【Bilingual】 Answered! "Which Language Do You Think In?"（日本語字幕あり）
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- One of the most common questions I get asked is
"Which language do you think in? Japanese or English?"
Here's another quick peek into how a bilingual mind works!
This might not be the same for everybody
so let me know how it is for any other multi-linguals out there!
【Sachi-Coastal】
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Even though I was born in Australia, my first language was Finnish because my parents had only arrived 5 years earlier and only spoke Finnish in the home. But as my older siblings attended school we spoke English more and more between ourselves. When I was 9 years old we had a 3 month holiday in Finland and I remember that all my dreams were suddenly only in Finnish and when I returned to school after the holiday, I even struggled to find the right English words. However, slowly the English took over and speaking to my mother as a teenager was always a mix of the two languages. Now in my 50’s my Finnish language is only okay. I can get by thank goodness (because I wouldn’t like to lose it entirely) but it’s rather basic. I hope you never lose your Japanese fluency if you choose to live in another country.
Wow thank you for sharing you're experience! While I do hope to go abroad, I hope to never loose my Japanese too.
I teach English as a Second Language as a volunteer here in the States, and your story is beyond common. The majority of the people I work with are from Guatemala, they migrate here to work in the local chicken processing plant, and they only speak Spanish in the home. But their kids, born in Guatemala or in the States, go to kindergarten for a single year and they are completely assimilated at the end of that first year. They speak in English, have all of the standard American characteristics, and many of them are embarrassed by their parents’ lack of ability to speak English.
I have a similar story in terms of losing a language. I was born in Vietnam in for Vietnamese parents having Vietnamese as my native language. At age of 9, I started to go to Finnish school, started to learn Finnish and surrounded mostly by Finnish friends. We moved permanently to Finland at age of 13. Now in my 40s, I mainly think in Finnish, and my strongest language is Finnish. I am married to a Finn, and I use Finnish with our son. Then at work in a multinational corporation in the IT industry, English is the main language. Then there is some Swedish and even some French that was taught to me at school. Quite a few in my head, none of them I can truly master.
Losing the Vietnamese language influence, only using simple stuff with my mom every other week in a phone call has led to me losing majority of my Vietnamese vocabulary. Funny story is that when I rarely visit my Vietnam, my relatives ridicule me and my vocab because they hear me speaking 90's Vietnamese.
@@SigRho1429 when very young kids (let's say up to 8 y.o.) r fluent but not old enough, if they stopped practicing the language, they may loose it altogether sooner than u expect.
I know this case of a Lil Italy girl in NYC, went to Kinder and Elementary there, fluent in English, Italian & Spanish. One day at 7 y.o. she moved from the States, and beautiful English & Italian were gone for good...
I am a native-English (American) speaker that learned to speak Mandarin. I don't know about you, but anytime I am around Chinese, I am constantly trying to listen and comprehend what is being said. It's like I can't turn off the part of my brain that is trying to learn the language. You are far better at both English and Japanese than I ever was at Chinese, but perhaps that might explain it a little. One really fun thing I noticed about you in your previous video is that when you speak Japanese- you speak with Japanese mannerisms. You nod your head, close your eyes, and strain your neck muscles to emphasize certain syllables. In a way that non-native Japanese speakers do not. But it is so interesting to watch you switch to English and those mannerism go away. I would even say you adopt British mannerisms of speaking. Although, in Max's interview, sometimes you switch between them quickly and the mannerism don't follow as quickly. Probably because they are on an even deeper level than the speech itself. Perhaps it is more like a spectrum rather than clearly defined "zones". It's really a true testament to the depth at which you have learned both languages and are intertwined in their cultures. It is fascinating to watch and listen to you speak. And I'm sure it helps quite a bit that you are a truly thoughtful and insightful person.
I noticed that too. In the first interview Jasmine's Japanese mannerism were much more pronounced, the nodding of the head, constantly speaking through a smile, which I've always assumed was a Japanese way of saying "I mean no offense" and being very agreeable to what Max was saying (in either language). In the second interview, 6 months later, her English mannerisms seem to predominate, not excessively so but still obvious I think.
