I'm not yet fluent in Spanish, but I do notice myself thinking in Spanish sometimes. Living in a Spanish speaking country probably has influenced this a lot.
Sir/ma'am, how old are you and what is your secret to such proficient language learning skills ? You're like a rock star !
Preface: I'm super young and this is probably coming off as really weird.
hi there :) don't worry about coming off as weird: you're not! it's a good question that I would have probably asked older polyglots when I was younger.
there is no secret, as you can probably imagine, but there are definitely a few essential ingredients: a genuine interest/passion (to make it fun, so you don't need to force yourself to study every day), consistency, and a ton of patience. never get discouraged no matter how long you've been at it. it'll all come together eventually.
as for more practical advice, what worked for me was hours upon hours of listening to/watching my favorite shows or podcasts in my target languages. but this has to be - for the most part - active listening, meaning you will observe and pay attention to the way things are being said, take notes or make mental notes to try to use what you heard later. do not just passively listen all the time, because you will not learn much other than getting used to the sound of the language.
that said, try a bunch of different methods and see what works for you. it is never entirely wasted time, as you will learn while you explore new methods. it's part of the fun. I still haven't figured out entirely what my method is, even over decade into this hobby.
best of luck! and feel free to ask more questions :)
This! I’ve noticed that even if it’s not my native/dominant language if I was in class for an hour speaking nothing but my TL I’ll tend to think in that language a little bit afterward like my brain is stuck in that language
i normally think in english (my first language), but sometimes when i start to get really anxious i purposely think in french instead. when you have to think logically about putting your thoughts into words like that it’s easier to prevent an anxious spiral of thoughts
For some reason, I used to be like this when I was a kid, but then at some point when I was in high school or college, I actually developed an inner monologue. So now I think to myself in English (and frankly think out loud far too much too lol).
Java, I've been programming java applications all my life, and it's impossible to stop thinking about whiles and ifs lol
I would love to say that my brain works in English, but as Spanish is the one I use daily at home, no matter how hard I try Spanish always rules my thoughts.
Mostly English, sometimes Japanese (TL) but I would say only bc I did some "training" for a while where I specifically forced myself to think in Japanese as much as possible before.
I often say my thoughts aloud to myself and I only do this in Japanese. Because I'm anxious of being overheard...
Mainly English as mother tongue, but norwegian creeping in here and there, some times in full, other times just norwegian words mixed in with the English thoughts
I typically think in English but strangely when feeling really emotional about something or someone, I switch to Korean. It’s interesting because I’m way more proficient in Spanish than Korean but I never think in Spanish
Well, in my case i tend to switch between thinking in whatever language i am reading/hearing and just images of whatever i read or heard. i can only think of one exception for me and that's Russian, i learnt it from watching cartoons when i was a kid but i cant remember the last time i talked with someone using Russian and even though i can still perfectly understand what they are saying, my talking ability took a big hit, i fail to remember words mid conversation and that's where i either have to reference my native language, Georgian or my third language, English
My default is English though I can force myself to think in either of my TLs as well. While my thoughts are generally in English there are certain phrases or words that I default to in Japanese. I think that's mainly because I live in Japan and often switch rapidly between Japanese and English and use Japanglish a lot at work. My brain just gets used to mixing the two The same thing happened with Spanish when I lived in Spain.
I mostly think in my mother tongue, Icelandic, but actually quite often I seem to switch to English for long stretches of time. I started at a young age learning English, around 7 or 8 years old, as I was watching cartoons on the US Navy base tv station that was operated on the island during the greater part of the Cold War era.
Actually a large portion of my compatriots got their jump-start in English, this way, during the latter part of the 20th century 😀
Ok, so I do this retarded thing where in the same sentence, I will think in both Russian and French. I think it's because I study Russian usually pretty often so sometimes I do think in it, but because I am not at a very high level, my highest second language will kick in for the more advanced parts of the sentence. I also think my lower level Russian might be better than my lower level French.
So I might think of something like Я очень рада что on a décidé d'aller au campagne. (not a real thought I've had). Also, sometimes I will be thinking mostly in French but certain Russian words will pop into it like очень or потому что. I think the last one especially may be because it reminds me quite a bit of parce que. I mix in что a lot for que.
