Dreams

Bayou Rover   Monday, August 04, 2003, 08:37 GMT
Well, this is silly but I always wondered what reason behind choosing language that you dream in is; since my childhood, I have learnt English and French at the same time, both equally, and since a few years ago, I started to dream once in English and other in French. I just find it very confusing to me.
Did anyone experience such a thing before? Alternatively, does anybody know reasons behind this?
kurre   Monday, August 04, 2003, 11:11 GMT
Some scientists who have studied different parts of the brain and their function have taken a particular interest in how it processes language. They studied two different groups of people. The first group was of people who had learned two languages simultaneously, and the second group was of people who learned one language, spoke only that for many years, and then learned to speak another language fluently. By using electrodes to measure the activity of the stimulated areas of the brain, they recorded which areas were active when the first group spoke while alternating from one language to another. Then they did the same for the second group. They found that the people who learned two languages at the same time use only one portion of the brain (I forget where. I think somewhere in the left hemisphere) to process both languages equally, where people who learned languages at different times used two small portions of the brain right next to each other.

Now, I doubt this really answers your question. I would be a person from the second group, whereas you would be one from the first, and I can dream the same way you described you did. Although I think that little bit of information about the brain is kind of neat.
Brazilian Guy   Tuesday, August 05, 2003, 04:07 GMT
Last Friday to Saturday night I dreamed in English. Not an entire dream in this language, but one in which I had to speak English in certain moment. I have read that when you start dreaming in a language that you are learning it's because it is really in your subconciuos mind. Indeed a good signl for those who are trying to improve their skills.

That was really a great night. I had an experience with lucid dream, another thing I'm learning about, and belive me, even more interesting than dreaming in English :)
Clark   Tuesday, August 05, 2003, 04:22 GMT
I have had a couple of dreams where I carry on a small conversation in French and/or Spanish, but nothing close to fluent.

But sometimes I will have dreams where there will be French people speaking French, and while I do not understand the actual speech, I understand the meaning. Hard to explain.
blah   Tuesday, August 05, 2003, 12:53 GMT
I rarely actually have dreams that have any speaking in them, I guess they are mainly full of images and symbols. Occasionally when I do dream in my native language I recall that dream vividly. When I dream in a second language I find that my sleep wasn't relaxed, very similar to when I've been studying too much maths. I guess these 3 different sort of dreams I have may involve different brain regions to a certain extent. Are there any psychologists out there that know much about dreaming?
HiyaKiani   Tuesday, August 05, 2003, 20:43 GMT
Konnichiwa!
My dream was similar to Clark's. (Except in Japan.) I had a dream where I was in Japan and they spoke Japanese and I understood it. I said things that actually made sense and it sounded Japanese. (I spent a late night up watching subtitled anime.)

I learned in Spanish class that if you watch a show in Spanish (I'm using Spanish as an example) your brain won't forget; it records what you hear. Obviously you won't be able to speak it just by watching that show once but when learning Spanish it help to understand the language better and your mind keeps the info for you. (It over was two years ago that I was told this, so I might have altered what this says a bit from what what I was taught. But, hey, it's a general idea.)

I'm confusing myself. Could one of you could explain what I'm trying to say better? (Thank in advance.)

My quote:
"Watashi wa baka de watashino tomodachi wa baka desu, ne?" ~me~
("I'm crazy and my friend is crazy, *right*?")
Kiani
Some Anonymous Nerd   Tuesday, August 05, 2003, 20:45 GMT
Yes you are crazy and so is your friend.
From Kiani- I mean- Anonymous Nerd.
scottish   Wednesday, August 13, 2003, 13:46 GMT
i know a chinese guy who has lived in uk half of his life and now even his chinese friends speak english in his dreams wierd
Michal Ryszard Wojcik   Friday, August 15, 2003, 11:00 GMT
I often have dreams in English where both me and others speak English. I am always aware of the variety of English that is being spoken and I am especially aware of my own articulation.

It seems that in my brain the art of producing and distinguishing English sounds has settled deep in the bottom of my subconsciousness.

I once had a dream in which I spoke one sentence in Norwegian,
and at least once I had a dream in which I spoke German.