What language do you think in?

[AndrewAPrice]

For people who can speak multiple languages, what language do you think in mostly?

If you grew up in a country where you spoke one language, then moved to another country where you used another language exclusively, then would you still think in your first language or the new language?

[suthers]

In C++
No, but seriously, I lived in Belgium (french speaking part) for 13 years and was born there...
But I lived in a English speaking 'reserve', where there lots of expats....
So my first language was french, but I learn English very early on... (My first words was 'voiture' in french and my second was 'bike' in english...)
Then I moved to England...
What language I think in really depends on what I'm doing, e.g. when I'm coding, I think in English, when I'm cooking think in french...
Jules

[piranha]

I know English (Native), Spanish and German. I can speak German better than Spanish, because I've been learning since I was three (my moms German)

I think in English. I've tried thinking in other languages, but it's difficult.

-JL

[inflater]

I think in my native language - in Slovak.

[albeva]

I speak estonian, russian and english. Lately (since my move to UK) I often catch myself thinking in English. I guess this is natural progression.... But sometimes I do think in my native as well (estonian). Or a mix of them...

[jgraef]

Hi,

In general I think in my native language German. But when I code I often think in English. I live in Germany since I was born (this is about 17 years ago) and I can't imagine of a situation I have to use English in, except in the Internet or in school.

[Combuster]

My thoughts never stay in a single language. Some of my bilingual chat mates will know that I tend to change between english and dutch randomly in-conversation.

[cg123]

I mostly think in English, but I occasionally slip into extremely crude Japanese.

[bewing]

Back when I was in school, I studied French for 4 years. By the end, I occasionally started to think in French. After each time, I found that I could not remember what I was thinking in French, when I switched back to English. So I stopped taking French.

When I'm programming, I think in patterns -- not any language at all.

[chezzestix]

I have two thought modes:

1) Conversational English, where I run conversations through my head over and over imagining all the possible responses and responses for those responses

2) C++ Pseudo-Code, whenever logic is required my mind defaults to writing a simple C script and then running through it. I set up lines of if-thens, literally think out case statements and do C style comparisons. Choices are stored in a temporary array which then bugs the crud out of the code when people give me time to init the array and then add another choice. My brain will more often throw out the last one in the array and replace it rather than make the array bigger.

[salil_bhagurkar]

Hello? I think we don't think in languages that often.. As far as my small observation is concerned, I think using my feelings and not languages. So when you are thinking that you should go in the kitchen and drink water, it comes up as a feeling. To convert that to a language even in mind would take you a small amount of delay (a few 10s of millisecs)..

[Revan76]

I usually think in french but some times in english.

[Zacariaz]

When I am among my fellow Danes, I probably think in Danish,but when I'm alone I often think in english. If I write an essay or something i often write it in english and the translate it,it's just easier somehow.

[Solar]

/me is native German.

Actually I do not believe I think much "in language" at all. Most thoughts are abstract, on activities, memories or the like. When I remember to do the laundry, I don't think "Waschmaschine" or "washing machine", I "think" a picture of that big white box in the basement.

It gets different when e.g. my wife asked me to do the laundry - then I remember her saying so, which naturally is a "German" memory.

When I remember a discussion e.g. on this forum, it's just as naturally in English - and I tend to "think" my answer-to-be in English.

And as for the "thinking in a programming language", of course the programming languages you know shape the way you think about a problem. So, while I don't exacly think...

Code: Select all

state = hungry;
while ( state = hungry )
{
    peanuts.eat();
}

...when I reach for the desk drawer, I do structure problems as C++ classes / methods / members, SQL queries and the like when I am talking with my colleagues. (It sometimes gets difficult when it's on a subject I have learned about from English textbooks while having a German discussion, but luckily ours is a field where English vocabulary is easily understood and accepted.)

[devel]

... Slovak, Hungarian and rarely in English.