I’m a 70 year old Yorkshire woman, I’ve just discovered your channel, I find your story fascinating and so interesting love listening to you thank you xx
My wife was similar to you in that she was brought up in Germany so spoke German at school and outside the house, and English at home. The most amusing part of this was that she often mixed her metaphors - "a rolling stone makes most noise", or "empty barrels gather no moss" kind of thing. They can be very funny at times. Additionally, she spoke English like someone who left England when her parents did when they left - it was 30 years out of date, and no swear words! So 'golly', 'crikey' and 'gosh'! I loved her for that
Ha ha! I have a Thai wife, and we mix up the languages and metaphors, to anyone but our children (or Thai people), its sometimes baffling, to our family occasionally hilarious, 'Its not rocket surgery', 'We'll burn that bridge when we come to it' etc! Thai sayings like 'No cure for a bald head or a fool', ' Run from the tiger, met the crocodile' ( = out of the frying pan into the fire'). And often we mix languages while we're speaking, and never think about it!! And the cultural things, like all our clocks are set 10 minutes fast, cos Thais are always late - and my wife is STILL late!
@@theondebray Haha, I really like your wife! 10 minutes late even with a clock adjusted to cope is pretty cool 😁
I shall adopt "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it" - seems very reasonable!
So many things I could relate to in your video! I’m an American and I can speak English but it’s not my first language. I am hard of hearing and the rest of my family have significant hearing loss so I was actually raised in a home where our primary mode of communication is through sign language.
One of the things I get asked the most from my hearing friends is what language I think in. Can you even think in sign language? The short answer is yes! American Sign Language, or ASL, is just like any other language, minus the auditory element and with the element of it being three-dimensional. But I can think in both languages, just like how you said it depends on what you’re talking about and who you’re talking to. I usually think in ASL when I’m at home, around my parents or siblings; my brain would switch over to English anytime I’m out in public or with my hearing friends.
I know some people get their minds blown when they realize that people can “think” in sign language but it’s just another way that people can wire their brains to process the information in the language they speak!
That’s so cool, thank you so much for sharing!!!
Wow that's awesome, i didn't know that!
Fascinating. I taught deaf children in England, America, & Thailand, and, I kid you not, when I am dreaming about those places & the people I met, I am dreaming in their sign languages. I was always a visual thinker, art, photography etc..
Thanks for sharing. Everything you’ve said is VERY relatable. As a bilingual (Croatian that grew up in the U.K.) that’s also multilingual (I can speak 5 other languages), what you’ve said rings true. Ultimately for me, my main thinking language no matter my situation is English. Despite having Croatian as my main speaking language within the home. If that makes sense?! Your videos bring a comfort in knowing that us multilinguals with these complex backgrounds, aren’t alone. And that these uniquenesses and ‘quirks’ is our strength and what makes us special.
Today I discovered Sachi-Coastal through your interview and followup on the Max D. Capo channel.
I am so jealous of multi-lingual people. I describe myself as disgustingly mono-lingual.
I firmly believe that each language is its own reality. In support of this idea many languages have words or constructs that are all but untranslatable. To me this enriches the human experience.
I have only watched "Which Language Do You Think In?” I am looking forward to watching the rest of your videos and hope to see you make more. As a multi-cultural person I feel you have much to offer us all.
Like most swedes, i am english-swedish bilingual. But what is special here is that the two languages are so deeply intermeshed from such a young age, that if you say something, many swedes such as myself will not, a few seconds later, be able to tell if you said it in swedish or english! We will also, on accident, sometime speak english among a purely swedish gang of friends, for minutes before anyone in the group realizes we're using the wrong language!
This is so funny--I have exactly the same experience with my two languages, English and Spanish. I'm constantly forgetting if the last thing I heard or read was in one or the other.
Wow that is fascinating
Yea. Also Swedish but my work environment is almost exclusively English. The few times where there only swedes in a room someone might go “oh. We can speak Swedish” and then when we do, we will all be like “this feels weird, Bach to English.”
American here. I've been watching some Swedish language Netflix shows (with English subtitles) but it's surprised me how often the scripts will have an English word or phrase sprinkled in there.
But why ist that? Do you learn english in Kindergarden in Sweden?
Born and raised in NZ (no second language) currently in Sweden (fluent) I really realize how much I missed out on not having more variety in my upbringing. Count yourself extremely lucky. Im currently learning Japanese (I guess this is how you came up in my algorithm). Keep up the good work. ☺
I’m a Filipino and I speak Tagalog( a Filipino dialect since there’s a lot of dialects here in the Philippines which in essence is a language in itself) and English. You’re absolutely right when you said that you have to use the right cultural mindset when using or talking in a different language. Since the language will be using a different set of words, sounds and meaning.
I actually live in Japan. My kids were born and are being raised in Japan but my husband is Brazilian and I am Colombian. So we have many languages at home. I haven't thought about it but I'll ask my daughter about which language does she think in. Let you know later.
