like if you see a chair. do you think "that is a chair" or do you think "that is an el chairo"?
2006-06-25 06:52:43 · 19 answers · asked by sean_mchugh6 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
If I am speaking Spanish, I think in Spanish. If I am speaking English, I think in English. Right now, for example, I am thinking in English about "el chairo" and how stupid that makes you.
2006-06-25 06:56:55 · answer #1 · answered by Melissa P 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For me it depends on the context of the chair. I speak three languages fluently and if I've been speaking English all day, i'll look at an object and think it's a "chair", but if I just finished speaking French or Spanish and I saw the chair, I'll think of it in that language and then translate it back into English.
I work in a call center so I actually go back and forth most of my day from one language to the other. I've found that it takes me about a second or two if I just finished a call in one language to go straight into the other one. Nothing throws me off more than someone speaking French or Spanish just out-of-the-blue.
2006-06-26 08:15:04 · answer #2 · answered by loboconqueso 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically speaking, you don't think in a language at all. Your mind simply produces language so that those thoughts can be communicated. Your mind will translate ideas into whatever language is most comfortable to you; usually your mother tongue. There are exceptions to this. For example, someone who has immigrated to a new country that speaks a different language. If they learn the language well, and use it as their primary language, then over time, it can become primary in their mind.
2006-07-02 01:51:55 · answer #3 · answered by Privratnik 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
El chairo? WTF??
Actually, it depends on what I'm doing. I'm totally bilingual, I speak fluent English and Spanish, and in some situations one language seems to come out more than the other. I don't know how it is for other people that are fluent in more than one language, but for me, I'm always between the two. I like it, though... I'd rather be going back and forth between two languages than not have a second language!
2006-06-25 06:59:31 · answer #4 · answered by lachicadecafe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the situation. Most of the time I think in english with a little chinese mixed in. I have gotten to the point that I can switch though language from English to Chinese and visa versa without any problem.
2006-06-25 07:33:12 · answer #5 · answered by mike i 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I speak Japanese, English and French, but I always think in English. Possibly because my standard in the other two languages is not particularly high.
2006-06-25 07:08:34 · answer #6 · answered by J 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what language I'm speaking at the time and how tired I am. I tend to think in the language I was speaking last, however if I am tired I think in my native tongue, and when I'm drunk I think in several languages. =)
2006-06-25 07:16:46 · answer #7 · answered by anonymous 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Always English
2006-06-25 07:31:15 · answer #8 · answered by Ms. Nita 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello,
Well, English is my first Language, i wouldn't say that i think in a specific language. When i see Japanese writing i think in Japanese and when i see Spanish, then i think in Spanish.
Take care
2006-06-25 07:10:12 · answer #9 · answered by kida_w 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I speak English and German.
I speak and think in both all the time.
Some words are just easier in German and make more sense
than in English.
It's hard to explain, but if you speak another language-you'll understand what I mean.
:)
2006-06-25 07:19:34 · answer #10 · answered by snugglebunnies 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