Can you dream in a language you don't know?

When that happens - are you dreaming gibberish? Or do you just know more of the language than you think you do?

I've had a number of dreams where another language was involved - and though I don't remember the older ones, in all of them, the language is going on, and in my dream I don't understand it.

Two recent examples. A couple of weeks ago the TV was on in the background (of my dream - it was not on in in real life) and a Japanese news show was playing.

Last night, someone started talking to Gary in french, and they had some big long conversation. I understood a little of it, because I understand a little french. But that's why I'm wondering - if the conversation they were having in french didn't seem to be gibberish (from what I could understand) - does my brain just know a lot more french (and other languages) than I think it does???????????

So strange! I've never been to Japan, but did have a Japanese boyfriend for over two years (MANY years ago! ) and had a lot of exposure to the language.

Any thoughts? Does this happen to anyone else?

I've had dreams that had some Japanese in them - but I know some Japanese, so that probably doesn't count. Same with Spanish a few times, though I do know some (mostly forgotten/buried deep) from classes many years ago.

...I've also had a weird dream where this song was playing in the background.. I blame a Swedish friend who got it stuck in my head a few days earlier. What was odd about this is that I had only heard the song a couple times, yet in my dream all of the lyrics where there perfectly...


Not during dreams, but occasionally I'll think some words in other languages. Since I think mostly in images, everything has to be translated to language. Occasionally something other than English will pop up - thankfully I've only blurted out Japanese a couple times. I've had stuff in Finnish or Swedish pop into my head that I didn't realize I even knew.

That has never happened to me but I've never really had any exposure to other languages. Will let you know if it ever does!

I was talking to Gary about it. He thinks that if you have exposure to a language you probably know more than you think - but probably some - or a bunch - of it is gibberish. I did take French for 3 years and have been to France, so I probably know more than I think I do or consciously remember.

Originally Posted by LDG

I was talking to Gary about it. He thinks that if you have exposure to a language you probably know more than you think - but probably some - or a bunch - of it is gibberish. I did take French for 3 years and have been to France, so I probably know more than I think I do or consciously remember.

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I'll go along with that.

I studied French in high school and college and used it regularly when I was stationed in Belgium, but haven't spoken it for years. I often have dreams, though, when I'm speaking French a lot more fluently than I remember knowing it. The only practice I get these days is when I speak to Katie in French. She's a Belgian kitty, after all.

I took a semester of German in university and had a dream that I was a German ambassador . I could understand everyone else perfectly but I had no idea what I was saying.

Thats pretty amazing, its never happened to me though before, although I do have some extremely odd dreams

Originally Posted by TigerOnTheProwl

I took a semester of German in university and had a dream that I was a German ambassador

. I could understand everyone else perfectly but I had no idea what I was saying.

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That's funny you didn't understand yourself! In my "foreign language dreams" I'm never speaking the language though! Just weird!

I think I've had a dream that might have been in German. It was an odd dream in which I was a school teacher that had to get all the kids in the bomb shelter/basement before the bombs hit....

And I bet Gary is correct. As a child I was hyperlexic, it doesn't quite go away in adults but it's not really measurable in them. I think it's still there and plays a large part in me "decoding" other languages and memorizing them - mostly because I pick up vocab easily.

that happens to me but in real life, its kind of weird, people will either speak Italian German or French and I will understand it all as one language.
Poor Hubby while we were living in Germany for some reason nearly everything was translating into my head in English and when he asked me what they said, i once turned around and said they spoke in English!
until about 6 months ago though i was speaking to hubby half German and half English..

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I think I've had a dream that might have been in German. It was an odd dream in which I was a school teacher that had to get all the kids in the bomb shelter/basement before the bombs hit....

And I bet Gary is correct. As a child I was hyperlexic, it doesn't quite go away in adults but it's not really measurable in them. I think it's still there and plays a large part in me "decoding" other languages and memorizing them - mostly because I pick up vocab easily.

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But I am terrible with languages. He can understand and communicate in French, German, and Spanish; he knows a lot of Japanese words, he's fluent in Hebrew and almost fluent in Arabic, and from "chatting" with our dry cleaner now has very basic Korean. I can't even pull off a Southern accent.

Originally Posted by fwan

that happens to me but in real life, its kind of weird, people will either speak Italian German or French and I will understand it all as one language.
Poor Hubby while we were living in Germany for some reason nearly everything was translating into my head in English and when he asked me what they said, i once turned around and said they spoke in English!
until about 6 months ago though i was speaking to hubby half German and half English..

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Must have been driving him nuts, poor guy! But I find stuff like that fascinating, being so "english" oriented. (I assume he doesn't speak German?)

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

That has never happened to me but I've never really had any exposure to other languages. Will let you know if it ever does!

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Same here, how strange!

Is Gary good at math, too? I tend to pick up vocab and reading easier than grammar and speaking. I have enough problems with speaking English sometimes.

I usually don't dream in words. Only pictures....

I did take French for 3 years and have been to France, so I probably know more than I think I do or consciously remember.