It is one month passed, did you your daughter? What did she say?
@@focuslinza I forgot to answer. My apologies. My daughter's answer was that it depends on the situation. When she is at school she thinks in Japanese but when it's a family situation she says she thinks in Spanish. She is still seven so maybe she will have to grow a bit more in order to give me a concrete answer.
@@kageromoon As a brazilian I´ve to ask, what about her portuguese? 😅 I have a brazilian friend that married a russian and they had childrens in Canada, they made a spetacular job in teach portuguese and russian to them as they studying there in Canada. Now the whole family lives in Brazil.
@@kleberamado Her Portuguese is as fluent as her Spanish. Actually it's like her Spanish helped her develop her Portuguese and viceversa. When she talks to daddy she only can think in Portuguese. All the fluency in these languages are helping her develop in Japanese even it is a different language.
lei toda tu conversacion en ingles, pero como latinoamericana senti la necesidad de preguntarte en español. En tu caso como haces para pensar? Porque quiza aprendiste de grande el ingles, como fue tu adaptacion con el portugues y ahora tu adaptacion con el japones?
You said if you were born and raised in England you would have had a very pure British accent, but coming from an Australian native you sound pretty much near perfect to what you would have sounded like had you have been born there. So you don't have to worry about that at all. You haven't missed out on anything having not being raised in England by being raised in Japan, other than the subtle cultural differences. Glad I found your channel as id like to learn Japanese one day! Keep posting videos! And if you ever want to teach Japanese to English speakers, I'll pay to sign up to your program! Thanks Sachi!
My parents didn’t try to teach me Chinese growing up. They just wanted me to try to learn English as much as I could, so now,my most comfortable language is English, even though I was born in China.
I am taking a new appreciation for myself though. I’ve been meditating a lot on self acceptance and letting go of perfectionism in my life. It’s ok to be who I am. It’s ok for you to be who you are. No one is perfect in the world, there is no such thing as a perfect person, everyone makes mistakes sometimes and that’s ok. It’s ok to be different. It’s ok to be yourself.
You seem like a bright, talented, confident and considerate young adult woman. I’m glad to have known about you and your life. Keep on doing what you’re doing Jazmine Sachiko Ross. You bring joy to a lot of people out there.
I think we might be on simillar jouneys. I am trying hard to let got of my perfectionism too. What you say is so true, and like I often say, what makes you different, is what makes you special. Be you, and celebrate that!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'll do my best :)
@@jazmine_sachi. Acceptance is so crucial for good health, both mental and physical.
When people have perfect (impossible) expectations, they often experience stress and worry about not measuring up, and if they don’t measure up, there’s disappointment, frustration, and maybe even anger directed at oneself or at others. It can be quite unhealthy, to be honest. So tolerating and accepting imperfection is really important for good health and peace of mind.
Because the truth is that no one is perfect and everyone has flaws, shortcomings, and failures in life. Some people try to cover up and hide, but the truth is that humanity is a very imperfect and flawed species.
@@jazmine_sachi One technique I use to help me change my patterns is thought repetition. In order to help myself to let go of perfectionism, I tell myself (in my thoughts) “It’s ok not to be perfect” and “It’s ok to be who you are”. I say this to myself over and over again during the day, and eventually, it changes my thoughts and my behavior.
It’s kind of like learning Kanji. You can only do so through repetition, repetition, repetition.
And so it is also with changing one’s thought patterns.
I’ve observed that some East Asians can be very critical (I am East Asian myself). But reminding oneself that it’s ok to not be perfect, it’s ok to make mistakes sometimes, and it’s ok to be who you are, may help to fight against the pressure of perfectionism and criticism and have a more accepting mindset rather than a critical one.
No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. But I’m guessing that in a culture like Japan, there may be less of a tolerance for individuality, non conformity, and “unusual” things and behaviors compared to the west.
I'm English and have lived in the UK my entire life (apart from 3 months in Denmark in my late teens!) and unfortunately don't speak another language, something I regret. However, I am a computer programmer and after long periods of being immersed in 'the Matrix' I find that I sometimes think in code, or rather in code-like ways, to solve non-programming problems. I guess that's a sort of bilingualism in a way.
Anyway, I find the whole subject of bilingualism fascinating, and really enjoyed your interview with Max and hearing about your experiences growing up in Japan. I'm a bit of a 'Japanophile' so found it really interesting, and I love listening to Japanese even though I can't understand it without subtitles. Seeing it spoken natively by someone of English heritage who is also very engaging is a joy!
