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Dreaming in your new language


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It seems that you know you are taking in the new language when you start dreaming in that language. This heppened to me a while back and when I woke up it was strange, but in a good way to know I had been speaking, and fluently, Spanish.... I can't speak fluently when awake !!

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When I was learning French I would often dream in the language.  It took a semester of study to get to that point though.  After I stopped studying the language I also stopped dreaming in it.  I think it is because I wasn't surrounded by the French words and wasn't pressured to use them in any manner as my studies had ended.  Out of sight, out of mind.

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I experience the same thing as you sayitwell as in that I will dream in the language I am exposed to around that time. When my Dutch family comes over the visit me in the UK I tend to have the odd Dutch dream here and there where even my non Dutch speaking wife suddenly speaks fluent Dutch which is a very odd experience to say the least.

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I have occasionally had dreams in other languages, but it doesn't happen all that much. If I am traveling to an area where I know the language and I am exposed to it all day, that night I will sometimes have a dream in that language. It is pretty cool. But for me it doesn't happen a lot. I have heard other language learners having dreams in foreign languages a lot more.

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When I was studying german, the first few days I also dreamt of it, maybe because I'm so excited at that time. Everything is new and I was really overwhelmed. Even before going to sleep I talk about it with my cousin, who is also learning the language with me.

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English isn't new to me but I used to avoid talking in it because people can make such a big deal of it. So it was weird when I dreamed I was talking to it quite freely and it turns out that I was also talking while dreaming! I was so embarrassed because I can talk in it quite well but I've been pretending to fail at speaking in English.

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I have the same kind of dreams! Good to know that I'm not alone.

I also feel like I am fluent in my dreams. I wonder if anything I say while dreaming is actually correct, let alone fluent.

Ha ha I get this point. In my dreams I am also fluent but like you have no idea if I am speaking well or just speaking rubbish. Or... maybe I am speaking fluent and my mind is just doing the job that my 'awake' mouth can't :-)

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No it has never happened to me. Probably the people who dream in some other language may the due to the subconscious mind excited about the new language. I believe one can dream in his mother tongue only. But as you people state it, it is surprising to me.

Here is some more information on dreaming in other language.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Dreaming-in-foreign-language-Do-138763.S.116553977

" I don't think so. Becoming bilingual doesn't happen overnight!

Being bilingual is speaking two languages equally and dreaming in a language can happen even if we're just learning it. I think it's natural to actually dream in the languages we are learning especially when they have an impact on us. However if one has become bilingual one probably dreams in that language as well.

  "

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No it has never happened to me. Probably the people who dream in some other language may the due to the subconscious mind excited about the new language. I believe one can dream in his mother tongue only. But as you people state it, it is surprising to me.

Here is some more information on dreaming in other language.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Dreaming-in-foreign-language-Do-138763.S.116553977

" I don't think so. Becoming bilingual doesn't happen overnight!

Being bilingual is speaking two languages equally and dreaming in a language can happen even if we're just learning it. I think it's natural to actually dream in the languages we are learning especially when they have an impact on us. However if one has become bilingual one probably dreams in that language as well.

  "

Thanks for posting the link.  I was amazed to see the array of experiences that people had. 

I used to dream in Spanish sometimes when I was more immersed in the language, especially when I was studying Spanish literature in college.  But the dreams were not fully in Spanish; they tended to be more inspired by the study of the language.  I would sometimes be able to read faster or to be more fluent. 

I also remember having dreams in which I was surrounded by people and could not speak the language -- not a recognizable language, but more like arriving in a country and literally not being able to speak a single word of the language and feeling desperate to communicate.  I still have dreams like that from time to time.

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  • 1 month later...

I haven't yet heard about dreaming in a new language, which sounds very unusual to me. I think I have daydreamed about learning a new language, however, it didn't happen because I didn't really think about learning a new language since I have already knew two languages.

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I don't use to dream often but I've only had dreams in Portuguese (my language) and English... and I can speak other languages too, not fluently but I can.

Although there was one Anime-dream I had and it was in Japanese and I don't know a word of it.

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I love those dreams!!! I'm usually fluent in them. Everything I worked for becomes real in those dreams. And then of course I wake up and see I'm just as challenged as I was before I went to sleep. Hmmh...  hahaha Anyway, I guess those dreams are showing us our potential...

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A good way I find to know whether or not you're actually proficient at speaking a language you're trying to learn is whether or not you're actually capable of thinking in it. If you can actually form coherent thoughts, even while having difficulties speaking or writing in that language, you're on your way to becoming a fluent.

Otherwise, you're just translating sentences from your native language, and thinking about how this phrase would sound in Spanish or French.

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