For people who are fluent in more then one language...what language do you think in??

Question

your 1st language??

Im fluent in english and spanish...my thoughts are in english but sometimes i catch myself thinking in spanish..

Answer 1

I am fluent in English and Spanish too. I think in English all the time, but I catch myself too thinking BAD words in Spanish. It's like when Im driving and someone cuts me off, I never think "Screw you!" I think "Hijo la chin.....!!" and my husband is LAtino and his first language is Spanish but he finds himself thinking in English more because the language is more distinct. I know how you feel!

Answer 2

This is interesting. My first language is Vietnamese. When I first learn English, I started thinking in English. Then I took Spanish in high school and started doing that in Spanish. Then I took French in college and started thinking in French. There was one time towards the end of my collge years that I had a dream in all 4 of those languages I know. It was very freaky. That's when I took a long vacation :)

Now, it's mainly just English and Vietnamese because I don't know that many people who speak French or Spanish to practice with. It's a shame.

Maybe it depends on which language I worry about the most. Who knows, maybe when I decided that I'm going to learn German (soon, I hope), I would start thinking in German, too.

Answer 3

I think in English. I think it's because it's the language I've been speaking the most for the last 3 years.

My 1st language is Portuguese. I also speak French and Spanish (but not as well as English and Portuguese) so I never think in any of these 2 languages.

Answer 4

My first language is german, I also speak english, dutch and swedish well, and french and italian a bit.

I am thinking (and dreaming) in various languages, always depending on what language I am in right at that moment.

Let's say I am reading a german book for 2 hours, then my thoughts are in german, and in case I would be distracted while in this german thinking frame, I would also react in german. Because the brain is still in "german mode".

The same about swedish. Let's say I am getting my old swedish records out and listen to the songs for hours, maybe days, then I am in a "swedish mode", thinking swedish. It happens that when an American in-law approaches me in that "mode", I will speak english with swedish accent. YES!
I am German! But this is how it is. The language mode I am in during that moment will be the base of all thoughts or speach.

This works the same with dutch. Having read dutch for hours and/or listened to dutch music for long time will give my english a dutch accent.

I always follow a ground rule when learning a new language: if you don't start thinking AND dreaming in that new language within 6 months, give it up!
YES, you MUST think in the other langauge in order to learn it. If you can't do that, you will never be able to truly learn it.

That was actually the reason why I gave up italian in 1980. I had studied it as my fourth language, but I never dreamt in it nor could I really start thinking in it. It was no use, so I gave it up.

Dutch came in 1984 and swedish I started 1987, that went so much different. I almost immeadietely started thinking in them, dreams followed, so I went on with them.

So, therefore I believe it is absolutely normal to think in other languages when you speak them (to get back to your question).

I would go further and say: without thinking in the other language(s) you are not really speaking them.

Answer 5

i am fluent in 3 languages and am begining to learn a 4th. most of the time, i think in english. i also lived in spain so when i go back to visit, i begin to think in spanish again. i speak with my mom in another language at home so at home i think in the other language. i think in all three at some point during the day depeding on what i am doing. even though there are not many people in the States that i speak spanish with, i still think in it quite often without a specific reason. there are certain things that trigger me to think in certain languages such as books, music, or movies. Most of the time, i don't seem to have any specific reason to think in one language or another. it just happens. my mind thinks in all 3 for no particular reason at no particular point in the day as if the 3 languages were one huge languages with multiple sinonmes for every word.

Answer 6

I am the same- fluent in English and Spanish.

I almost always think in English but sometimes I find that I am translating things or just plain thinking in Spanish.

Answer 7

No, I'm french, and I've been living in the US for 6 years... I think in english now... What a shame, no offense to the english language which I like obviously, but not thinking using my birth language (which I have spoken for over 24 years) is sad
I still dream in french though, weird...

Answer 8

I think in english and spanish because some words come to me faster.English is my first language

Answer 9

Believe it or not, you can think in more than one language.

I knew I was truly getting fluent in Spanish when I could think in Spanish - while conversing in Spanish - without translating everything back into English. I still thought in English when conversing in English.

Answer 10

It is funny, was born in Mexico, but I lived in U.S. for 10 years, then I came back, now I speak both languages.
I normally think in English, however when I speak spanish I sometimes think in Spanish.
I guess it depends what language I am speaking in, or reading.