Bilingual People - What Language Do You Think In?

[sternumagnum]

But why would you dream in a different language just because you're bisexual?..

[BelgianSigma]

Actually it's kinda of hard to say right now I am living in the US so I think mostly in English but when I am in Belgium I speak French and think in French because everyone else around me do so it depends on the environment and about my dreams that's something that I don't control so it's just a mix of both English and French that only I can understand (I also speak a little bit of Dutch) =D

[awsomguy09]

haha im 13 years old and i live in finland, and i ALWAYS think in english

[thisistoocharming]

I speak English and Mandarin fluently, without any non-native accents.

Mostly I speak to myself(or to my pets) in English, and sometimes in Mandarin. It depends on nothing.

I guess that I think in English since I have been told that lots of Mandarin sentences that are originally from me look English. Syntactic structures, I mean. Syntax is not grammar.

And I dream in Mandarin because my major at college is Chinese Linguistics. :)

[Trinivalts]

Monolingual i guess. Started learning eng shortly before school, even though sparsely. Was exposed to rus and ger on tv early on, just listening.

latvian: native,

english: knowledge - advanced (still forgets words quite often), speech - fluent (I don't feel any suspension if i have to talk as opposed to rus & ger)

german: knowledge - basic to intermediate, speech - currently deteriorated.

russian: knowledge - basic, speech - none to basic. (only one which i hadn't learnt in school at all)

[bfmv2216]

hey :) i lived in london for nearly 15 years and then moved to france, im 17 and a half now and i speak both english and french fluently but i think in english as its the language i grew up with and have talked more in my life. although i do dream in french and english, depending on the people in my dream. weird isnt it

[Kbabykgirlk]

My family has many languages, i think in English cause its what I speak for most of the time but I usually dream in what ever language I spoke or heard the last before I went to sleep. I used to think in Polish a lot when I was very little but not anymore,it was at the point of my childhood when I knew only 2 languages.

[Sadrianamusicfan]

my native lenguage is spanish but i speak english german and portuguese too i dream in english spanish dialogues

[TheAspiringLinguist5]

Hey!

My native language is English. However, I speak Spanish and Russian.

I always think in my native language of English. I hardly ever think in another language. If I do think in another language then it would only be a few things in Spanish. I NEVER think in Russian unless of course I'm speaking it because you must think of what words to say and such... I guess the reason for this is that a language like Russian is so far away from a language such as English.. idkk know.

[QuarantinePi]

I speak English and French, dream in English and think in English.

[AmaoNoBolso]

my language s french, but i always use english sentences to express hangry-hapiness-sadness etc....it s weird i guess lol

[2emma1]

I was raised in french, i speak french, english and a little bit of spanish, and i think and dream in french :P

[EdgarVenomous]

I was born and raised in Mexico and I speak three languages, spanish(obviously) english and french...

What I can say is that it depends on how much you've mastered a second language, sometimes its easier to explain things with your first language even when you have to speak a different one...

and I've never dreamed neither english nor french dialogues... only spanish!

xo <3

[uwed100]

I also do not think or dream in languages really.Only if I want

to tell others about my thoughts and dreams I have to use one of the languages I know.And I always speak the language best that I have been using the most

recently.

I am bilingual and speak 3 other foreign language in addition,so 5 languages.

[euphonies]

I am multilingual and bilingual French/English. I believe I think and dream in concepts and not in languages. So, my brain will say I am thinking in English when I am talking with an English friend. Incredible to see some of the responses here. Do you really think in a language or is that your inner voice you think you hear?

[treez878]

@euphonies thats very true. The only time I think in a language at all is when I'm thinking to myself, or thinking about what to say to someone else.

[CosmicBiohazard]

Not fluently bilingual myself, but I know someone who grew up witth both English and French, so I asked her about it. The responce I got was pretty interesting. According to her, she thinks in what is essentialy half English, half French, where a single sentance alternates between the two. Says the difference is pretty much like the difference between speaking formally or casually.

[junglemaze]

Hi

it depends :)

but the weirdest thing

is that my voice changes according to the language:

-my normal voice is in french ( the language that I use/ think in the most, my thoughts language, i always count in french , it's my father tongue )

-tiny little voice in spanish ( my mother tongue & my emotion language )

-and a deep voice in english ( my holiday language, the one to have fun)

voilà :)

[barkatthemoon6]

That's a weird question. Technically, my native language is English, but my dad speaks German and my great uncle speaks French, so I grew up in a mesh of those three at once and also learned Norwegian to an relatively good level of fluency and did some immersion in Japanese so I speak that fairly decently, though I don't really know a lot of formal stuff.

