If someone speaks two languages fluently, what language do they think?

Question

A person from another county that has been in America for many years. They speak english all day, every day. When they occasionally speak to someone of their nationality, or call home to relatives, they speak their native language. When they are thinking during the course of a normal day, what language do they think? What about those that speak many languages? And what language would be used in their dreams?

Answer 1

I can only answer on a personal note, although I would assume it is mostly the same for other multi-lingual people.

I am fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian (speak, read, write) and I am conversationally fluent in French and Russian.

I find that I lapse into, and think, in any combination of Spanish, English and Portuguese. While the human brain is smart enough to be called upon to bring up any one of these languages when necessity dictates, I really believe that the lapses of one language into another and the 'thinking' in any language combination is because these were my native languages. They are what I grew up with and what was instilled in me from parents and grandparents since I can remember.

Italian, and to a lesser degree French, are languages which I learned later in life, and rarely do I find myself lapsing into them, inter-relating them in speech, or thinking in them unless I am in that country and surrounded by the culture (and the language). For example, once when visiting Italy, after two days I remember being surprised that I caught myself 'thinking' in Italian. Russian, since I only use it in work-related venues is more difficult for me. In fact, if I do not practice it on a pretty consistent basis, I begin to forget it, and I have never found myself thinking in it, even in a room full of Russians! In fact, I 'think' in English before speaking Russian.

As to dreams, I thought I did not dream with sounds as I could not truly recall what language I dreamt in!!! However this morning I dreamt in English :O).

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

They think in the language they are speaking. When a person is multilingual his brain keeps the languages separate because it's being stored in as long-term memory where they brain has to "switch over" to speak in a different language. That is why when you are learning a foreign language teachers will tell you not to try to translate it into English first but to rather go with the flow of the language. If you try to continuously translate from the foreign language to your native language you'll never learn anything and won't be able to properly communicate because all your knowledge of that language is short-term only, it hasn't been transferred to long term.

Both (or all) languages would appear in dreams, depending upon the circumstances. If they were having a dream where someone they knew who spoke English was in their dream, it'd be likely they would speak to that person in English unless the underlying message of the dream was to show the dreamer that there exists miscommunication and lack of understanding, for then they would use some other language.

Answer 3

My first language was Spanish and then i learned English Between these two, I speak and spell English more fluently My thoughts are in English.

Answer 4

To speak the language right you need to think in that language.
When you speak any language everyday for a long period of time you start thinking in that language and even sometimes, like when you call your family overseas, you would have hard time to find words in your native language.
I am from Morocco and I lived in Italy for four years, in France for five years and in the U.S. for 13 years so far. I have always taught in Moroccan when I am by myself, but when I am talking to someone I think the language I am speaking.


CORRECTION! THOUGHT not TAUGHT...Sorry!

Answer 5

Studies have shown that everybody has what linguists call a "mental map" of their native language inside their mind.

Bilingual and multilingual people simply have additional mental maps for the languages they know, and they can switch back and forth between them.

I'm sure that bilingual and multilingual people tend to think most in their first language and this probably partly explains why nobody ever learns to speak a second language quite as well as their first language.

Answer 6

My late wife was Hispanic, of Mexican-American descent. Her first language was Spanish but she spoke flawless English.

She told me that she had dreams in both languages and her thoughts were in both languages. Interestingly, thoughts about emotions like love and passion were mostly in Spanish, at work she thought mostly in English, except when she had to translate or render medical services to Spanish speakers.

I learned Spanish and found that I could write her love letters in Spanish more readily than in English -- the words just flowed. I think in my case it was a mixture of the beauty and rhythm of Spanish and being somewhat freed from my Anglo inhibitions when using Spanish, as if I were "outside myself".

Answer 7

I can only answer for myself.
I'm a Danish native speaker but lived a few years in the UK and I am therefor fluent in English.
When I'm in Denmark I think in Danish unless I'm writing or reading in English - then it switches. In Denmark I dream mostly in Danish but it happens I switch to English.
When I'm in the UK, I start out with thinking in Danish, but when I have adjusted in a week or so I begin to think in English even though I'm speaking to and in Danish. Also when I stay in the UK I mostly dream in English. I also talk in my sleep and I'm told that I talk English when I'm staying there.
So I guess your mind and thereby your thinking and dreaming switches according to which language you speak the most.
This also happened to my with Spanish when I stayed in Guatemala even though I'm not fluent in Spanish

Answer 8

It depends what they are thinking or dreaming about. In my husband's case (and I have asked him), when he has dreams that take place with people he knows in the US or take place in the US, the dreams are in English, if they take place with people or places from his home country, they are in Romanian. Same thing with if he is conversing with English speakers, he thinks in English, which means that most of the time he thinks in English while he is here, but he can also make a quick transition back to Romanian, but he does not translate Romanian thoughts to English words and vise versa.

Answer 9

I think in both languages. It depends on what I'm doing. Sometimes I subconsciously switch languages because depending on the subject, one language can be more useful than the other.

I also dream in both languages, sometimes I switch from one to the other as I do in real life. It's kind of funny.

:-)

Answer 10

I think the language that uses more often. But int he case of dreams it could be any of the languages that they have learned, just because dreams are complex messages of our unconscious mind.