I wonder why I only dream in English

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Abner, Jul 6, 2016.

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  1. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    As some of you know, English is my primary language (U.S. born), and I speak Spanish, a little Italian, and understand French (though my French sucks). I wonder why I only dream in English, and not in other languages? I think once, maybe, just maybe, when I was a boy, I might have dreamed I was speaking Spanish to my dead grandmother, but I can't know for sure. Are there any linguists who might weigh in on this?
     
  2. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    I'm not going to touch that line with a ten-inch . . . Um, never mind.
     
  3. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member


    Ay Doc! You are a travieso (rascal). :smile:
     
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I've been told (years ago, by one of my psych. profs) that it takes years of frequent usage before people usually dream in anything but their first language. I've been to school for a bunch of languages (the absolute worst way to learn them) and I've had dreams in French maybe three or four times in sixty years - Spanish precisely once, while I was studying it. Several others? Zip, nada, bupkes. Oh yes - I had one crazy dream where somebody was hollering at me in (I'm pretty sure) Korean - but I couldn't understand one word of it. :smile:

    And while Dr. Levicoff may be a travieso, I'm pretty sure he's a יונגאַטש (yungatsch) too - that's the same thing in Yiddish - a language I've seen Dr. Steve use occasionally. I know a bit, (a bisl). Sadly, not enough to dream in it. :smile:

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 7, 2016

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