I guess I usually think in whatever language I am speaking at the time. It's like I enter my (insert language here) mode or something.

[Dunedaincolty]

Even though I'm a native Norwegian, speaking Norwegian obviously, I usually think in English, there are just some words and ways to describe things in English that works better for me. I'll usually know the techy words in English and half the time I can't remember the translation. It's given me the nick name, although a rather long and silly one, "Knut's communication problems"

[chippers333]

and just a translation for the comment i left.

I'm american but i grew up speaking french and english(my mom is a native french speaker) but i have people i speak french with and people i speak english with and with the french people i think in french and with the english i think in english. and its pretty simple, and i have a friend that even though he speaks french at home we speak english because we met a summer camp in new york, but thats the just way i grew up its kinda hard to explain

[chippers333]

Bonjour. j'suis american mais jai grandi en parlant francais et anglais. Je peux faire les deux en fait j'ai des gens avec qui je parle français et avec qui je parle anglais et avec les francais je pense en francais et avec les anglais je pense en anglais. c'est vraiment simple pour moi et j'ai un pote qui fait le même chose. Chez lui c'est en francais, même si on se parle anglais car on s'est rencontré a une colonie de vacances en new york. bah ouai c'est comme ça, mais difficile d'expliquer.

[winterstellar]

I'm norwegian, but I spend so much time on YouTube I've even started thinking in english. : )

[anglicantian]

I'm Danish, and I always think in Danish - except for when I'm drunk, then I sometimes catch myself thinking English - sometime with American accent, other time British..

[TheLifthrasir]

I speak several language but live in Northern Norway so I speak Sámi and Norwegian. I speak Icelandic, Sámi, Norwegian, Swedish and English because I've lived in all those countries.

I think in Northern Sámi, the language I use day to day and the language I've been raised to use since I was around 5 when I moved with Sámi speaking relatives. Dreaming, usually Norwegian or Sámi, probably because I use them most often.

[TheNorthernPariah]

I have a friend who is half Irish and half Turkish, she says she tends to think english and dream in Turkish

[Unknownkid2]

I speak Spanish and English and I live in Puerto Rico. I usually think and dream in Spanish but I mix them sometimes and think in both. I think I mix them because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory so I learned English. I would have to say however, that Spanish is my dominant language and I dream and think mostly in Spanish.

[YouStoleMyTube]

Hey I can think in both Mandarin and English. It's no trouble going from one to the other. But I mostly dream in English.

[superleo30317]

I'm American but I speak Arabic and Spanish pretty fluently and I can speak some Japanese. I can also understand (but not speak) several similar languages. As far as which language I think it, it depends on what language I'm speaking at the time and the environment around me. But probably my deep thoughts are almost always in English especially if I am not in the mood to use another language.

[Yulam24]

I'm from Germany and my mother tongues are German and Polish because my family's from Poland. At school I learn English, Latin, French and Spanish. I do think in German and I'd say you always think in the language of the country because otherwise it would be inconvenient to translate it afterwards.

[britishsas123]

BUT when i speak to someone using a different language for example russian, i also think in russian but once my thoughts go deeper like thinking about the vastness of space that's when i think in tagalog again

[britishsas123]

i speak english, tagalog, spanish, a little bit of german , french and russian but i think in tagalog because its the first language i ever learned as i live in a country that primarily speaks it, so probably people think in the language they first learned or use the most, just my opinion though

[aniger818]

i speak spanish and english, and i think in spanglish

[Taarable]

I'm English. So my first language is English. My dad is French, so i am as fluent in French as i am in English. I speak in English at school, but French at home (Mostly, but my mum and her family can't speak French so i have to speak to them in English. My dads family don't speak English so i have to speak to them in French. SO COMPLICATED! lol. I find it funny that my dads parents have never had a conversation with my mum). So i think and dream and speak in both. I'm very good at Russian also.

[nomeinvalidu]

secret fish language

[xxquillify]

Hey there! I'm aspiring to be a polyglot, and I speak Indonesian and English, with a little Mandarin and Japanese (little = I can probably survive in the country but not readily), and I am currently learning Spanish, and hopefully Cantonese. I can also converse in Malay.

Why do I speak them? I am a third culture kid -- of Indonesian and Hong Kong origin, and I live in Malaysia. In my home two languages are spoken with two to three dialects. I dream in English and think in everything!

[cryozo]

I don't get it... Don't Americans learn more languages than English in school? I thought you were taught Spanish atleast?

