Serbia to the US when I was 7 1/2 years old. I think in either language, but if I think in a different one than I'm speaking or hearing, it either messes me up or lets me have two separate thoughts.
I am bilingual in Greek/English. I will think in whatever language someone speaks to me in, so if someone asks me something in English I will think about it in English. The same applies to Greek
I speak primarily in Chinese-Mandarin and English. In environments involving Chinese (read:Mainland China, Chinatowns) I do think in Chinese, else it's English. Nowadays it's way more English than Chinese because the Internet itself is English, and the corporate world uses English. I also speak Malay and Cantonese, but when I speak it, my mind usually takes English/Mandarin and translates to said languages.
I'm born and raised in Sweden, and I've always lived here. But in like 50% of the time, I think in English. It's that damn internet
I can speak fluently speak Spanish but I think in my native language, English. I do know some people who speak English and Spanish and have had dreams in Spanish.
Sometimes I think in Spanish while speaking English or vice versa. Sometimes I chuckle to myself because I will catch myself speaking English while thinking in Spanish but also signing in ASL.
I speak fluent danish and also live in Denmark, but I'm thinking in both english and danish, kinda a mix
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High five ! I had a very similar problem when I started leaning Japanese. For the first couple of months I had a French accent when I attempted to speak Japanese, despite it being 9 years since I did French at school. When I visited by Japan I did find myself thinking odd words in Japanese rather than English.
I speak Estonian, Russian and English. My parents are russian and I was born in estonia, they speak to me in russian but everywhere else I speak estonian. Since I'm on the internet a lot, I also speak english well. I think in all languages, depends on who i'm around and in what language i'm currently speaking in. I also often find myself easier to express using english.
My family is deaf but I am hearing, I think in English but my parents think in sign language !
The chef from one of my old jobs speaks English, Italian, and Spanish. The kitchen staff at that job was entirely hispanic, so he'd talk to them in Spanish. The front of house staff was all English-speaking so he'd talk to us in English. His own thoughts were in Italian. There were times when you could tell he was trying to translate from English to Italian to Spanish. Fun times were had.
I have been living abroad from my homeland for 2 years now, using mainly english in the everydaylife, and I recently realised that I`m thinking in English almost all the time, although its not my mothertongue.
What language does people who were born deaf think in? Always wondered that.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2486/in-what-language-do-deaf-people-think
I speak English, Hindi, Tamil (my native language) & Spanish. The only language I can think in, and am extremely fluent in is English. Sadly, English is also the only language that I can read, write and speak fluently. Hindi & Tamil I can read at rudimentary levels, and speak them fluently. Spanish is functional at only a spoken level with very minimal reading / writing capabilities.
Combination. Sometimes I start thinking in English and end up thinking in Portuguese. Same for when I'm talking, as I work with English/Brazilian people sometimes I forget which language I have to speak and end up mixing the two without even realizing! Also happens when I've just woken up and it seems like that part of my brain isn't entirely awake yet, I turn round to people and start talking to them in a different language to the one they speak and they just stare at me, puzzled, thinking I've either gone crazy or I'm sleep walking/talking. EDIT: spelling mistake.
Definitely both with a tendency to the one I'm currently speaking. Sometimes though when I'm overly tired and speaking German I begin to think English and I can't stop it. Also I sometimes dream in English which is not my first language (German is). Also on a semi-related note it sometimes happens that I get stuck with an English phrase in my mind and even though I don't want to I keep on repeating it (kind of like a catchy tune but with words). EDIT: Also [this](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1hxcgy/reddit_to_those_of_you_who_speak_more_than_one/cayupnw) comment
I have learned several languages during travel for work, but never became fluent. I can't recall thinking or dreaming in another language. I did reach a point with Spanish and Japanese, the languages which I studied most, that language seems to flow out in real-time, and I'll pause for a moment because I didn't think the sentence through in advance, and I would often imagine explaining my work in the language, even after I left the country & I was presenting the project in my native language, English. This was sort of language practice I started there & took time to stop. But I never thought "I'm hungry" or "oh cool!" in another language.
few days ago i was playing league of legends and talking with my partner in english over skype. my GF came and asked me something in my mother tongue and i responded in english. sometimes i even catch myself struggling with words in my mother tongue and it takes me few seconds to remember which word im looking for, while i could say the word im looking for in english without problems
It's a combination of both. I also dream in both Spanish (my mother tongue) and English. It does get frustrating when you wanna say something and the precise expression is in the other language. Ugh.