I've subscribed and look forward to watching your progress in your enterprise.
I spent the first half of my 20's in Japan (almost 40 years ago when non-Japanese were not as common in Japan as perhaps they are now) and, though never becoming properly bilingual as yourself, did spend those years communicating primarily in Japanese. When I re-patriated to the US, it was a month before my own mom could understand a word I said. Now, a lifetime later, I still find myself thinking in Japanese in "pockets" as you described when it comes to certain thoughts or reminiscing about ancient conversations there- or especially If I'm describing things about Japan to my students (I teach high school Japanese- go figure) or when I've been watching Japanese cinema.
Thanks for creating this channel- is it alright if I show some of your UA-cams to my students if they fit a discussion?
Best of luck in your endeavors!
I am Chinese but I use English to consume most media, I find myself thinking in English the most often yet switching to Chinese when it comes to work. I have been trying to force myself thinking in Japanese for many years although I only recently starting to study it seriously. For now my Japanese thinking it mostly emotions and reactions with little logic, but hopefully one day I can become better with it😃
What you said about getting distracted by chatter if it's in the same language as the one you're thinking in at the time is so interesting!
I often find myself switching languages in my head for this reason and have always wondered if it's a personal thing but it seems to be a more widespread phenomenon among bilinguals
Greetings from rainy London!
Thank you for sharing!! It's lovely to know we're in the same boat!
Thank you for this! As someone interested in languages and linguistics, this is a really great insight into how people who were raised multi-lingual process and think in their different languages.
You are truly lucky to have that background. Keep embracing it! Love the videos continue to make more.
Thanks so much! I appreciate that! Will do!
I am 79, born and raised in Hong Kong. My mother tongue is Cantonese. I also speak fluent Mandarin, which, by the way is in reality a different language. I learned English since I was 9. English is however my primary language because my schooling was done mostly in English, and my career required me to use English all the time. I also speak French, and some Japanese. As Sachiko San has said, in my everyday life and even in my dreams my mind switches instantly and without effort between English, Cantonese and Mandarin depending on the ambient situation and the people around me. It is very interesting though, that whenever I try to express myself in Japanese which is my weakest language and which I learned haphazardly as a teenager, the first word that comes out in my mind is often in French, which I learned 30 years and rarely speak or use!
That´s very common with bilingual people independently of the language. I´m bilingual in Spanish and English and in my case, I find that it depends on the subject which language I use to process my thoughts. I was born in Argentina and moved to the US when I was about 15. My English was very poor at the time and I was thrown into school 7hrs a day so instead of “learning” the language I “acquired” it, basically in the same manner that a native speaker learns to talk. I moved back and forth a few times, and currently I´m living in Argentina.
I'm Japanese and speak Japanese as my native language, but I have lived in the US for a long time, and speak English every day. One day, I had to have a surgery in the US, and I was under anesthesia. As I was waking up, a nurse in the room said "Are you awake now?" "How did you know I was waking up?", I asked. She said, "because you were talking." To this day, I don't know which language I was speaking. I should have asked her. Anyone else with a similar experience?
The zoning out is so real! While doing something that requires me to focus in Spanish, English becomes just background white noise 😅
Yes, I think in multiple languages too! It's hard to explain this to people who don't speak more than one language, but it's so true, there are somethings I literally can not process in English, but do fine in Japanese and it's all about the feeling, memories and emotion behind those words.
Thank you for saying it, I feel it needs to be said more.
Also, you're letting a lot of "American" slipping into your words now, it's kind of funny (in a good way). :)
I used that same thought you had when I was taking notes in university. I had to take notes in real time because they were speaking fast without interruptions. They were speaking in Spanish, and I took my notes in English, and I noticed that "language brain zone" you mentioned: because they were different languages, I was able to retain what was being said and take notes at the same time. It was an extremely useful discovery. It's a very versatile tool for fluent polyglots like us who have the privilege of being able to think in multiple languages.
Yet another comment on your fantastically unique blend of accents. (Hopefully brief! 🙂). Anyhow, to the point, I would say that when speaking English for the most part you have a light version of a southern English accent, but in certain words it jumps to an almost midwestern American one-at least in this video. The clearest example is the word “environment.” Most vowels in an English accent are formed in the back of the mouth (like your “water”) whereas in the American words the vowels are coming from farther forward and much higher, nearer the roof of your mouth.