[alexwribs19]

I speak German, Portuguese, English and some spanish (not fluent in spanish but understand) I think in English because i reside in the US and use the language everyday among peers, work etc... and i have been here for over 20 years, so it's 1st nature to me.

[EUamerican]

I firmly believe that Spanish should be the second language of the United States, but the primary language is English. We already have Spanish as a second language and should not be fought or opposed!.

They have little problems in Belgium with multilingualism as a policy. I am lingual in Spanish and Dutch - and like the ability to have more than my native language.

[JCarolR]

interesting question... i'm a polyglot, i can speak spanish, english, japanese, the official chinese language which is mandarin and two more chinese dialects, cantonese and a dialect called "enpinghua" in chinese. it depends on the situation, if i'm speaking certain language i generally think in that language, but i have bilingual and polyglot friends, and sometimes when i talk to them i mix the languages we know, i say the words in whatever language comes to my head first

[JCarolR]

so, i could say i sometimes think in mixed languages. i've found myself dreaming in every language and dialect i know... although the most common language i dream in is spanish, maybe it's because i live in a country where spanish is the official language, so i'm sorrounded by it.

[tomask95]

i speak 10 languages and i'm from Ireland and yes one of my languages is irish so its really only 9 but i'm fluent in it :) i think in a mixture of languages its sort scary cus i think in german english french spanish irish norweigin portugeese russian dutch and latvian . . every word is from a different language. . . i'm 15 and pure irish:)

[agun17]

I was talked in english and spanish since birth and I can think, talk, read write and dream in both languages without preference.

[PIMikeProd]

In 15 and speak fluent Spanish, English, Portuguese and French, and I'm currently learning Korean, I can read fluently but have very little comprehension. I live in Mexico and Spanish is my native language, English is my second strongest language and definitely the most useful on the whole world, I think and dream in both spanish and english.

[anglicantian]

I think in Danish, sometimes English though, NEVER German.

[juanferbla]

I do both, I have had some dreams in spanish and some in english... it's a great feeling... and about thinking I seriously have some problems because sometimes I expect my boss to speak english and she does spanish or all the way around and I dont understand cause my problem is that i cant do both at the same time... this really gets me upset. and some times i try to avoid the conversation because it makes me feel bad when she switches languages just like that and my pentium 1 brain just crashe

[jevilboy]

haha they asked me this. I never really thought about it. At my house we speak spanish (I live in the U.S. though). I was born here in the U.S. grew up speaking English at school and with friends. its weird because when my friends or teachers would ask me something I would think and answer in English, but when my parents talk to me I always think in Spanish. When I count like numbers and stuff though I always count in spanish in my head. Its really weird. I think in Spanglish. lol

[orlandosoplon77]

"mira chamo"(spanish)

"sabes aquela gaja"(portuguese)

"de la" (spanish)

"turma 2"(portuguese)

"lol es medio"(spanish)

"crazy"(english)

see what i mean? lol we do this VERY VERY often..

[orlandosoplon77]

now, it really gets fun when I'm with a group of friends of different nationalities, but usually all have at least one language in common.

Also its funny how me and some of my friends who also speak more thank one language, many times we say like half a sentencein spanish and half in portuguese or maybe a bit of english lol.

for example: mira chamo, sabes aquela gaja de la turma 2? lol es medio crazy..

[orlandosoplon77]

Hi! I speak fluently portuguese, spanish and english.

This is a question people ask me very often. :)

I always answer, it all depends, mostly it depends What am I doing or with who I am.

For example, (I live right now in Portugal), when I'm at school, I usually think in Portuguese. When I'm at home or with any of my friends who speak spanish, I think in spanish.

When Im on the pc, wether i'm watching movies, listening to music, playing online games, etc. I think in english.

[XyliaTaffan]

I speak english, german and dutch fluently. but i dream in english. i ussually think in all the languages that i know. sometimes its easier to express myself in english and sometimes its easier in dutch. i perfected the languages in school but i learned the basics at 4 years of age. i sometimes use3 languages in 1 sentence. I think people think in multiple languages because sometimes its better to express urself, like if im really mad than German is a really good language to blow of some steam

[Jewlum]

both! I'm more fluent in one than the other so I tend to think more in English than Hebrew however I do dream in Hebrew, and I talk in my sleep in Hebrew often.

I had surgery a few years ago and when I came out of anesthesia I was speaking Hebrew and could not make myself speak in English again until I woke up a little more.

[miglegtr]

hey are you still on youtube? i want to make a video response to this :D

[rohanwotan2]

An interesting question and well done to you for asking it!

My wife is a francophone that learned English at age 7. According to her, she thinks and dreams in English. She prefers to work in English as the words are far more precise and clear compared to French.

