This is something that I was asked very casually by someone a few days ago and it has really got me thinking…! Whether I’m thinking about it in English or Sinhalese or in some sort of gibberish that only makes sense to me is what I’m still trying to figure out.
Whether I think in a particular language has never been something that has occurred to me. After all, we speak in different languages to suit the occasion, but whether we actually think in the same language as we’re speaking in, is a whole new ballgame.
I guess as I sit here writing this, I’m thinking in English. At least, I’m assuming that is the language that’s running through my mind since I’m looking for words and phrases that would make sense to an English speaking person.
But what if that’s not so? Could it be that I think in some sort of mixed, bastardized version of every language that I’ve ever heard and then translate it into whatever language medium that makes sense at the given time? Sort of like a computer that thinks in binary code, but then outputs a result that makes sense to human beings, a whole different species of intelligence.
As of now, this one simple, casual question has sort of become an irritating point in the back of my mind. It constantly seems to pop up at the most unexpected of times and makes me break down my entire train of thought into separate words and phrases and trying to figure out if I was thinking in English or Sinhalese or just plain gibberish…!
So….. if there’s anyone out there who has figured out EXACTLY what language they think in…. feed back would be much appreciated.
For the moment, this is me…… thinking!
November 13, 2008 at 5:30 am |
Nobody thinks in any language. BUT the thought is put into a audible sound or series if audible string by using the vocabulary which is the most comfortable at that moment. For accuracy counting one uses the mother tongue. If you are a multilingual person (more than two languages) you will understand this sequence very easily.(not tamil/English or Sinhaha /Tamil or Sinhala/English or with any Indian language) It has to be any two with a completely different 3rd language. Eg, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Finnish, etc
Donald Gaminitillake
I set the standard
November 13, 2008 at 5:31 am |
the voices in my head always speak in English, whether that has anything to do with thinking is debatable.
November 13, 2008 at 5:37 am |
English.
Reading, wondering, same thing. I don’t sense any difference between them.
November 13, 2008 at 5:46 am |
english.
November 13, 2008 at 6:09 am |
I’ve shared your thoughts too. I used to think in Sinhala when I was small, but with the last few years of nonstop education in the English medium has made my thought process convert to English.
Something I heard from my exboss on how to recognise what language you think in: If you wake a sleeping person in an ungodly hour, the language the irritated sleepy person is most likely to respond in, would be his/her thinking language. I haven’t tested it though. *grin*
November 13, 2008 at 6:39 am |
I’ve blogged about this topic some time back.. couldn’t exactly find the post though..:(
I think in English… maybe coz I use it more…. and it’s the language I’m most comfortable with and know well..:) and studied in..:)
November 13, 2008 at 7:05 am |
Nice one Pauly! You got me thinking… Machan I find that I seamlessly think in both English and Sinhala, with Sinhala dominating.
Now I have a headache as I concentrated on it so much!
November 13, 2008 at 7:24 am |
Whenever I think or rationalize in Sinhala, I feel limited and banal.
So I rationationalize in English, even though most of the time I speak in Sinhala. Which leaves me lost with words, and leaves my subjets lost in translation, without them even knowing it.
Perhaps the main reason for Sinhala not bieng versatile is the “speaking sinhala” so much different with the “academic sinhala”
November 13, 2008 at 11:47 am |
I think in English because it is the only language I know
However I often think in pictures or have a “feeling” (such as when I have a fleeting thought), and pictures and feelings are certainly how I dream.
Hmmm… although I did learn Spanish at school and I have on occasion thought in Spanish – although as I can’t actually remember any Spanish I suspect it was me using Spanish sounding gibberish to articulate what I meant in my head…
November 13, 2008 at 11:55 am |
I always think in English, hardly surprising as it’s the only language I speak. I sis fail my ‘O’ level German though, so I guess I could try to think in German but would have to confine it to the simplest of thoughts.
November 13, 2008 at 1:11 pm |
Hilarity will ensue if I were to think or rationalize in Tamil. English for me.
November 13, 2008 at 5:52 pm |
We think in pictures (experience) – or rather firing what they call “brain circuits” assigned to each picture or experience, and then at a later stage we add words in to that when we wanted to communicate. If we don’t need to communicate, if it is just pure thinking, then we don’t think in any language. That is why some times we find there are not enough words in the language to express what we were thinking. That is why time to time we switch to words in languages when we speak and it does not bother most of us who are not language scollars. That is why thinking start first and language start after.
When we listen, each word can trigger those “brain circuits” give us the meaning. That is why metaphors work better than direct word. That is why poetry works. That is why curse words works. That is why “this comment is nonsense” do not work as much as good as if I say “this comment is piece of green wet bullshit”.
November 17, 2008 at 7:47 am |
@ everyone…. Thanks for the feedback. I think Sam’s answer makes the most sense.
December 4, 2008 at 10:03 pm |
Yes.. i feel that Sams answer is a loot more meaningful.. I have had long time headahes figuring out wat i think…but the moment i start watching the language i think in i become conscious and lose hang of wat im thinking… i guess we dont think in any language…thought is a process that happens as a series of events.. happened already or expected to happen…it is only when we need to express thoughts we think of a medium of expression – and language is required, depending upon what the audience will understand. Hence language is only a tool of expression, thoughts don’t need a tool since all of them dont need to be expressed!!
June 28, 2009 at 8:41 pm |
Language as both biology & culture.It seems clear that language is a part of the human biological endowment. Perhaps the most compelling evidence for this can be found in the area of children’s acquisition of language.
All normal human childre, acquire the language of their social setting at about the same pace and in the same way. They do so without formal training, and they do so in social and cultural contexts which differ in terms of what kinds of linguistic interactions are supposed to be appropriate between parents and infants. These differences do not seem to affect the rate or quality of children’s acquisition of language. However, children who are isolated, for some reason, from all forms of linguistic interaction do not acquire language, and if they reach puberty without exposure to language they may never be able to acquire more than a very rudimentary linguistic ability.