If you speak only english....

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Interesting question! :biggrin:

I think it depends on the country I'm in and the people I'm with - I'm studying French, German, and Spanish and speak English natively. I find it easier to speak other languages when I'm thinking in those languages as opposed to English/literally translating - as everyone knows there are so many concepts in different languages and cultures for which we don't have words in English.
I haven't been learning Spanish for so long, so I tend to have to think the grammatical structures through in my head in English first.

Reply 21

godd

Original post by p.formanko

this has been posted before, but heres a summary of what i said last time -

I speak two languages (english and slovak) and a number which i know conversationally but not fluently (german, spanish, polish). I maintain the fact that I think that we think in a universal language and that it isn't one that we speak - either that or I'm just thinking in some jumbled-up language in my head...

So you never talk to yourself in your head?

Reply 22

p.formanko

Original post by godd

So you never talk to yourself in your head?

Well I do, though I don't think its in a particular language as such - I think its all emotions and actions and chemical reactions in your head; for example, people can think without knowing a language (e.g. a baby?)

Promise I haven't been smoking anything...

Reply 23

godd

Original post by p.formanko

Well...

a) you either talk to yourself in your mind
b) visualize in your head

Reply 24

CelineBean

Original post by pacni

I speak both French and English and think in both depending on what mood I am in.

There have been studies done that suggest that people change personalities depending on what language they're speaking in... I tend to swear a lot more in my head in French than in English. It really just depends! I'm more likely to think in the language of the country I am in though.

This! I speak French too. When I'm in a French lesson or as you said, in one of the countries, then I think in the language of that country. It's like I automatically switch between the two, it's strange. Sometimes if I've been watching a lot of French tv too and then someone talks to me in English (my native language) I struggle to understand them and process what they've just said, presuming it's French if that makes sense aha, think that's just me though :colondollar:

Reply 25

godd

Original post by CelineBean

Why would you not think in the language you are stronger in?

Reply 26

CelineBean

Original post by godd

Why would you not think in the language you are stronger in?

Good question, don't know really. Probably because I'm constantly trying to improve my French with any resources, so thinking in French just makes it easier for me to articulate anything I'm going to say really. When someone says something shocking, my immediate reaction is in French sometimes like 'quoi?! Je ne te crois pas' etc, don't know why.

Reply 27

Adil96m

Original post by ruthlessv

i speak two languages.

All intelligent thought is done in English.

All swear words in punjabi.

Exactly the same for me :yy:

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bump

Original post by p.formanko

I know what you mean by that "language"... It's the intermediate stage in translating as well: instead of translating source-language word to target-language word, you deverbalise the source sentences (at which point they exist as concepts alone) before reverbalising them into the target language.

An example: in French there are several basic words for owl, depending on the kind (hibou, chouette, effraie, petit-duc, grand-duc and plenty more - ofc, in English we have "barn owl", "tawny owl" and so on, but it's usual to use "owl" as the basic word for all of them and think no more on it). So when I see an owl, a part of my mind that has become used to it existing in several variants is activated, and a question runs quietly through my mind, even as I say the word "owl" aloud: Is it an owl (1), an owl (2), an owl (3) or an owl (4)? :colone:

In English that sounds ridiculous, but I'm not thinking in French either: it's just the concepts.

Original post by pacni

There have been studies done that suggest that people change personalities depending on what language they're speaking in... I tend to swear a lot more in my head in French than in English. It really just depends! I'm more likely to think in the language of the country I am in though.

That's true.

In English I'm lite-hearted and charismatic (sorry but it's true), in French I can barely take a joke but I'm real professional, and in Czech I'm half-hippy, half-LAD.

In conclusion, WAT A MYSTERY THE HUMAN MIND IS.

Reply 30

p.formanko

Original post by kopi, ffs

In English that sounds ridiculous, but I'm not thinking in French either: it's just the concepts.

That's true.

In English I'm lite-hearted and charismatic (sorry but it's true), in French I can barely take a joke but I'm real professional, and in Czech I'm half-hippy, half-LAD.

In conclusion, WAT A MYSTERY THE HUMAN MIND IS.

Yes!
This is exactly what I mean. For example if you think of something blue (table cloth, shirt, whatever), you visualise the colour in your head almost like an image rather than in the form of a word (i.e. where it would be in a language).
Maybe some people just think visually or with pictures... O.o

Reply 31

meowool

I think in English bar when writing speaking those languages (French German and Esperanto.) Although when writing in German as I only have GCSE level knowledge that I havent used for two years, do think of the next word in Esperanto

Reply 32

Sanctimonious

The language I'm using. When I come back to the UK after being abroad for a long time seeing my parents it takes me a while to snap back into things here fully. I guess its like driving really. Going from RHD to LHD and then back takes a phasing period. I've spent the whole summer abroad so when I flew back into the UK and arrived in London and needed to speak to people my mind was telling me to speak in one language but I knew I had to speak in English so it required more concentration. I suppose in time this gets easier switching back and forth, again just like driving.

Reply 33

Sanctimonious

Original post by godd

Why would you not think in the language you are stronger in?

I find thinking in a foreign language makes it easier to then put that into words and understanding what is coming back at you.

Think of it this way: If I am thinking in Russian then there really is no conversion sort of thing going on so its easier and takes less time to process otherwise it'd be a more lengthy process.

This is me:

Russian thinking --> Russian speaking --> other person understands
Russian thinking --> Russian understanding --> I understand the other person

If I thought in English it'd be:

English thinking --> Russian speaking --> other person understands
English thinking --> Russian understanding --> I understand the other person

In this one where the red arrow is some sort of inner translation must be going on to take something in one language, convert it, and then output it in another language to the recipient. I know some people do this and they tend to stall more often when responding because they're trying to process things in one language, convert it in their head and then output it in another. However, these people tend to find it easier to adjust when moving from country to country after long periods. For example, when I move back to the UK it takes me a while to snap back into the British way of thinking. If you've been thinking in that way the whole time then its natural.

I honestly believe the best way is to think in the language you are speaking and totally immerse yourself in it.

Reply 34

godd

Original post by Sanctimonious

I see. I always felt that people preferred to think in a language they were better at. Like if you are truly on your own with no distractions, you have to pick a language to think in. It makes sense to pick the one you can think more clearly and fluidly in. I don't think anyone is truly bilingual, we always have that one language we are stronger in (usually the language in which our education was conducted in). I mean there may come a language thinking crossover point, but on a daily basis, switching thinking languages seems a bit extreme to me.

I'm bilingual myself, but I have a dominant language (english), since my education was done in the UK. I can think in my other language, but my vocabulary is much more restricted, so I'd rather not.

My 2 cents.

Reply 35

godd

Original post by meowool

So if you are thinking on your own, you would think in your stronger language?

Reply 36

the-black-lotus

Can I add another question - what language do you dream in? I know a lot of dreams revolve mainly around things happening but there's generally a lot of words in mine (I only speak english)

Reply 37

TattyBoJangles

My friend is trilingual (English / Russian / French) and has said in the past she tends to think in which ever language she is using most at the time, with a few days' adjustment.

So when she's at home she thinks in Russian, when she's away for uni in English, she's working away in France next year and so will start thinking in French etc.

Reply 38

godd

Original post by TattyBoJangles

What about yourself?

Reply 39

meowool

Original post by godd

So if you are thinking on your own, you would think in your stronger language?

Yep on my own I do think in English :smile:

Original post by the-black-lotus

Can I add another question - what language do you dream in? I know a lot of dreams revolve mainly around things happening but there's generally a lot of words in mine (I only speak english)