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This happens to me- I can understand well but I have to often times dig very deep in my memory to come up with a word even if I know it..this happens less often in English since it's what I speak most often but very often when I speak Bulgarian or Spanish..
I don't think in any language, I just think in images so I think that's where this comes from. On the other hand though, thinking in images can help you when you are learning languages because you don't have to constantly translate everything back and forth- that can be a real big mess when you know more than 1 or 2 languages..

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Is Gary good at math, too? I tend to pick up vocab and reading easier than grammar and speaking. I have enough problems with speaking English sometimes.

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He's good at everything, really. He is a great artist (especially pottery & photography), he's a wonderful poet, he's fabulous at math (in his head especially). He's got an almost photographic memory. He has a huge vocabulary and speaks really well, but is terrible at grammar (left school at 15 though), and he writes beautifully - if you ignore the grammar and spelling. He's dyslexic. His IQ is 182 - though the one he did in Israel in Hebrew (which he didn't speak at all 4 years before he took the test there) said he's 192. They're not that accurate when it's that high though.

You're right, they're not. But it's safe to say his IQ is really high. I ask about the math because there is some link between being good at math and learning languages - similar/same parts of the brain used?

I'm pretty sure. There's also a link with intelligence and dyslexia, though I lost the article a long time ago (pre-Internet info. Probably could find the info if I searched online though). Apparently people with dyslexia have brains that are just wired differently - they don't use the same part of the brain to read that "normal" people do. ...but apparently they tend to actually have higher IQs than normal even though they grow up with the stigma of "learning disability" as kids.

Gary (as many) has basically learned to compensate. But to save his life he would not be able to say the word "forensic." Not possible. It always comes out "forsenic."

Originally Posted by LDG

I'm pretty sure. There's also a link with intelligence and dyslexia, though I lost the article a long time ago (pre-Internet info. Probably could find the info if I searched online though). Apparently people with dyslexia have brains that are just wired differently - they don't use the same part of the brain to read that "normal" people do. ...but apparently they tend to actually have higher IQs than normal even though they grow up with the stigma of "learning disability" as kids.

Gary (as many) has basically learned to compensate. But to save his life he would not be able to say the word "forensic." Not possible. It always comes out "forsenic."

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yea it's hard for people with dyslexia to learn to jump over that barrier that inhibits their ability to function though. I have dyslexia and if you can't know left from right and you can't remember the most basic things then it can be a big problem, like it has been for me. At my drivers' test I had to have a little picture drawn on each hand to remind me which is left and which is right...

I have problems saying "specific". I stumbled over the word 4 times yesterday evening - you'd think I'd stop trying to say it after years of problems with the word. ...I just tried to say specific to my DH (commenting about this post to him) and I can't do it!

That's actually related to why I have problems with speaking languages. It was a big issue with Spanish. I couldn't pronounce anything right and got discouraged so I didn't keep learning more or practice it. It's the trilling/rolled R's. I still can't pronounce them in Spanish words, though I can sometimes get them out right in Finnish words.

I think lots of people have slightly wired differently brains than the norm. That's mostly what all of the pervasive developmental disorders are - such as types of autism and NLD.
I mentioned hyperlexia in myself earlier - thats when a child starts reading extremely early. I started reading individual words around 18 months old, by three I was reading books. To off set this, my social skills (empathy, reading body language, predicting other's responses) are really really bad. So is my math - I could probably get diagnosed with dyscalculia if I sought to be checked for it. There's probably something else going on with my brain, too.

So as a result of some of this I remember practically everything read, decode languages, and prefer detailed factual things. (it is probably also responsible for my rambling in posts and in person )

I've not been given a professional IQ test, but tough online ones from various sources always put me around 147-152, math being the part that lowers it.

I'm glad Gary is able to compensate for the dyslexia. Anymore it's more understood as a learning "difference" and there's not as big of a stigma associated as there would have been when he was growing up.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

yea it's hard for people with dyslexia to learn to jump over that barrier that inhibits their ability to function though. I have dyslexia and if you can't know left from right and you can't remember the most basic things then it can be a big problem, like it has been for me. At my drivers' test I had to have a little picture drawn on each hand to remind me which is left and which is right...

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I wonder if there are different "degrees" of dyslexia? Because Gary doesn't really seem to be affected much by it other than of course the word forensic, and we do have the problem with left and right, and when on the Internet together, we have the problem with him saying "go up" when he means for me to scroll down and vice versa.

This is all so fascinating! On top of everything, Gary can pronounce other languages and even dialects REALLY well. In the U.S. locations he can't get as specific, but he's great with English accents, French, German & Italian accents, Russia & former Soviet Union countries, most African people speaking english accents, Indians speaking english accents, many of the islands, the Middle East - he can hear where people are from (not just the country, but often near what city, or "north" or "south" or whatever is a "marker" in that locale) - and is great at speaking that way as well. He actually has great interpersonal skills (for the most part) - so perhaps phrased best when "he applies himself." But he does have a temper, is very passionate, and SO into "justice," and those create their own problems... I just figured it was a "price" he had to pay for all those smarts.

...and I was not hyperlexic. Wonder what explains my rambling?