While I am not bilingual, I have worked in both of Canada's official languages, with the military. A number of times I would receive a French military message (kinda like a telegram) and even Francos couldn't tell me its subject

[micheljr17]

interesting topic

well

bonjour, je parle un peu de francais, et je suis bilingue en l'anglais et l'espagnol.

hola, pues yo hablo Espanol, ingles y un poco de frances.

well i speak English because im american, but im bilingual with spanish because of my parents. and im part french so i know alot of random french. in all i think and dream in English. but since my parents speak spanish i use it a lot but if i want i can think in spanish, but naturally everythings in English,

-Jaime Michel

[Fiasito220]

I have this friend who was born in Colombia but has always lived in the USA, and he speaks English and Spanish and he is VERY fluent in both languages, and one day i asked him if his thoughts were in English or in Spanish, and he said that for some things he thought in Spanish, but most of the times his thoughts were in English.

[Fiasito220]

Hi, I'm from Colombia and i speak Spanish, English and a bit of Portuguese. I've always lived in Colombia, so I think in spanish all the time. But when you are talking to someone in another language, you have to think in that language. I mean, there is one point in which you can't be translating all the time, so, u think in that other languge. And this is something that eventually occurs.

[japanimefan02]

Although I am not fluent yet, there are times when I think in Japanese. It's small phrases only, and there are even times where I cannot remember the Engish word for something.

For example, I was talking with someone and I could not remember the English word for 'toy'. The only thing I could think of was the Japanese word "omocha" (おもちゃ). It was frustrating. But, I am not going to stop learning Japanese just because of that.

[yourbesteyes]

That's normal:for example,I live in the canadian province of quebec,where most people speak french:so I speak french but writing to you in english:I just have to find the equivalent words in english in my head!lol

[OtakuVideos]

Well I am Colombian so I'm fluent in Spanish and English. But I've been in the U.S sense I was 2 years old so I think in English, but I can think in Spanish. I find it harder thought just because I do everything in English. lol It's not like I go to school and take my math test in Spanish :P or w/e I'm taking Japanese in school but so far I suck I don't really know anything lol but I really want to learn mandarin, japanese, and hindi :D

[alfabetdodupy]

I'm fluent in 3 languages and I think in 3 of them, that actually depends on situation.

But if you ask me, it will be: 45% english, 30% polish (native lang), 25% japanese

[haelionis]

Cantonese was my first language, I speak it fluently, but I think in English, 100% of the time. I'm fluent in both Canto and English, using Canto at home with the parents, and English at school and in public.

I'd say I spend 80% of my time speaking in English, and the rest speaking in Canto.

[haelionis]

Even weirder is that even when I'm speaking Cantonese, I think consciously in English when I speak Cantonese, however, the Canto is in my sub-conscious mind, it's ingrained so I don't have to think and translate English into Canto before I speak. Unlike when I speak Italian.

Like if I'm speaking to a cousin, and she's weird or something, It'd be like this:

Mind: Man, she's weirrrdddddddddddddd

Speaking (in Canto): How are you, etcetcetc.

[Remediac]

I speak English as my first language, and I also speak fluent German. But all my thoughts and dreams are all in English. I can't recall, but maybe on a few instances I have had short thoughts in German. I'll have to pay attention from now on though!

[Songweita]

isnt one of the questions "what Language Do You Think In?"

[Songweita]

hi!, im from Paraguay, and my native languages are guarani and spanish, (i also speak portuguese and chinese and im learning french)...and i can tell u that when u "think", u dont use any language, because to generate the "idea" u r thinking of there are other factors affecting that process so u dont think in any "language", u use the language to "express" that idea.

[feuchster]

doesn't answer the question she is asking

[Mexican87]

I want to be fluent in french and mandarin but I my French teacher was American which means she didn't give shit about foreign language and my classmates in Mandarin are too retarded to learn so the teacher has teach 3 words per week.

[QuarantinePi]

@Mexican87 You won't get fluent in Core French/Mandarin, you'd have to do immersion.

[e83lol]

i wouldn't say i'm bilingual, but i feel very comfortable with understanding and communicating in english. that's all ^^

[e83lol]

for some reason i prefer thinking and expressing myself in english, for instance, i write most things in english because i want to. ^^. don't know about dreams though..

[e83lol]

my native language is norwegian, but I've been learning english in school (from age 9) and later on, german and some arabic. g and a are not that fluently though.. for some reason i've had a habit of thinking in english since sometime in my teenages (in my twenties now), and often i don't realize this (or reading english) before encountering a difficulty, like not knowing a certain word, then i'm like: why do i think this in english instead of norwegian??? so weird.

