It may sound silly but i have always wondered whether, for example, a French child living in England and go to an english school think in English in their head or in French, when they speak English to fellow classmates and teachers? I don't mean to offend anyone by asking this question but you will never find out things if you don't ask.
Languages - 8 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I wondered the same thing. My husband is middle eastern and his 1st language is arabic. I asked him if he thinks in english or arabic and he said arabic. He said his dreams are also arabic.
2 :
Each person is different. Whichever language a person learns something in, is usually the language they'll think of it. E.g. if a child learns to count in French, they'll automatically revert back to numbers in French even if living and learning in a different language from a young age. If you are fluent enough you can learn to think in a different language.
3 :
haha I definitely understand your question, I used to think about stuff like this too. I'm not a native english speaker, and I find myself lots of times thinking in english. which is bizarre, since I don't even live in an english-speaking country, so... where's this come from? lol for your french child exaple, I think he's thinking in english. becuase, I don't know, I think it's a bit weird to think in one language and speak in another. for example, when I'm chating with my english speakers friends, I'm thinking in english :) so umm... yeah, that's what I think... by the way, I also thought about how I'm going to answer this in english ;)
4 :
yes....
5 :
It would depend on their fluency in the language. I had a friend who learned English through immersion in the culture. He told me for a long time it was like using a code book, think in Spanish, translate, then speak in English. Once he gained a level of fluency, he said what language he thought in depended on what language he was speaking in at the time.
6 :
We are American and my son is in German school. I just asked him and he said that he thinks in whatever language he is listening to. So in school, he thinks in German and at home he thinks in English. I asked my husband if he dreamt in his native German language or English. Since he had just been living in the US for a few months when I asked him, he said he dreamt in German. Now that we speak 100% English unless we are ordering at a restaurant or something like that, he does everything in English. ***My son is 7 and we have lived here for 1 1/2 years. My husband lived in the US for 1 1/2 years before we moved to Germany
7 :
My sisters boyfriend is Austrian and he has been learning English since school age and now knows both German and English fluently. I too wondered the same question and when I asked him he said that he has become so used to English that he thinks and dreams in English, but still counts in German.
8 :
im from lithuania but have been living in ireland for a long time! i think in english at school and lithuanian at home. but it depends really!
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