Quote:
Originally Posted by JuanOne
Quick question for people living/having lived in Japan, do you dream/think in japanese ? When did you start dreaming/thinking in japanese, how long did it take ? How does it feel, weird or good ?
It happens to everybody in english, I'm just wondering what's the deal with japanese because it's a very complicated language
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Happens to everyone in English? Really? I have never actively thought "in English" - even when it was my only language. The only time I think using words is if I am composing something beforehand in my head. For example, thinking of a way to word something delicate or the like. I can`t say I assign any language to normal thoughts as they don`t happen in words. (Can`t say I think *visually* either though - that is the same sort of deal as verbal. Unless I need to think of an image, I don`t visualize one in my head.)
It seems like it would be terribly inefficient to actual think in words...
For thinking, it is the same in Japanese. Unless I am thinking of a specific way to carefully word something, I don`t think in words.
I also don`t remember things in words - just the info. If asked to recall something later, I can rarely remember what language I read or heard it in. This sucks when I want to show an article or something to someone - I have to try and trace my steps to figure out what language it was in... And sometimes I end up finding that I was wrong about the language I guessed I had read it in so I can`t show it to the person in the end anyway.
As for dreams - it is really random. Some will be in English, some will be in Japanese, and some will be no language at all. Dreams featuring my family in Japan will almost always be in Japanese or language-less (I can`t recall any that were in English), but about people I know outside Japan or English speakers in Japan... It`s a mixed bag. Sometimes in English, sometimes in Japanese, sometimes neither or both. I often remember these as I will notice mid dream with a bit of shock - that person should NOT be speaking Japanese. I should not be speaking to people in Japanese if this is a dream taking place in my childhood, etc.
I don`t remember when this started. It doesn`t really "feel" like anything - just like speaking in Japanese doesn`t feel like anything... Other than "communication", I suppose. The language isn`t more complex than English, so I don`t see how that would make any difference.