[Crazygreeklad]

Mi lengua materna es inglés y pienso en español... ¡Y sí soy blanco! ¡ja ja ja!

[davesmilez]

you NATIVE language-is the answer

[Zee06]

Ok, but in Europe sometimes your Native language can be 2 or 3 languages. I know people that grew up speaking 3 Languages just like you or I grew up speaking english. So if you have 3 native languages what is the answer?

[davesmilez]

there is no such thing as 3 native languages. There is always a preference language, the one that you brain subconsciously picks to think on

[wasgeht18]

Im from Italy i was born there and moved to germany when i was 3 years old(well my parents did)I speak 3 Languages fluently that would be Italian German and english.When i dream or think its always in italian im just used to it since we talk only italian when we are at home and somehow its because i was born there.....not a quite good explanation i know but i think you get the point...^^

[rahma4]

Im bi-lingually fluent in danish and english, and know sufficient french and german to understand what others are saying, replying in those languages tends to happen haltingly though.

But I think and dream in pictures :) A result of my childhood upbringing reading tons of books and comics, and gradually running over into computer-games and early console games.. I create scenarios in my mind, and substitute the speech characters in my mind might be having, with pictures :)

[yFANTgirl]

I'm fluent in four languages (Polish, English, Lithuanian, Russian) and know a little bit of two more (Spanish and Japanese).

When I was little I thought in Polish, when I started reading books in Lithuanian, I switched to thinking in Lithuanian. And when I got internet connection and immersed myself in English language, I started to think in English.

I have no idea what language I dream in...

[hotaruk0]

my mother tongue is chinese, but i learned french pretty early and then came the english.

i do speak fluently those 3 languages but my english is still improving. i think...i think mostly in french but sometimes chinese and english, depending on what it is o_o'' well actually ive never thought in which language im thinking...weird xD

im learning spanish at school and its been 2yrs and a half, so i can understand quite a bit and talk a bit also =] ive also been learning how to write in

[hotaruk0]

write in traditional chinese since child and trust me...its awful -__- u can only learn chinese by heart.

sometimes when im in deep thoughts, i think in english, but when i cant find the proper word that i want to express, i think of it in french which is easier for me.

[hotaruk0]

ive got no clue in wat language i dream, but probably the 3 languages chinese-french-english depending on what, again. eg. i dream of talking to my mom, then i dream in chinese.

[dalik25]

I'm Romanian and I moved the he US 6 years ago to go to college. I speak English and Romanian fluently. I think in both languages and I frequently have dreams in English. I started learning English when I was 10. I also speak French and Spanish but I don't use those much so I never think in those languages. I think it depends on where you live and how much you use the languages. Great question.

[mixedpapii]

I am from Hawai'i. I speak English(Hawaiian pidgin), but being that Hawaii is such a diverse place you hear many different languages. Im Hawaiian, but I know how to speak Spanish, French, Samoan, Tahitian, Maori, and some Filipino. And ummm i dream in English...LOL

[dordor00]

I speak engilsh and i live in a mostly spanish neigbourhood, and learned alot from myfriends family and working in a restaraunt. i took 3 years of italian in highschool, and then two more years of spanish in college. so to answer your question i mostly think in english, unless im TRYING to think is spanish, and i sometimes dream in seemingly fluent spanish, although my spanish is not perfect!

[kiitoszek69]

Hi ! Your video is interesting. I am Polish and Polish is my native language. So I dream in Polish. But I speak English pretty well and German, too. So sometimes I think in English, in German rarely. I try to learn Finnish and Norwegian but it is hard.

Greetings !

[elchessboy0wnzU]

Well im speak english and spanish.

I am of Italian descent, but i was born here...and I forced myself to speak spanish since latinas are the hottest chicks in the world...!

[MerkurX]

I think that's great that you're asking this question and you're also learning spanish. We need more linguistically open-minded people in the states! :)

[TAKENnameARGH]

I think you tend to think in the language you speak at the moment. Fluency means being able to process a language in you head, that thinking. I personally think in finnish, but not when I speak english or swedish. French is trickier cuz i dont get a lot of practice, so I sometimes use foreign words im a middle of a paragraph, just to avoid goig "hmmm" for a few seconds, its ackward... just means im not fluent in french.

