Friday 25 March 2011

Foreign Languages In Dreams

It’s interesting how languages manifest themselves in dreams… the other day I was dreaming about talking to someone in Finnish and apparently I had a highly intellectual conversation with TT at the same time: he was using the little knowledge he had of Finnish so that he would make me speak even  more [according to the recording – yes, he recorded it – I was actually correcting him while asleep]. A few nights before that I spoke to him in some unknown language – “well, it might have been Hungarian, I don’t know what it sounds like”. I’m sure it was either made up Dutch or Bosnian since I have been dreaming in both languages (without knowing a word of either).

Another funny thing is the timing: I hardly never speak in a language that the people around me would understand (when I’m talking in my sleep that is). When I was younger and stayed with my Finnish-speaking cousins I always told them long and fascinating stories in Swedish… and when we went on a trip with my (Swedish-speaking) classmates, I used to entertain them all night long in Finnish.

Wonder why that is? Maybe it’s my subconscious wanting to prove something to the world… or maybe it’s a I have a secret but no way you’re going to know what it is.

 Have you ever had dreams in a foreign language?

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