Can and do you think in more than one language?

[MiM]

A couple of weeks ago MiM asked me something about some official document (bank? insurance?) and I commented on the content and started to walk to the kitchen. He then pointed out - in relation to some further detail - that the letter was in Swedish. I had to go back to verify - I had no idea of the language, it simply had not registered. If you had asked me, I would have claimed that I had been reading Finnish.

Does that qualify?

Yes, and it is rather fascinating...

Like when I read and post here, I am definitely consciously thinking in English (and trying to better my grammar), whereas at many other occasions I might be very clearly thinking in Swedish or Finnish. Even dreaming in any of these languages is possible. But then there are those moments, when it feels like your thinking isn't linked to any specific language at all...

...and that's without drugs or alcohol.

[hiyymer]

When I was a kid I was fluent in Cantonese and I distinctly remember 'thinking' in it. I can recall the world somehow looking different when I thought using it. As I got older I was still fluent but tended to translate from English in my own head first and then speak. Just occasionally I can think in French too when I am there, though I am not as fluent.

I wonder what 'thinking in another language' does to our consciousness. English is very subtle and flexible compared to many languages - including Cantonese which is pretty basic really.

Can you think in more than one language?

I think once. I lived in Switzerland for a year when I was 18 and spoke french most of the time. My mother said my letters home started sounding like french translated into english.

[hadespussercats]

A couple of weeks ago MiM asked me something about some official document (bank? insurance?) and I commented on the content and started to walk to the kitchen. He then pointed out - in relation to some further detail - that the letter was in Swedish. I had to go back to verify - I had no idea of the language, it simply had not registered. If you had asked me, I would have claimed that I had been reading Finnish.

Does that qualify?

Yes, and it is rather fascinating...

Like when I read and post here, I am definitely consciously thinking in English (and trying to better my grammar), whereas at many other occasions I might be very clearly thinking in Swedish or Finnish. Even dreaming in any of these languages is possible. But then there are those moments, when it feels like your thinking isn't linked to any specific language at all...

...and that's without drugs or alcohol.

My mom's dear friend lived half of every year in the States, and the other half in Argentina. She said she knew she'd made the shift to whatever country she was in when she shifted languages in her dreams.

[Geoff]

I used to think (and dream) in Spanish sometimes when we lived there, but it went soon after we came back to the UK.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

when I read and post here, I am definitely consciously thinking in English (and trying to better my grammar)

Their is sumfink wrong wiv that post but it is two hard for my brian to get exackly wot?

[hadespussercats]

I used to think (and dream) in Spanish sometimes when we lived there, but it went soon after we came back to the UK.

I'd really like to learn Spanish. For the last twelve years, I've lived in places where Spanish was the dominant language-- most of the signage, most of the local shops. In New Jersey, my neighborhood had a big Cuban settlement, and in Washington Heights, lots and lots of people from the Dominican Republic.

Of course, I say that-- but then I don't do anything about it.

Do you polyglots think I'm too old to gain fluency in another language? I've heard children have a much easier time with it...

[Geoff]

I used to think (and dream) in Spanish sometimes when we lived there, but it went soon after we came back to the UK.

I'd really like to learn Spanish. For the last twelve years, I've lived in places where Spanish was the dominant language-- most of the signage, most of the local shops. In New Jersey, my neighborhood had a big Cuban settlement, and in Washington Heights, lots and lots of people from the Dominican Republic.

Of course, I say that-- but then I don't do anything about it.

Do you polyglots think I'm too old to gain fluency in another language? I've heard children have a much easier time with it...

I was in my early thirties when we moved to Spain, and it was kinda forced on me because there were very few English speakers around, where we were living. I guess I could get by after about 6 months, but it took several years to get anywhere near fluency.
I never took lessons, it was more a case of picking it up just by listening and talking (and getting people to correct me all the time).

[hadespussercats]

I used to think (and dream) in Spanish sometimes when we lived there, but it went soon after we came back to the UK.

I'd really like to learn Spanish. For the last twelve years, I've lived in places where Spanish was the dominant language-- most of the signage, most of the local shops. In New Jersey, my neighborhood had a big Cuban settlement, and in Washington Heights, lots and lots of people from the Dominican Republic.

