Dreaming in another language?

[aimeestuart]

I have had a lot of trouble sleeping lately, (aka I don't really at all) however when I do sleep I have been dreaming in Spanish. Completely in Spanish, even my thoughts, every person who speaks, and even physical writing. And when I wake up, I still want to speak Spanish and I find it hard to think of words in English for a few minutes, almost like aphasia but only for English, I have no problem forming words in Spanish, and only for a few minutes after I wake up, then English slowly comes back over the next 20 or so minutes. Is that weird? Like I do well in my Spanish classes, and I feel I am a strong speaker for where I am at in my Spanish education, which is second-year (intermediate) college Spanish, but obviously, it doesn't come as natural as English does so it's weird that I would dream in Spanish and have trouble speaking English...

Anyone know anything about this? Is it sleep deprivation? Am I going crazy? has this happened to anyone else?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Bobba_Fett]

I have these all the time. I find that the language is unrelated to my depression, but the tone of the dream is what is important.

After studying 6 languages, you haven't had a trip until you've dreamed in sign language, Spanish, and English all at once.

How we speak is how we think, and how we think is how we dream. This is why state of mind is so important. Gossip, slander, bad talk in general all effect how we think and dream.

Take a walk before bed, meditate if thats your thing, take a bath and relax before bed. Stress, is what is causing you problem.

[matheus_mb]

I've dreamed in English already, my native language is Portuguese, but it's not frequent nor it gets to that point of your dreams. I never heard about it, I don't know what can be causing this, the weirdest thing is that you find it difficult to speak English when you wake up... well, for now I'll consider that you just like Spanish a lot.

[aimeestuart]

Maybe I was just meant to speak Spanish. Maybe I need to move to a Spanish speaking country.

[matheus_mb]

I don't believe that things are meant to be or to happen, it would kill our power to decide, make our own mistakes and achieve our own victories. I think that perhaps you just happened to like Spanish more than English. But I have the slight impression that you'd love to live in a Spanish speaking country by the way.

[sjoes006]

It's most likely because you are spending a lot of time trying to learn a new language so it is on your mind a lot. Our brains try to problem solve while we sleep and also try to get new information tucked away to the right filing cabinet of sorts.

When I was in my last semester of French in college and having to learn tenses that I never really used that often I had a lot of dreams in French.

[aimeestuart]

Did you have trouble speaking your native language when you woke up?

Dreaming is a weird thing, and its not an exact science, but I just find the fact that I cannot speak in English when I wake up the most troubling.

Thanks for your insight :)

[sjoes006]

No I would only attribute the English thing a problem because you are sleep deprived making it harder for you to wake up.

If it were neurological it wouldn't just present itself during sleep. Every student thinks it's weird the first time they have a dream in another language.

[Hollywood-Glam]

I have dreamed in Arabic, French, Spanish, and English before.

[ajmalshah]

Arabic?

[atomique]

It happens to me. There are four languages. Two of them I am not get at.

[aimeestuart]

Do you also have trouble speaking in your native tongue when you wake up? And do you dream one more than the other? That's really interesting.

[atomique]

*Two of them I am not great at.

No. I will tend to unknowingly blended two languages that I'm best at. Its something I think everyone does. Like the new manager at work that may reply to you in Japanese but quickly switch back to English.

The language other than English that was used most during the day will most likely appear in the dream.

[genericname85]

yeah i sometimes dream in german. oh wait xD i am german.

[aimeestuart]

I laughed at this more than I should...

[genericname85]

sounds like a joke :D but i actually dream in English a lot. so much that german is actually more rare for me to dream in.

[orphan]

usually u dream about what u ponder before u fall asleep. that's it. actual dreams don't mean shit.

[aimeestuart]

I know, but I don't think about it really all that much, I mean I am taking Spanish classes but it's really easy for me so I don't think about it that much, and I have a lot more on my mind than Spanish. It's just weird. And the fact that I forget to how to speak in English... Haha

Thanks for your input :)

[orphan]

i was taking Spanish last quarter, and i thought about Spanish before i'd sleep.

wish i dreamed about it, wouldda helped. you're just studying inside your head, that's all. lol. is the Spanish in your dreams even coherent? do you remember anything you said?

[aimeestuart]

The dreams are always coherent. They are just regular dreams in Spanish. Its like watching a movie in another language. The dreams are never about Spanish, they are just spoken or written in Spanish.

Like last night I had a dream that my roommate came home earlier than expected and we just talked about the weekend in my dream.

[orphan]

can u translate nething that was said? i'm curious if it sounded like Spanish or if it made sense (like when people mock Vietnamese... just sounds like vietnamese, but means nothing)

[aimeestuart]

I knew what was being said, I could understand and I was having regular conversations with people, in Spanish. It never went beyond the level of what I can understand.

[orphan]

you must be quite fluent in Spanish =)

cuz i'm jsut tryin to imagine me having a dream... w/ a buncha people talkin' w/ Spanish 1 skills lol

[Whatoputhere]

I've had the same thing happen to me with both Spanish and Hindi. I've read that when you dream stuff like that it means you've got a good grasp on what you're trying to learn. Like one time I had a big chemistry test i studied hard for and dreamt about it that night writing crazy equations I didn't even think existed but in my mind in the dream I understood it. Some up still understanding it and acing my test