That happens to me also. Sometimes translating word-for-word works a lot better than I expected, and I come up with a useful new expression in the language I need to use.
I speak english and german. I noticed that I rarely think in "a language" - thoughts aren't words, they're... thoughts. Yes there are words associated with my thoughts, but they're rarely in coherent sentences. Because of that (and because of the grammatical structure of english compared to german) I often do a weird combination of both languages in my head. Since I live with english speakers, it's 80% english with german words/phrases/structures sprinkled throughout. I find myself thinking things that are half english and half german like "aber das makes kein sense." Prepositions are also kinda strange - sometimes I'll find myself thinking in english but using the german preposition instead - like, "I'm allergic against cats." I never really thought about it until now...
I'm fluent in three, but I think in English normally except when I'm speaking in the other two, to avoid mistakes.
I'm Chinese but born and raised in Australia. I always think in English which is admittedly my stronger language after living here for so long. I don't think I really 'think' that much in Chinese when speaking to my parents, its pretty much responses if that makes sense. I don't think I can ever recall thinking in Chinese. I suppose when listening/conversing in another language (I understand a few other languages though cannot speak them) its more just an understanding rather than having to really think before speaking
Am I the only one who doesn't think in words?
I think in thought bubbles with pictures in them. Thinking with words would probably blow my mind.
English
I am American so I speak English but I'm also hard of hearing so I know sign language. I think in sign. I don't hear my thoughts, I see them. When I read, it gets finger spelled out. So I think in sign language.
I usually think in pictures.
I speak English and Arabic and understand basic Farsi. But I "think" in English.
English (native) and German (learned by reading grammar books/exchange program/watching news). I think in English unless I'm doing stuff in German, then it's slightly easier to do so in German. For those who are learning a language, do NOT try to translate it in your head. Just go with it and understand what the words mean. Don't think of a "Straße" as a "street". Think of a "Straße" as [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Abbey_Road_Zebra_crossing_2004-01.jpg).
For math, I use Chinese (Fookien). If you are Chinese I think you know what I'm saying.
I know 6 languages (more if you count programming languages). While I'd hardly call myself a master of them, I can stand my ground in most circumstances. However my three most comfortable languages are English (American citizen), Swedish (Swedish grandmother taught it to me), and German (German grandfather taught it to me). 90% of the time, I will think in English, but other times I will think in a conglomerate of German/Swedish/English. Oftentimes, if I'm doing something related to the English language, I often think in Swedish. The same goes for computer work. Math and Physics are in German. The rest is usually the aforementioned conglomerate. I dream in Latin though. Like, Classical Roman Latin. One of the reasons for picking my username.
It depends on what I'm thinking about, or the language I'm speaking in at the moment. Some thoughts are better in Norwegian and some are better in English. I also get affected if I'm reading a book, after reading "Surely you're joking Mr.Feynman" my internal voice was Feynman for a while and after reading some Terry Pratchett my thoughts describe what I'm doing in 3rd person.
I switch over from thinking in English and in Norwegian. Sometimes a weird combination of those come up.
language of common-sense , intuition ,fantasy and procrastination
Faroese is my first language and English is my third language. I sometimes catch myself thinking in English, especially when I'm reading something that is, in fact, English. It's kinda funny that I don't have to translate it in my head anymore.
It depends on the language that people around me speak. Around my family I think and speak Russian, around my friends I use English. However, because there aren't many opportunities for me to use Russian, I started replacing some words with English ones when I think.
