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In which language are you thinking?

Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Scholarly Pursuits
Forum Name: Intellectual discussions
Forum Discription: Discuss political and philosophical theories, religious beliefs and other academic subjects
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9323
Printed Date: 28-Mar-2024 at 10:34
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Topic: In which language are you thinking?
Posted By: Maziar
Subject: In which language are you thinking?
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 14:47

This question is maybe more interesting for forumers who are not living in their homelands. I am an Iranian forumer and live since 15 years in Germany. as i have arrived in germany i was 12 years old. Currently when i am thinking, all words which are going through my brain are german, and no more persian. Is this becouse i was very young as i came to Germany? and if i were older , 18 for example, would i think in persian now?

In which languages are you thinking?




Replies:
Posted By: ulrich von hutten
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 15:29
more interessting seems to be in which language are you dreaming. your are thinking the whole day through ,i hope so , you will think in the language you are just talking. but when you come down in the night , in which language are your coloured dreams. the girl/man of your dreams offers you an unforgettable expirience ,in which language will he/she do it ? your teacher/boss is shouting in your nightmares ,which language will he/she use ? i allways dream in german or icelandic but never in english.sometimes ,while posting something at the forum i do think in english but i think this is cause i have to translate it my mind to find the right terms and words, not to mention the right grammar.

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Posted By: ArmenianSurvival
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 15:59
     Even though my parents told me I was speaking Armenian before English, I have always formulated my thoughts in English.

     A lot of times thoughts are formulated through feelings rather than words


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Posted By: Zagros
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 16:14
Think in english and swear in persian and english lol.

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Posted By: Kalevipoeg
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 16:19
Mostly(90%) in Estonian, but sometimes, when a thought is formulated in English, it obtains a totally different meaning and coloration for which i can't find a parallel in Estonian. That is a really good thing when to think of it.
Every day i think in Russian too, very little, but i try to formulate sentences in it, really fun to think in different languages.

But do thoughts(philosophical ideas) really have a language? When i would think about the beauty of the forest i walk in, i use no language, but pictures and feelings with much more meaning then words go through my mind, which can't even be put into words, a sort of "verbal clautostrophobia". I think real thoughts have no language in your mind, thinking is much more to do with the mind and soul then with any language. A real mental progress.


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There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge...


Posted By: Maju
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 17:11
When I am at the computer I mostyly think in English. Actually I find it annoying to find anything in Spanish or any other language I would be at ease with unless I have mentalized myself I am going to find that.

Out of the computer I usually think in Spanish or Basque.


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NO GOD, NO MASTER!


Posted By: Serge L
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 20:07
I do not always think using a language. In particular, when I do my work (engeneering) I often think by projecting and moving 3-D objects in my mind.
Other times I think via pure concepts (I hope this can really communicate what  I mean, I could not find a better wording)


Posted By: Maziar
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 22:00

Originally posted by Serge L

I do not always think using a language. In particular, when I do my work (engeneering) I often think by projecting and moving 3-D objects in my mind.
Other times I think via pure concepts (I hope this can really communicate what  I mean, I could not find a better wording)

but you use words in your mind, don't you ask yourself "what may i buy, the red wine or white wine?"

Btw, may i ask you what is your occupation? I am studying architecture and i have 3D objects in mind too.

Originally posted by Zagros

Think in english and swear in persian and english lol.

Me too. Think in german and swear in german and persian

Originally posted by ulrich von hutten

more interessting seems to be in which language are you dreaming. your are thinking the whole day through ,i hope so , you will think in the language you are just talking. but when you come down in the night , in which language are your coloured dreams. the girl/man of your dreams offers you an unforgettable expirience ,in which language will he/she do it ? your teacher/boss is shouting in your nightmares ,which language will he/she use ? i allways dream in german or icelandic but never in english.sometimes ,while posting something at the forum i do think in english but i think this is cause i have to translate it my mind to find the right terms and words, not to mention the right grammar.

Very interesting! i dream in both German and Persian, although i can't remember my dreams well.