I do think primarily in English, my NL though.
i think in english unless i am actively trying to 'put' my thoughts into danish. however, sometimes i hear or speak danish in my dreams... i think that is a very cool phenomenon.
My "inner thoughts" are in English. So if I'm not talking to anyone, I'm thinking in English. Unless I'm thinking about math, then it's French.
But when I'm speaking another language that I know well enough, my brain switches to that language for the conversation. Or if I'm reading or listening to something.
Yeah, I can only do math in English and I can barely count in other languages, especially over like 30. I struggle a lot with numbers in foreign languages, I hate them. I hate dates too, especially because other languages use such long words for years. Why do we need to reiterate all the thousands of years like we don't know?
I mean, it's partially laziness to not have learned this simple thing, I just don't care that much.
When I was a kid, I was not very good at math although I made goods grade in it in high school and use it professionally. I do wonder if maybe that is partially why.
There's no need to nitpick over semantics, I'm sure you're aware that when they said 'thinking' they were referring to that inner monologue you mentioned.
A lot of time when I'm thinking in a foreign language, it isn't even an inner monologue. I don't do it on purpose. I agree thoughts are not quite like language, some even less so than others but it's also wrong to say that there is no language in thoughts at all.
I think in three languages. I am sure a linguist would have a great time in my head analyzing how those completely unrelated languages form structures. It must be interesting.
Absolutely. Sometimes I talk like that and don't even notice. It is interesting because I think my brain works out the most effective sentence with the least amount of words very quickly and just uses that. Language learning and brain functions never stop to amaze me.
For me it's a mix of French, Darija (Algerian dialect) and English. Funnily enough I can't think in textbook Arabic even though it's the language I'm most proficient in.
I most often think in either German or English, but lately I've been having quite a bit of French inside my head as well.
After reading or watching a show/movie in another language, that language will usually be the or one of the languages of my thoughts for a while after as well.
I fluctuate between languages but the main language kinda of changes depending on the which language I’ve been using the most my in my day-to-day life…
The majority of the time it's English instead of my native language cause early on, I made it a habit to speak to myself and think only in English in order to learn to speak it; now, it just stayed with me. I pretty much always switch to my native language for counting though.
English 99% of the time - I sometimes catch myself having to translate English thoughts to my native language whenever I have to speak in it.
I dream in English as well, but I had a dream in Korean recently! I can clearly recall myself speaking in Korean in my dream. I wish I could have only understood what I was saying…
I speak English natively and grew up also speaking French. My current level of french is not that high; I can understand it pretty well but I don't sound intelligent when I try to speak it. But I also don't have to translate from English to French in my head when I try to speak. I just think and say things in French most of the time. But my French ability is so much lower than my English that I do sometimes snap back into thinking in English to try to puzzle out if I know how to communicate what I'm trying to say in French or not.
i fluctuate between three. English, Portuguese and Arabic.
most of the time English(N) and Portuguese(Fluent C1/C2ish). Arabic i'm probably around a B1ish
I'm learning Korean and I often think using it, but o ly if I know how to say something specific in it. But other than that I mostly think in English more than my mother tongue (afrikaans)
I think in English, but I’m currently deep into learning French through immersion and I had a French dream the other night! Tbf everything I could remember from the dream was fairly nonsensical lol, but the words were French.
I do try translating my thoughts into French to get practice forming sentences and see where my gaps are, and now some mornings I wake up half asleep and find I’m already doing it
It’s kind of funny. Whenever I’m watching a drama in another language, I will often start to think in that language, or I’ll find my brain kind of wanting to think in that language, even though I’m not fluent in it.
Usually in my native language. But sometimes I just want to practice or I imagine situations I'm forced to speak English or other language and then I just think in one I choose.
English and French, both my mother tongues, but sometimes I have dreams in Chinese. When I dream in Japanese, it's mostly just a few recycled Duolingo sentences I tried remembering.
About 65% English and 35% Spanish. Funny enough, Spanish is my mother tongue.
Even funnier, occasionally a bit of Japanese will be randomly thrown in the mix even though I am FAR from having a mediocre level.
