In which language you think or dream?

 One of my colleagues asked me one day, “You know more than just English, which language you prefer for thinking”? I had absolutely no clue. People tend to pass comments on those (Nepalese) who pretend (or show off) to be Americanized as: “no matter how superficially you act, you will always think and dream in Nepali”. I used to believe on that statement, but after my colleagues question I was made to think twice.

I discussed this with my friend Lalit who knows one more language than me (Newari), and he suggested that people think in the same language that they are communicating in. For example, he thinks in Newari when talking to his parents, Nepali when talking to other friends, and English when communicating at work. I was quite convinced with his logic but wanted to try that with myself.

Yesterday, I woke up early in the morning, before my normal wake up call, so I remembered my dream. When I was communicating with my Nepali friends, I dreamt in Nepali (spoke with them in Nepali to be precise); while communicating with my colleagues at work, I dreamt in English (spoke with them in English). This was just one event that I recalled and I shouldn’t be generalizing based on a single event. Also, it was in the morning so it might not be true as when someone dreams in deep sleep. I hope I can keep track (remember) of my dreams to come up with a conclusion. Also, the results might vary with different individuals.

Coming back to Lalit’s logic, I tried to put that in practice. When I was thinking (or planning alone) I definitely and certainly used Nepali language. But besides the language, the most fascinating part, I used signs and objects (though to less extent).

But when communicating with different people, I used more of signs and objects to think than the language itself. For example, when explaining a Nepali friends how to drive to my place my brain displays the images of the roads and I communicate that to them in Nepali language. When discussing progress at work, I have images of what I have done and images of what I need to do which I communicate in English. Although this is just my perception and can never be generalized, one thing I found for sure is you can never think in Nepali, then translate it in English and then communicate.

I bet there definitely must be some researches done on this subject. I don’t feel like looking them up and assembling the conclusion in this blog, but if I find something interesting I will definitely include them in future articles.