[CrazyGuyFromDaBay]

Im Bilingual and I speak English And Spanish fluently. Sometimes I think in Spanish and respond in English, and sometimes I think in English and respond in Spanish.... haha. hmm sorta crazy for some but yeah its me. sometimes I dream in Spanish and sometimes in English. I like to talk in spanglish with friends who speak both languages. But for those who speak only english i think and speak in english, the same with spanish speakers. yuupp yuupp Si SenoRRR LOL

[buscapleitosconrazon]

The Americans, British and Australians are too lazy to learn another language because the rest of the world use English as the lingua franca.

At work I speak English, when I'm in the mood for romance I usually speak French, and when when I curse I speak Spanish.

[CrazyGuyFromDaBay]

kinda the same 4 me, for love stuff i speak in spanish usually but not all the time.

[TheLittleRussian2]

I was born in Ukraine, and my first language is Russian. I've been living in Israel since I was 2. I know Hebrew better than Russian, but I prefer to speak Russian. I never think in Hebrew when I don't have to, most of the time thinking in Russian, and seldom in English (curse globalisation). It's a conscious choice; I consciously avoid thinking in Hebrew. My dreams are usually in Hebrew during the school year, when I speak Hebrew often, but during holidays I sometimes dream in Russian.

[chipperexcuse]

i would love to post a reply video - but i can't right now!

i am bilingual: english and japanese.

i grew up speaking mostly english but always listening to japanese (my mother is japanese).. and now that i'm older and i'm living in japan and speaking more and more japanese, i've been thinking in japanese. now i think, dream, and speak both languages.. it's kind of weird.

[NorthwesternerGuy]

It's a highly interesting question :)

A lot of Spaniards are bilinguals (depending on the region they live) I'm from Galicia and I'm bilingual.

Which language do I think in? I think, although I'm perfectly bilingual, I think I think in Spanish rather than Galician.

Just my contribution :)

[XhpmusicdramavegX]

I learned spanish in school, but currently I speak Spanish just as much as english because I hang out with the "Esol" kids. I think in both languages. Prior to learning spanish, I though only in English, but now I think in both about the same, though most of my thoughts are in "spanglish". My dreams vary aswell. I will often dream in Spanish or English, but spanglish or both languages are spoken most often. I think this has a lot to do with comfort of the speaker and thier conversation partner.

[ajff05]

and rarely I think in French 'cuz I'm learning it yet!! About my dreams, mostly I dream in Spanish (my mother tongue) but I've dreamt in English either and too many times.. But that's when I dream about an American or British Actor/actrees, Singer o some!!

[ajff05]

Hi There! I'm from Venezuela and I'm studying Modern Languages at the University. I think in... that depends.. if I'm speaking English I always think in it except when i have to use conditionals (they're too difficult to me!). But in daily life I think a 30% in English even though i'm speaking Spanish...

[bombanonoh]

English Czech French and Spanish.I have english as my first language probably because of the country I'm from.I have Czech because I was raised with it.FRench I have from my school and spanish of my own free choice. I think in English, but sometimes I think in Czech or Spanish.When Im speaking a certain language, I always think in that language. My dreams have always been in english But I have woken up to saying something in Czech.I think It's probably because it was the languages I grew up with

[Nikolette11]

Im from Mexico, my paternal grandfather is Scottish so my dad's side of the family speaks both english and spanish, I do too since my dad spoke to me in english since I was very young. Even though Im from Mexico I had a lot of english speaking friends where I lived (Mexico City) and pretty much used english more than spanish, so oddly enough I think in english. That doesnt take away that Im 100% fluent in spanish, but in the area I live we use a lot of spanglish.

[tvbmovielover]

I speak vietnamese and english.

I always think in english and dream in english.

[venomscorpion]

I normally think in Bahasa Betawi (one of the ethnic language in Indonesia), my first language. But sometimes I dream in English or Spanish, depends on the location and to whom I speak in my dream. BTW, I speak Betawi, Bahasa Indonesia, English, Spanish, and I understand Russian and Arabic although not actively speaking.

[venomscorpion]

The funny thing is when I'm angry, surprised or shocked (anything related to strong emotion), spontaneously I curse or blabber in the language that is not spoken by people around me. I guess it's some kind of my "defense method" so people around me will not know that I curse them with dirty words.

[twyla3]

I had a little Korean international student stay with me for a year and she told me that she dreamt in Korean. Makes sense because English was not her mother tongue but she thought everyone dreamt in Korean even the English speaking people, it was too cute.