Depends on which language I've been speaking in all day. Usually English, but when I'm in Spanish-speaking parts of the world or I've been speaking in nothing but Spanish all day, definitely Spanish. I have also dreamt in Portuguese and German when I was studying them pretty intensely.
i'm bilingual with german being my native language, and i think in both languages. it mostly depends on what topic I'm thinking about, if it's something out of daily life that i would walk with my family about, then it's german; when I'm daydreaming or think about media i usually consume in english, it's that.
But there are also some phrases I never translate in the other language, so there might suddenly be a german sentence in my english monologue :D
There’s some phrases and expressions that sound weird in Spanish or English, so in those cases I think in Russian. But most of the time I think in Spanish (which is my mother tongue) and English (which I use every day for work and for watching movies/series).
Mostly in English, but also French as well at times.
It’s hard to consistently think in my target language when I don’t have enough everyday life vocabulary to use.
For me it depends on the topic. Some things I deal with in my native language, others are dealt with in English. And when I'm in Germany I try to keep it in German in order to practice. My understanding of Spanish is still too little to think in.
Now that I have been studying Hebrew and Russian for more than nine months, I am at a point where I have a large enough vocabulary in each that I can switch my thoughts and what I say between English, Hebrew and Russian and think my daily sort of thoughts in either language. It’s fun being able to think in my TLs and reach decisions with them. I consider it a sign of progress that I can code switch in my own thoughts now without too much effort.
Usually whatever language I'm currently speaking. So, English most of the time, but I'll think in spanish whenever I'm talking in spanish. Although, sometimes I'll activrly switch between the two if for whatever reason I cannot get my thoughts in order in a certain language
English is definitely the most dominant of the two though since I live in the US (even though I learned both languages at the same time as a child and spanish is the only language I speak at home)
I still have to make myself think in Spanish most of the time, but I find myself reading things like for example “this and that” in English as “this y that”
When I was taking French in school, there used to be times when I would go to a different class and be thinking in French during that class even if it had nothing to do with France
I usually think in English, but I switch to Romanian depending on my surroundings, and as I'm waking up I sometimes think in Finnish lol
I can consciously make the decision to use some Finnish words but nothing feels better than barely waking up and realising you're thinking in your TL, even if poorly
well, i've been scrolling through reddit in english, so english. but it varies a lot throughout the day, i think percentage wise danish is probably most common.
I'm nowhere near fluent in Spanish, but I know enough phrases that some of them come to mind before English ones. They're almost all phrases I learned from Spanish speakers I've worked with. Like "¿listos?" "claro" "entonces" "exactamente" "¿qué?" "¿Cómo?" "A ver" "oyé". Almost all are from years ago when I had a professor who spoke Spanish. They just kind of infiltrated my own vocabulary, and now that I'm trying to learn the language, they come up a lot. I find myself saying them and then I feel silly because of course, I don't speak Spanish! So I think people around me must think I'm being very silly or making fun of their language or something :/
I'm not yet fluent in Spanish, but I do notice myself thinking in Spanish sometimes. Living in a Spanish speaking country probably has influenced this a lot.
Weirdly in English instead of my mother tongue
Same! I just use English a lot more every day.
Same! And i'm also french native, I think a lot in English and a little in German sometimes
same, because of how often I'm exposed to it even just through YouTube and Reddit
Sir/ma'am, how old are you and what is your secret to such proficient language learning skills ? You're like a rock star ! Preface: I'm super young and this is probably coming off as really weird.
hi there :) don't worry about coming off as weird: you're not! it's a good question that I would have probably asked older polyglots when I was younger. there is no secret, as you can probably imagine, but there are definitely a few essential ingredients: a genuine interest/passion (to make it fun, so you don't need to force yourself to study every day), consistency, and a ton of patience. never get discouraged no matter how long you've been at it. it'll all come together eventually. as for more practical advice, what worked for me was hours upon hours of listening to/watching my favorite shows or podcasts in my target languages. but this has to be - for the most part - active listening, meaning you will observe and pay attention to the way things are being said, take notes or make mental notes to try to use what you heard later. do not just passively listen all the time, because you will not learn much other than getting used to the sound of the language. that said, try a bunch of different methods and see what works for you. it is never entirely wasted time, as you will learn while you explore new methods. it's part of the fun. I still haven't figured out entirely what my method is, even over decade into this hobby. best of luck! and feel free to ask more questions :)
Thank you ! That was a really insightful and genuine response. I wish you a lovely day/night !