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Posted By: Maziar
Date Posted: 18-Feb-2006 at 22:11

Guys thank you all for your insight. But no one has answered a quostion.

Originally posted by Maziar

all words which are going through my brain are german, and no more persian. Is this becouse i was very young as i came to Germany? and if i were older , 18 for example, would i think in persian now?

This  is very important for me to know. Could someone help me with this question?



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Posted By: Artaxiad
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 01:07
I think in Armenian, but I count in French.

I guess that's about to change...


Posted By: gcle2003
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 08:26
Most of the time I think in English, but after 20 years living here (and a lot of time in Europe before then) I easily switch to thinking in French/German when I'm in conversation, or reading a book.

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Posted By: Serge L
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 15:10
Originally posted by Maziar

Originally posted by Serge L

I do not always think using a language. In particular, when I do my work (engeneering) I often think by projecting and moving 3-D objects in my mind.
Other times I think via pure concepts (I hope this can really communicate what  I mean, I could not find a better wording)

but you use words in your mind, don't you ask yourself "what may i buy, the red wine or white wine?"

Sometimes, but not always, and not even often. I use the "inner speech" way of thinking when I need to focus on some language related idea. Otherwise, I think using pure, non-word-related ideas.


Btw, may i ask you what is your occupation? I am studying architecture and i have 3D objects in mind too.

My occupation is that to design, project, have built and install new equipment for the chemical plant for which  I work.

Yes, the 3D way of thinking is common (and very useful) for people like you and me, who needs to design objects as a job.

Sorry, I cannot help you about your question concerning the languages you use to think.

However, I read somewhere that when a multi-lingual person suffer of amnesia, (s)he usually  remembers for first the language (s)he associates with the most important and / or pleasant feelings.

Maybe your case is analogous.



Posted By: Mira
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 15:16
Definitely Arabic.  It has a richer vocabulary, I think (and I may be wrong). 

Not that I speak many languages, anyhow!  I intend to learn Persian in order to read Omar al-Khayyam's poetry in its original language.  That's enough a motivation for me.


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Posted By: Ahmed The Fighter
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 15:32

 with no doubt Arabic,I intend to learn Persian too Mira but I don't know how.

Iranian members help please,show me the road step by step.



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"May the eyes of cowards never sleep"
Khalid Bin Walid


Posted By: DayI
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 15:51

I think Turkish but it's damn hard to express my feelings in other languages then Turkish  

Somethimes i got real headache of trying to express me how i feel about something, and exspecially when i should write something in dutch, english and somethimes french...



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Posted By: Iranian41ife
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 16:33
english. but i can think in persian also.

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"If they attack Iran, of course I will fight. But I will be fighting to defend Iran... my land. I will not be fighting for the government and the nuclear cause." ~ Hamid, veteran of the Iran Iraq War


Posted By: Spartakus
Date Posted: 19-Feb-2006 at 17:14
Hellenic and English.

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Posted By: Digenis
Date Posted: 20-Feb-2006 at 07:20
I think that if u get used to speaking another language,u start thinking in this language.
I m Greek and my mother tongue is Greek.When some months ago,i hosted a friend of mine from Poland,we were constantly speaking English.
So although,she has just stayed for 4 days,i realised that i started thinking some phrases in English !
It seems like the brain to change mode of language,after some time of use.




Posted By: Maziar
Date Posted: 22-Feb-2006 at 00:05

Originally posted by Digenis

I think that if u get used to speaking another language,u start thinking in this language.
I m Greek and my mother tongue is Greek.When some months ago,i hosted a friend of mine from Poland,we were constantly speaking English.
So although,she has just stayed for 4 days,i realised that i started thinking some phrases in English !
It seems like the brain to change mode of language,after some time of use.

Very interesting in fact, i agree. Always i am reading the forum or writing a post i notice that i am thinking in English, although my English isn't that good.



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Posted By: ramin
Date Posted: 22-Feb-2006 at 00:38
very interesting topic.