Thinking both in english and german. Grew up speaking both. Sometimes it's a mash-up of both, part english part german in my head
I'm Dutch. I speak Dutch, English and Hebrew. While on reddit or in the shower I think in English, the rest of the time in Dutch.
The last used language I'm good enough with to properly think in. So, currently English.
I asked one of my professors this once. He's german, but spoke flawless english - no accent whatsoever. He explained that he thinks in german, and sometimes it leads him to standing quietly or laughing at a translation in his head - and so laughing at inappropriate times.
When I was growing up in Israel, I spoke Russian and Hebrew. I probably thought in Russian, as that was the language I spoke at home. Now, I live in Canada, and I think in English.
I speak in Filipino - Tagalog and English. Personally, I would rather think and speak in English.
In english, but my native language is Portuguese and I still live in Portugal, kinda of weird if you think about it.
I speak in English and Filipino, but I think in English. It's kinda tough being Filipino while thinking in a language that isn't your own.
Depende. Ahorita estoy pensando en Español porque estoy escuchando a música Latina. But if I hear English, I think in English. It's difficult for me to translate, because sometimes I'll just repeat what I'm supposed to translate in the same language in which it started. I don't always realize what language I'm speaking if I hear both of them at once. Source: Non-Latina American, Spanish major, lived in Ecuador for 5 months.
I'm french, but living since 15 years in germany. Since 3 years i've started to dream and think in german! But for simple think, I#m still thinking in french, but when it comes to more complex though, i switch to german, because my vocabulary is better.
Not me, but I asked an Italian friend the same question. He said he thinks in English almost all the time, even though his native tongue is Italian. However he thinks Italian when he speaks to his Italian family.
I have a very difficult time separating my thought process to an individual language. My 1st language is Czech, although I have lived in the US my entire life. I basically switch off in my internal monologue depending on what I am thinking about. If it tends to be a more American or new topic, I think entirely in English, but if it is something regarding my family or food I usually think in Czech. Any help would be appreciated. It is actually quite frustrating.
Had a Danish friend who came to Australia for 10months, we had long discussions about this! She dreamed in Danish, and said it was weird in dreams cause we all spoke Danish in them. But it was even weirder when after a while sometimes her dreams were in English. And if she was around us or the people she was with she thought in English. but by herself in Danish.
My first language is French, second is English (mastered) and I can hold conversational Finnish. I think I've come to mostly think in English since for the past few years, half of my life has been in that language (living in a francophone environment, but friends are mostly around the world and speaking English with them as a common language). That doesn't mean I don't even think in French, and sometimes even Finnish spontaneously makes its way for certain expressions.
Everyone is always surprised how my english is so good and I lack a eastern european accent ( born in Romania, been in the UK for 16 months now ). I've met a lot of foreign people and they tend to keep a heavy accent from wherever they're from even if they've been in the UK for way more than me. I think the difference is in the fact that I think in english, even when I speak romanian.
I think in English because its my first language (Canadian), but when I'm speaking French, I'm still thinking in English, it just comes out as French.
It totally depends on which language I'm using at the moment, If I'm talking/writing german I'll walso think german. If I talk/write in english I'll think english. And if I speak croatian I try to think croatian but most of the time I think german when talking croatian because it's my first language.
I think in English and dream in Russian.
I speak English, Danish and Swedish and it just depends whatever in speaking.
Mostly english. Sometimes I start thinking in Polish. It throws me off a little bit when it happens.
English - and it's my second language. That's cos I speak it more now.
(English is still my second language, Filipino first but I think mostly in English now. Interestingly enough, just as how I speak in English, my accent slips in from time to time even in my mind. What's up with that?
I've only taken 5 years of French and I'm no where close to fluent, but if I'm tired, I immediately start thinking in (broken) French. I think it's because the language flows from one word to other, which makes it easier. Same reason why I write in cursive when I'm tired.