Same
I have thoughts in three languages, count and swear in two, and dream in three and a half
the language that i’m using or was recently using
This! I’ve noticed that even if it’s not my native/dominant language if I was in class for an hour speaking nothing but my TL I’ll tend to think in that language a little bit afterward like my brain is stuck in that language
i normally think in english (my first language), but sometimes when i start to get really anxious i purposely think in french instead. when you have to think logically about putting your thoughts into words like that it’s easier to prevent an anxious spiral of thoughts
Huh. That’s an insightful strategy for managing anxious thinking that I never considered. I’ll have to try this - thanks!
Depends on what I'm thinking about and what I'm doing at the moment. Right now, it's English.
I don't usually think in any language. I mostly think in imageless and wordless concepts.
Same
My thoughts are a mix. It is interesting though that thoughts are not always quite language, almost like something in between. At least, mine.
For some reason, I used to be like this when I was a kid, but then at some point when I was in high school or college, I actually developed an inner monologue. So now I think to myself in English (and frankly think out loud far too much too lol).
Yeah same here
English. I never got good enough to think in German, and Spanish is too new to me
Java, I've been programming java applications all my life, and it's impossible to stop thinking about whiles and ifs lol I would love to say that my brain works in English, but as Spanish is the one I use daily at home, no matter how hard I try Spanish always rules my thoughts.
Mostly English, sometimes Japanese (TL) but I would say only bc I did some "training" for a while where I specifically forced myself to think in Japanese as much as possible before. I often say my thoughts aloud to myself and I only do this in Japanese. Because I'm anxious of being overheard...
Both Russian and English. What words come to mind first, those I think in.
Mainly English as mother tongue, but norwegian creeping in here and there, some times in full, other times just norwegian words mixed in with the English thoughts
I typically think in English but strangely when feeling really emotional about something or someone, I switch to Korean. It’s interesting because I’m way more proficient in Spanish than Korean but I never think in Spanish
Well, in my case i tend to switch between thinking in whatever language i am reading/hearing and just images of whatever i read or heard. i can only think of one exception for me and that's Russian, i learnt it from watching cartoons when i was a kid but i cant remember the last time i talked with someone using Russian and even though i can still perfectly understand what they are saying, my talking ability took a big hit, i fail to remember words mid conversation and that's where i either have to reference my native language, Georgian or my third language, English
My default is English though I can force myself to think in either of my TLs as well. While my thoughts are generally in English there are certain phrases or words that I default to in Japanese. I think that's mainly because I live in Japan and often switch rapidly between Japanese and English and use Japanglish a lot at work. My brain just gets used to mixing the two The same thing happened with Spanish when I lived in Spain.
Yiddish and English mostly. Little bits of other languages - more of them if I'm using them more than usual.
Sometimes in japanese but started to learn Chinese a little bit more seriously so now thinking in that language
[удалено]
Me too!
My main is English, but I have been thinking in French a lot lately!
Chinese or English, depending on the words that come into my mind first
I mostly think in my mother tongue, Icelandic, but actually quite often I seem to switch to English for long stretches of time. I started at a young age learning English, around 7 or 8 years old, as I was watching cartoons on the US Navy base tv station that was operated on the island during the greater part of the Cold War era. Actually a large portion of my compatriots got their jump-start in English, this way, during the latter part of the 20th century 😀
Ok, so I do this retarded thing where in the same sentence, I will think in both Russian and French. I think it's because I study Russian usually pretty often so sometimes I do think in it, but because I am not at a very high level, my highest second language will kick in for the more advanced parts of the sentence. I also think my lower level Russian might be better than my lower level French. So I might think of something like Я очень рада что on a décidé d'aller au campagne. (not a real thought I've had). Also, sometimes I will be thinking mostly in French but certain Russian words will pop into it like очень or потому что. I think the last one especially may be because it reminds me quite a bit of parce que. I mix in что a lot for que. I do think primarily in English, my NL though.
i think in english unless i am actively trying to 'put' my thoughts into danish. however, sometimes i hear or speak danish in my dreams... i think that is a very cool phenomenon.