[lllilijanalll]

i think in Croatian(Bosnian) but i also know German(good as i know Croatian(Bosnian) cuz i lived in Germany) and English. sometimes i try to think in English to see how well i know it and i also speak it sometimes at home whit my sister s my dreams are usually in Croatian(Bosnian) but i had dreams where i spoke English or German. when i was little i also mixed German and Croatian(Bosnian) so i would say things like "gepao"(GE you add when you make Perfekt and Croatian word pao-fall:)

Pozdrav

[lllilijanalll]

i was living in Germany until i was 6 so i know German very good and when i was little i was speaking German and Croatian mix with a Bosnian accent so when i listen to the videos now i hardly understand what i`m saying. i think in Croatian cuz i live here but sometimes i think in English just to see how well i know it.i dream i dream in Croatian but once i dreamed in English ,and that that you try to thing at the words as a thought thats the same whit my German but not English.

Bok (Bye)

[SigfreCs]

Hello.

Just so you know, I think in both English and Spanish, if you are talking to English speaking people, you think in English, the same is true when you are talking to Spanish speaking peole. Some times when you talking to another person, that also speaks the two languages, then is alot more fun, because you can mix it back and forth.

I hope that answers your question.

Take care and good day

Freddy Castillo

[stufflol15]

well, i speak english spanish and french all flently. I speak french with my mom, spanish with my dad, and english at school. Whats weird though is that i always think in english even though i couln't speak it until i was like, 4. I don't know what language i dream in though... im also currently trying to learn mandarin which makes it weird cuz i am know in the stage where random chinese words pop into my head and i can make full sentences...

[tangchikhay]

Holy cow, we almost speak all of the same languages... My native tongue are Cantonese(a Chinese dialect), Mandarin and English. In school, i learned Malay. Later on, i learned Spanish, French and Hindi. People often ask the same questions. I think i am at my best (communication wise) when i think and speak in Cantonese and English.I am also fluent in French and Hindi but i often have to translate certain words when I speak in those two languages...

[Werelock1]

In terms of dreaming, I'm surprised that I still primarily seem to dream in English--I think... Sometimes I don't even remember what language a dream was in, and sometimes I've found that I'm communicating in 3 languages in the same dream sequence. The dynamics behind language are simply fascinating.

[Werelock1]

I was born in the US, but I spent the last 8 years in Europe, where I learned Norwegian and Dutch. I now work as a translator.

For a native English speaker who learned these languages after 20, I am quite good. There are various levels of fluency, but in my opinion you're truly fluent when your 'conversational thinking' occurs in the other tongue. This means that your responses come to you automatically, almost like a knee-jerk reaction, w/o 1st going through an internal translation process.

[Authorized77]

That latter thing that you mention is something that I very much want to attain with at least one language, if for nothing else for the process of it. I am trying to think of each word as a thought, and not as an English word.

[LMSbeauty]

@Werelock1 I have been learning french for like 5 years and I am not advanced french (yet - hopefully I will be when I move there!) but some, not to complicated sentences come to me automaticly or I'll talk it in my head

[dragon3006]

HI I'm Latino and I'm multilingual in 4 languages. I speak Spanish, English, French, and Italian. Currently learning German and Japanese. But i mostly think in English and in Spanish with deeper understanding of situations involving something serious. I find myself dreaming in French and my deepest feelings are found in French also. My psychology is found in Spanish and Italian. I came to know all these languages for fun and for my own benefit and communication.

[Authorized77]

How interesting! I wonder if the sounds themselves have anything to do with when you find a language most comfortable, or if it's the way in which you learned it, or your perception of it as a whole or part, etc.

[Elvoalven]

I'm Swedish, and I have had alot of people ask me that. I speak Swedish, French, German, English, and some Japanese, so I suppose that I think in whatever language I'm speaking, unless I just came home from school, where I speak English. I think I dream mostly in Swedish, but I do remember dreaming in English a few times. I feel that English and Swedish are my strongest languages, so they have more psycological connection I suppose. Interesting question!

[Authorized77]

Thanks for your reply, it's very interesting to hear about :)

[Gnickk]

It depends on where I happen to be. If I'm in a french-speaking environment for a few days and weeks, I start thinking more and more in french. In an english-speaking environment I think in English all the time unless there's an idiom in the other language that's most appropriate for the situation at hand. I've dreamt in both. Swearing and other automatic speech is also dependent on the environment.

[Authorized77]

Funny thing, I've been falling asleep "mumbling" Spanish to myself now that I have been upping the study on Spanish (and I'm in South Texas). I go to sleep subconsciously conjugating endless lists of verbs. The problem is that it was hard to go to sleep last night!

[phantasma616]

haha i find myself thinking in spanish alot (i started in english and learned spanish later) and i've had dreams where its in spanish, tho most are in english.