You also speak most words in the non-rhotic British accent (I.e. basically you don’t pronounce “Rs” unless they are between two vowels, and insert a linking R between two words if the first ends in a vowel and the second starts with a vowel. An example is pronouncing “law and order” as “Lauren Dorder.). In your American-ish words the Rs are where they are written.
And just to be clear, I don’t believe any accent is better or worse than any other, they are all fascinating, it is just very interesting to learn how someone with your experience absorbs these lessons in your life.
For the record, I am a monolingual American, who has always regretted that, so when I had some free time I started learning Swedish, as a middle aged adult I need to approach it in an academic fashion-especially since my chances to practice with fluent Swedish speakers are few and far between!
And finally I don’t think you need any advice from me, but I will say I am cheering for your success!
I'm English and I'm currently trying to learn Japanese right now. Ever since I was young I have always had an interest in learning Japanese, and I hope that one day I can make it to Japan and live there for a time just so I can experience Japanese culture.
Your experience reminds me of a fascinating book, "Yokohama Yankee." It's an autobiography of a member of a German family which emigrated to the US, then continued on to Yokohama about 1900. They were several generations in the shipping business there, through both world wars. Some similar observations of being 'foreign' even though they were fluent in Japanese after the first generation. Love your videos and your spirit. Keep us posted on Sachi-Coastal progress too.
Hi Sachiko, languages are interesting to me and I only started learning other languages than my native language when I was ten at school. I started to fall in love with French and focused on learning this language until I was 22 and then had a bad experience. I stopped thinking and talking in this language, it was my way of blocking out what happened to me in the past. This makes me quite sad lately and I’m trying to work through the pain because on the other hand my love for this language is really strong. I’m actually often thinking in English as I don’t have bad memories attached to it. My native language is German and I usually switch between both German and English when thinking. My self talk when I do it loudly and I’m outside is anything but German, it makes me feel safe.
Thank you for sharing your experiences!
I've had the privilege of doing my highschool in italian (first language hebrew) and I had the same experience you described with maths :)
another interesting question you might want to talk about is how language affects cultural behaviour. for example how we learned from Andy that there's no word for spontaneous in Chinese. how do you feel your english mind makes you different from your Japanese minded friends?
Nice earrings :)
On the "being disturbed by the same language but not others" thing - I'm swedish, and I strongly remember as a kid when we played some DVD movie and somehow ended up with swedish audio and _danish_ subtitles. It was like reading a funhouse mirror version of the same thing that was spoken and it made it unwatchable, but with a more different language (whether you understand it or not) I think it would have been much easier to ignore and just listen
That is so relatable! Thank you for sharing!!
I was born in korea, but moved to south America when I was 2. I moved to the US in 95 and living here so far. I speak korean at home bx you know, but I don't think in any language when I think. I taught myself how to do that. My fourth language is French, so when I calculate i don't use Spanish, English, and much less korean and much less less French. I also worked in china, Russia, and Japan but not as fluent. Abstraction is my language of thought.
I am a Cantonese/English bi-lingual person. I am 60 years old now, but I can remember being where you are in my 20's.I married a white girl from Massachusetts, play blues guitar and still memorize phone numbers in Cantonese. Somedays, you are going to say " I am all of the above and then some".
I get asked that question all the time, too! Also, "what language do you dream in?" I suppose they are questions that share the objective of trying to figure out your native language. I suppose many can't grasp the idea that you can have multiple native languages, just as many can't quite get that one can have multiple cultural or national identities. I speak 4 languages but 1 is more at a conversational basic level. The other three are at similar level. Hence, I fully understand your explanation as it is absolutely a match with how my brain processes. I don't do translations in my head. I just think on the language I'm speaking, and if I'm alone, I think in the language that would be most relatable to the subject matter I'm processing. If reading and reflecting what I read, it's in the language of the written item. If I were listening to music, then in the language that the song was sang. If doing calculations, then in the language I acquired that skill at school. Etc. But, I thought it's interesting how you have difficulty focusing when the surrounding noise matches the language your brain in communicating or processing. I am the opposite, I guess, as I can't listen to Spanish music when I'm typing in English, for example. I guess it's too much processing happening in my head! And, btw, I think I don't dream in any language as I can never recall or pick up the language that was spoken in my dream after waking up...
I am British, born and raised there, but I moved to Estonia 14 years ago, and had a family here. We speak English (mostly) at home, and my younger kid struggles with Estonian (it's related to Finnish, and regarded as one of the most difficult European languages for a foreigner to learn. I can follow along when others are speaking the language, but my Estonian isn't good enough to join in. What I HAVE found though, is when I am mad or angry about something, I have found myself using Estonian over English, and have no explanation for this!