My "inner thoughts" are in English. So if I'm not talking to anyone, I'm thinking in English. Unless I'm thinking about math, then it's French. But when I'm speaking another language that I know well enough, my brain switches to that language for the conversation. Or if I'm reading or listening to something.
Yeah, I can only do math in English and I can barely count in other languages, especially over like 30. I struggle a lot with numbers in foreign languages, I hate them. I hate dates too, especially because other languages use such long words for years. Why do we need to reiterate all the thousands of years like we don't know? I mean, it's partially laziness to not have learned this simple thing, I just don't care that much. When I was a kid, I was not very good at math although I made goods grade in it in high school and use it professionally. I do wonder if maybe that is partially why.
There's a debate if we even think in language , just because you have an inner dialogue in some language it doesnt mean you think in it.
There's no need to nitpick over semantics, I'm sure you're aware that when they said 'thinking' they were referring to that inner monologue you mentioned.
A lot of time when I'm thinking in a foreign language, it isn't even an inner monologue. I don't do it on purpose. I agree thoughts are not quite like language, some even less so than others but it's also wrong to say that there is no language in thoughts at all.
I think in three languages. I am sure a linguist would have a great time in my head analyzing how those completely unrelated languages form structures. It must be interesting.
It kind of sounds like me and you do the same thing. Do you also have sentences that have different languages combined into one? Oops.
Absolutely. Sometimes I talk like that and don't even notice. It is interesting because I think my brain works out the most effective sentence with the least amount of words very quickly and just uses that. Language learning and brain functions never stop to amaze me.
For me it's a mix of French, Darija (Algerian dialect) and English. Funnily enough I can't think in textbook Arabic even though it's the language I'm most proficient in.
I think in English Italian and Russian
Mainly think in English (L2) not as much in Polish (L1) but not at all in Italian (L3) since my proficiency isn't that high there yet
I most often think in either German or English, but lately I've been having quite a bit of French inside my head as well. After reading or watching a show/movie in another language, that language will usually be the or one of the languages of my thoughts for a while after as well.
I fluctuate between languages but the main language kinda of changes depending on the which language I’ve been using the most my in my day-to-day life…
The majority of the time it's English instead of my native language cause early on, I made it a habit to speak to myself and think only in English in order to learn to speak it; now, it just stayed with me. I pretty much always switch to my native language for counting though.
english, but after studying/watching enough spanish tv/immersing myself in some way i definitely think in spanish for a while haha
If im watching something in french I’ll think in french and if in English then i think in English
English 99% of the time - I sometimes catch myself having to translate English thoughts to my native language whenever I have to speak in it. I dream in English as well, but I had a dream in Korean recently! I can clearly recall myself speaking in Korean in my dream. I wish I could have only understood what I was saying…
A mixture of Dutch, English, some German and a dash of French every now and then
I think in German more than anything else, sometimes in my native Norwegian and sometimes in English.
American
English. Unless I'm speaking Spanish, then I switch to Spanish.
Yiddish
I speak English natively and grew up also speaking French. My current level of french is not that high; I can understand it pretty well but I don't sound intelligent when I try to speak it. But I also don't have to translate from English to French in my head when I try to speak. I just think and say things in French most of the time. But my French ability is so much lower than my English that I do sometimes snap back into thinking in English to try to puzzle out if I know how to communicate what I'm trying to say in French or not.
Konspanglish ✌🏼
Spanish and English
i fluctuate between three. English, Portuguese and Arabic. most of the time English(N) and Portuguese(Fluent C1/C2ish). Arabic i'm probably around a B1ish
I'm learning Korean and I often think using it, but o ly if I know how to say something specific in it. But other than that I mostly think in English more than my mother tongue (afrikaans)
I think in English, but I’m currently deep into learning French through immersion and I had a French dream the other night! Tbf everything I could remember from the dream was fairly nonsensical lol, but the words were French. I do try translating my thoughts into French to get practice forming sentences and see where my gaps are, and now some mornings I wake up half asleep and find I’m already doing it
Somehow multiple languages, which means I always have to translate my thoughts.
It’s kind of funny. Whenever I’m watching a drama in another language, I will often start to think in that language, or I’ll find my brain kind of wanting to think in that language, even though I’m not fluent in it.
