Thinking in Japanese

Japanese
#1

So I was just watching that recent Olly Richards video about thinking in target languages. I think I’ve thought of thinking in Japanese a lot, however when I am speaking in Japanese, I don’t feel like I’m thinking much at all. like it’s really blurry but I can speak and respond in Japanese, but I’m unsure if I’m really thinking in it- it’s hard to explain. Normally I can think in vivid detail in English so it’s interesting.

Anyway- I am curious how do yall think in Japanese? like do you think out the full sentences before trying to speak, think one word at a time, or is it all a blur like myself? or maybe you just transliterate your English into Japanese and just start every sentence with 私は and 貴方は?

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#2

Let me think about that :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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#3

I personally feel like my brain is empty when speaking either language and “thinking” about what to say is more like waiting for divine inspiration. It does take active effort to switch from Japanese to English though. The worst times are when I can’t remember the way to say something in either language…

(I actually think regardless of foreign language learning it is quite interesting how different the experience of “thinking” feels to different people)

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#4

Now I’m thinking about this song :sweat_smile:

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#5

考えること :thinking:

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#6

I (usually) don’t have an internal monologue and think of myself thinking in feelings and images, so I perceive myself as not thinking much or having a blurry thought process when I’m speaking either language. However, I’ll sometimes have a spell where I find it difficult to speak Japanese, and I realize I’m thinking “in English,” by which I mean, my thoughts are coming to me in the order they would when I’m speaking English (like I’ll think in the order X because Y rather than Y だから X). It usually happens when I’m tired, or right after I switch to Japanese after using only English all day. The opposite has happened, too, where my thoughts will come to me in a Japanese order while I’m speaking English, but that’s a lot rarer since English is my native language.

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#7

I feel you. I split time between jp and us. When in jp and I run into an English speaker, I struggle. And when in the us and I meet up with Japanese friends or go to a Japanese store, I struggle.

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#8

Agree, when I speak most fluently and well, it’s flowing - I’m not really thinking too much. When I’m thinking in english, that’s when I try to translate directly from english to japanese, and because that’s not a perfect 1-2-1 fit (saying the least!), it gets much stickier!

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