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"I won't laugh if a philosophy halves the moon"


Posted By: Halevi
Date Posted: 23-Feb-2006 at 03:23
I think either in English or symbolic giberrish, but often dream in languages in which i have been immersed at various points in time... mainly Hebrew, Cantonese and Farsi, although usually my dreams involve me trying in vain to communicate with someone in one of those languages! lol  ... when living in Israel, i often thought and dreamt in (elementary) Hebrew.

I've also developed the (somewhat irksome) habit of swearing under my breath in other languages (i often use Arabic swear words, which i picked up from living in Israel, and Russian, which i picked up from local Russian friends, and Israel. They just sound especially dirty, and stuck in my brain). I realize that may seem really lame, but im thus far unwilling to bother altering this already-learned behaviour.


Posted By: arsenka
Date Posted: 23-Feb-2006 at 05:08
We think in the language we try to express our ideas at the moment. That's much easier than translate it from your native language in your mind. That's most obvious when you have to translate from one non-native language to another non-native.  You wouldn't copy with that if you had your own language as necessary point of transmission. 

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arsenka


Posted By: Turkish Soul
Date Posted: 25-Feb-2006 at 22:36

I learnt English,I will also learn German and Italan.I also know Turkish so in the future it will be a very hard question to answer..

I think in both Turkish and English when I am in this forum. If I lived abroad I would think both English and Turkish.But in my daily life I am thinking Turkish because I am in Turkiye



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dardanos


Posted By: cebeci
Date Posted: 26-Feb-2006 at 05:36

and interesting topic which i very earlier then now realized

i think it has a parallel echo with the question: do everybody see 'the color red' exactly as you see?



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history is just a repetation of itself


Posted By: cebeci
Date Posted: 26-Feb-2006 at 05:38

there may be 6 billion forms of red and everybody would call the color red

there might be a topic about this before, i donno



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history is just a repetation of itself


Posted By: cebeci
Date Posted: 26-Feb-2006 at 05:39
i always think turkish and act like a turkish

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history is just a repetation of itself


Posted By: gcle2003
Date Posted: 26-Feb-2006 at 05:54

Originally posted by Halevi


I've also developed the (somewhat irksome) habit of swearing under my breath in other languages (i often use Arabic swear words, which i picked up from living in Israel, and Russian, which i picked up from local Russian friends, and Israel. They just sound especially dirty, and stuck in my brain). I realize that may seem really lame, but im thus far unwilling to bother altering this already-learned behaviour.

I learnt Russian in the Army  (British) and as part of the course we had special lectures in learning how to swear. I don't know of any other formal course in a language that has included a similar speciality



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Posted By: Cywr
Date Posted: 26-Feb-2006 at 19:26
Generaly in English, though sometimes its clouded by Dutchisms, just individual words usualy, though it is interesting that i sometimes instinctivly associate certain things with the Dutch word over the English one mentaly.
Also for no reason, i sometimes catch myself counting in Dutch.

Of interest though, is whenever i encounter a new word, i instinctivly try to pronounce as if it were a Dutch word, like by brain just got stuck in that habit as a teenager, makes for good fun, especialy with the bizare spelling of some English words.


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Arrrgh!!"


Posted By: Kilikya
Date Posted: 27-Feb-2006 at 09:33

 

I like what Arsenka wrote:

We think in the language we try to express our ideas at the moment. That's much easier than translate it from your native language in your mind. That's most obvious when you have to translate from one non-native language to another non-native.  You wouldn't copy with that if you had your own language as necessary point of transmission. 

But I also agree with Serge about thought process in mages and feelings.  I think the question we are answering here is what language do we talk to ourselves in?  not what language do we think in.

 There are some thoughts that I can only think in Turkish even though my Turkish is far from adequate.  Situations trigger memories in a specific language and therefore we 'think' in that language.

When I am in the mountains I think in Italian.  When I am at school ort thinking politics I think English.  And the same goes for dreams-- I used to dream in Portuguese when I lived in Brazil tho now I cannot string together a coherent portuguese sentence. 




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