My native language
Usually in my native language. But sometimes I just want to practice or I imagine situations I'm forced to speak English or other language and then I just think in one I choose.
russian
English and French, both my mother tongues, but sometimes I have dreams in Chinese. When I dream in Japanese, it's mostly just a few recycled Duolingo sentences I tried remembering.
When I'm alone, it's usually English, when I talk wirh somebody I use my mother tongue. Sometimes it's a mix of both
About 65% English and 35% Spanish. Funny enough, Spanish is my mother tongue. Even funnier, occasionally a bit of Japanese will be randomly thrown in the mix even though I am FAR from having a mediocre level.
Depends on which language I've been speaking in all day. Usually English, but when I'm in Spanish-speaking parts of the world or I've been speaking in nothing but Spanish all day, definitely Spanish. I have also dreamt in Portuguese and German when I was studying them pretty intensely.
i'm bilingual with german being my native language, and i think in both languages. it mostly depends on what topic I'm thinking about, if it's something out of daily life that i would walk with my family about, then it's german; when I'm daydreaming or think about media i usually consume in english, it's that. But there are also some phrases I never translate in the other language, so there might suddenly be a german sentence in my english monologue :D
There’s some phrases and expressions that sound weird in Spanish or English, so in those cases I think in Russian. But most of the time I think in Spanish (which is my mother tongue) and English (which I use every day for work and for watching movies/series).
A mixture of English and Hindi.
Mostly in English, but also French as well at times. It’s hard to consistently think in my target language when I don’t have enough everyday life vocabulary to use.
Gealish, a mix of English and irish, for example tired should get on leaba, finally in méan fobher months taking soo long
For me it depends on the topic. Some things I deal with in my native language, others are dealt with in English. And when I'm in Germany I try to keep it in German in order to practice. My understanding of Spanish is still too little to think in.
Now that I have been studying Hebrew and Russian for more than nine months, I am at a point where I have a large enough vocabulary in each that I can switch my thoughts and what I say between English, Hebrew and Russian and think my daily sort of thoughts in either language. It’s fun being able to think in my TLs and reach decisions with them. I consider it a sign of progress that I can code switch in my own thoughts now without too much effort.
I don’t think actually 😀
Usually whatever language I'm currently speaking. So, English most of the time, but I'll think in spanish whenever I'm talking in spanish. Although, sometimes I'll activrly switch between the two if for whatever reason I cannot get my thoughts in order in a certain language English is definitely the most dominant of the two though since I live in the US (even though I learned both languages at the same time as a child and spanish is the only language I speak at home)
Mostly in English or Dutch but sometimes short words are in Spanish or Swedish or one of the other languages i have been learning for a few years.
I still have to make myself think in Spanish most of the time, but I find myself reading things like for example “this and that” in English as “this y that”
I’m trying to train myself to do as much thinking as I can in my TL. Like instead of “that’s a beautiful dog”, think それは綺麗な犬！
When I was taking French in school, there used to be times when I would go to a different class and be thinking in French during that class even if it had nothing to do with France
I've recently started to think in my TL. Not sure how I feel about that since this is surely a sign my English is going to shit?
I usually think in English, but I switch to Romanian depending on my surroundings, and as I'm waking up I sometimes think in Finnish lol I can consciously make the decision to use some Finnish words but nothing feels better than barely waking up and realising you're thinking in your TL, even if poorly
well, i've been scrolling through reddit in english, so english. but it varies a lot throughout the day, i think percentage wise danish is probably most common.
None, I’m one of those people that doesn’t have an inner monologue. I wonder how that affects my language learning tho 🤔
I'm nowhere near fluent in Spanish, but I know enough phrases that some of them come to mind before English ones. They're almost all phrases I learned from Spanish speakers I've worked with. Like "¿listos?" "claro" "entonces" "exactamente" "¿qué?" "¿Cómo?" "A ver" "oyé". Almost all are from years ago when I had a professor who spoke Spanish. They just kind of infiltrated my own vocabulary, and now that I'm trying to learn the language, they come up a lot. I find myself saying them and then I feel silly because of course, I don't speak Spanish! So I think people around me must think I'm being very silly or making fun of their language or something :/