Of course, I say that-- but then I don't do anything about it.

Do you polyglots think I'm too old to gain fluency in another language? I've heard children have a much easier time with it...

I was in my early thirties when we moved to Spain, and it was kinda forced on me because there were very few English speakers around, where we were living. I guess I could get by after about 6 months, but it took several years to get anywhere near fluency.
I never took lessons, it was more a case of picking it up just by listening and talking (and getting people to correct me all the time).

I've tried that, a bit. Thing is, around here most people are bilingual, so they just switch to English to talk to me. So I'm missing out on that immersion experience.

[Geoff]

I used to think (and dream) in Spanish sometimes when we lived there, but it went soon after we came back to the UK.

I'd really like to learn Spanish. For the last twelve years, I've lived in places where Spanish was the dominant language-- most of the signage, most of the local shops. In New Jersey, my neighborhood had a big Cuban settlement, and in Washington Heights, lots and lots of people from the Dominican Republic.

Of course, I say that-- but then I don't do anything about it.

Do you polyglots think I'm too old to gain fluency in another language? I've heard children have a much easier time with it...

I was in my early thirties when we moved to Spain, and it was kinda forced on me because there were very few English speakers around, where we were living. I guess I could get by after about 6 months, but it took several years to get anywhere near fluency.
I never took lessons, it was more a case of picking it up just by listening and talking (and getting people to correct me all the time).

I've tried that, a bit. Thing is, around here most people are bilingual, so they just switch to English to talk to me. So I'm missing out on that immersion experience.

I had that problem in Gibraltar, where they're all bilingual (I was working in Gib and living across the border in Spain, for financial reasons). I used to ask them to stick to Spanish, explaining that I was trying to learn, and they were all very helpful (though they often lost patience with my slowness!).
The other problem I got was that they wanted to learn English from me...

[Tero]

Well it depends. I can only do multiplication tables in Finnish, for instance. I learned them 50 years ago.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Well it depends. I can only do multiplication tables in Finnish, for instance. I learned them 50 years ago.

Chuck Jones can finish the multiplication tables... twice!

[Svartalf]

Yep, I alternate, and sometime mix or switch in midflow between French and English.

A funny bit is that, after my 9 months in Dublin, my way of thinking English had definitely taken an Irish flavour.. that I've unfortunately lost in the 20 years since.

[Svartalf]

I don't remember if I ever thought in Irish. I think I had to translate everything across from the Devil's English in my head in school.

Never knew enough of it to think in it... You need really great proviciency (decent grammar and all basic, or not so basic vocabulary) to really start thinking in a language, or you'll keep switching back to your mother tongue every time you go "how do you say xxx in that language already?"

[Svartalf]

A couple of weeks ago MiM asked me something about some official document (bank? insurance?) and I commented on the content and started to walk to the kitchen. He then pointed out - in relation to some further detail - that the letter was in Swedish. I had to go back to verify - I had no idea of the language, it simply had not registered. If you had asked me, I would have claimed that I had been reading Finnish.

Does that qualify?

Most definitely

[FBM]

...Do you polyglots think I'm too old to gain fluency in another language? I've heard children have a much easier time with it...

Fluency is a tricky term, but there's no age-related reason why you wouldn't be able to eventually be able to have comfortable conversations in a foreign language. It depends more on your level of motivation and access to comprehensible input.

As for children learning easier, that's true, but not necessarily because of their age. Kids don't have jobs. And there are a lot of researchers who dispute the Critical Period hypothesis. http://www.language-learning-advisor.co ... agelearner

Oh, and as to the OP: When I was immersed in a Spanish-speaking environment, I thought and dreamed in Spanish frequently. Now I do that in Korean. (Last night, come to think of it.) There are certain things I only know how to say in Korean because I've never had to express them in English, or because there is no English equivalent. Mostly culture-related things.

Ah. One example: Several years ago, I was driving and a cat ran across the road in front of me. My immediate thought was, "와! 고양이다! 조심해." Afterwards, I noticed that I was thinking in Korean. Cool feeling.