[reverendbecker]

German is my mother tongue but when I speak listen to or write english, I think english. Otherwise I would have to translate as the communication goes along and that would be pretty hard. I believe that abstract thinking needs terms. Conclusion is: Without language there would be no abstract thinking. The remaining question is: If there are different languages, does this lead to different ways of astract thinking ?

[reverendbecker]

I should add that I could not find an answer to my own last question because both my "german thinking" and "english thinking" are too shallow for a question such as that.

[SIMPLYME100]

i never taught about a question like that ! its not stupid at all.

[waldemaroz]

BTW... YOLLELLOEEDEE :) Cheerio

[Authorized77]

Lol, I think you may have seen my other videos ;) Cheerio to you too.

[waldemaroz]

I am polish, I speak polish (and english, norwegian and lithuanian), I dream polish. But sometimes I think english. Maybe because my journeys to england. Maybe because of americane movies. That`s a tricky question. Sometimes other cultures get into our subconsciousness and it becomes our world wide culture. Now I was thinking polish and I think You understood that :) Pozdrowienia z Polski.

[moalor262]

Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire England

(The real Capital of England

[moalor262]

i had to many words, I cut them out now my last post do's not make sense.

Where we live we have a very strong local accent.

It makes it much more difficult for the students

[Authorized77]

That's neat to hear about. You probably dream about the things you think about, so if you're thinking about your English lesson that you slaved over at school, maybe you'd dream about it.

Lol, where do they say "Where are your ears at?" That's very interesting and I think I could start using that phrase to get my siblings to listen to me.

[moalor262]

For 12 years we hosted foreign students from all over the world.

They lived with us for 10 months, within 3 months of being here, they could be heard shouting out in their sleep, in English.

What I found more incredible was their ability

to switch from one language to another in the same sentence. strong local accent, for instance:-

We slurr all our words together.

or Wesh yertabbsaht, what was said. Where are your ears(tabs) it means, Please listen more carefully.

[roquelazarus]

i speak a lil french too...but then i just got 9 outta 20..thats a just pass

[flipflop9191]

I know Spanish... most parts and i hang out with Spanish people so sometimes i think in spanish instead of enlgish.... spanish is in my dreams like it flows in and out... but it does get confising. like my friend whose spanish she was siick and we were in school and someone left the class and she said bring me some paper toilet instead of toinlet paper b.c in spanish you say it like paper toilet. so it is weird sumetimes

[Authorized77]

Wow...now that bit about the toilet paper is funny. I can only imagine how much humorous material my attempts at Spanish produce. I'm surprised every Spanish speaker isn't laughing when they talk with me.

[flipflop9191]

they normally dont laugh much lol its only when you say suttin outa whack... trust me i know. but its all good.

[ianbauer2]

I met a guy from checkoslavia. He speaks Check and English. He says he now thinks in English (after living in USA for 20 years) but he counts any amount of money past $10 in Check. Interesting. Feel better.

[Authorized77]

That's neat. I'm glad to hear that people can successfully switch to thinking in a second language. It must be imperitive in order to use the language to the level of proficiency you'd expect from a native. Thank you!

[2ndgeneration]

I have trouble thinking in English and that's the only language I know. lol It is an interesting question though.

[Authorized77]

Heh, yeah, sometimes I have trouble with English too.

[MagicMaximo]

Hi, I think that's a good question. I've had people ask me what language I dream in and after consideration I realized it all depends to whom I'm taking in my dreams! I have many friends that only speak Spanish, or English, or Tagalog (Filipino) and, in my dreams I speak to them in their language. I'm gonna answer your other question with a video response. :=)

[Authorized77]

Wow, so you're a multilingual dreamer as well ;) I have dreamed a few sentences in Spanish, but that only happened once or twice in my lifetime. Thanks for commenting, and I'll be looking forward to your video.

[DanielGardner]

I speak English and Portuguese. I grew up in an American family that speaks English all the time, so I only began speak Portuguese when I was 7 and above.

I think and dream in English - I think because I learned first to express myself in English and so that's what comes so quickly and easily to mind.

Hope you get better soon!

[Authorized77]

Thanks for stopping by, and for offering your input :)

[lindsaynickel]

I hope you feel better soon!

My mom and I were actually talking about such things recently. We really wonder how deaf people think...do they see their thoughts signed out in their head as they think? What are their dreams like? Does everyone sign, or do they see people talking without understanding? Very interesting...

I look forward to seeing the responses you get!

[Authorized77]

That's also an interesting point. And what about blind people? Do they just dream audio?

[edbassmaster]

Hope you feel better!! That is a good question, lol.

[Authorized77]

Thanks a lot! I do already feel better than when I made that video.