I studied Indonesian at school, Ancient Greek and Latin at university. My mind has so much vocabulary floating around in it, I get mixed up lol.
Hi Sachiko! Less about my son and more about me... I'm half Swedish and half English and while I did attend a Swedish language school in London every other Saturday while growing up, unfortunately, my Swedish mother did not speak Swedish at home and so I didn't truly become bilingual. I also learned French and Latin at school, but again never quite became fluent in either. However, any prolonged visit to France or Sweden for holidays made so much difference! After a month or so, I could speak and think in French or Swedish. It's all about using the language and being surrounded by it... and if you don't use it, you lose it!
Many years later, I now live in the Netherlands and have become fluent in Dutch. Now here's the funny thing ;) I had to visit Sweden for a family funeral and the strangest thing happened. I was beginning to switch back to Swedish thinking after a few days, but even though my mind was in Swedish, whenever I spoke, Dutch came out! It was so weird lol.
That's crazy! The mind works in mysterious ways ....
Guess Dutch and Swedish isn’t that dissimilar :) Som svensk så förstår jag ändå det hyfsat, i alla fall i text.
I've known about your YT channel only a couple of days and I've already learned so much! I am an American and my son went to Japan on a language exchange program at Shinshu University. He had to come back early due to Covid but he's hoping to go back soon.
Now that's something I want to do for university
You’re an amazing young lady and I just love your attitude!
I agree with others here, you are very lucky to be bilingual. My wife has had a very similar experience since leaving her country of Cuba to be with me in Canada. She only knew Spanish and over the last 23 years has transformed to mostly English in speaking, and thinking. The one thing that she always says is, "I believe that your dominate language is what you mostly dream in". Remembering your dreams, are they predominantly in one language?
Hello everyone. Chào mọi người. こんにちは。Below is my sharing in this topic. I really find myself from Jasmin's sharing.
My native language is Vietnamese. I have no problem in expressing myself in English though my vocabulary is still limited than people who live in English environments of course. For example, with the object I don't know how it is called, I still can explain and people understand what I mean.
Similarly when I learn Japanese, not at the entire beginning but now I always look up the word in Japanese so that even I don't remember how it calls, I'm still able to convey its meaning to others.
I think in either English or Vietnamese. I'm learning Japanese in English mostly because I find it easier for my brain interm of meanings as I write and read long stuff in English quite often.
昔から多文化を背景に持つ人に興味があり、UA-camでも、日本に住む外国人や、国際結婚してる人のチャンネルばかりみてます。
多分異文化のぶつかりあいに興味があるんだと思いますが、幸子さんのチャンネルを発見してラッキーです。
今回のトピックの、その場の環境次第で脳の中が自動的に切り替わるというのはなるほどなと感心しました。
算数の問題を英語で聞かれても、いったん日本語に置き換えて計算するというのは、衝撃的でした。
これからも楽しいお話をしてください。日本縦断をするというお話でしたが、ぜひその様子もお伝えください。
楽しんでご覧いただけて嬉しいです！
旅の動画も作っていますのでお楽しみに💛
Interesting video and valuable comments to it! Thank you for sharing, everyone!
it's interesting to consider maths ... obviously every language has it's own representation and yet we're all talking about the same thing i guess
i am a computer programmer so it is fascinating to consider how coders from other countries communicate with one another and think/communicate about process
BTW your video is absolutely fanastic!
I used to live down the road from the British House in Yokohama, your video brings back plenty of memories. When I was in school we used to frequently use sentences with both Japanese and English. So in my head I would just use 木 as a synonym for tree (since my mother tongue is English). The grammar is obviously quite different; I did study German before I went to Japan so the SOV grammar wasn't so difficult to pick up (or use). I never really had the modal shift from one language to another, but I always had to concentrate a bit more for languages other than English.
Hello. I first saw you in a UA-cam video when you were talking with Joshua in UK in Japanese. I'm a Japanese learning English. I really agree with you about the concentration on one language at a time. When I listened to BBC for instance, I felt, "The queen has died！" After that, I thought,"女王が死んだとか日本語では言わないよね。亡くなりましたか崩御されたか。" Any way, I think everybody needs to switch their language in the head as well as mouth and ears. By the way, how are you living now after the Noto Peninsula Earthquake? That's far more important.
Thank you. I'm from Germany and as a scientist I talk/read/write all work day in English essentially. Sometimes even with other German colleagues. Even though I only picked up English in school I find myself thinking (though not dreaming!) in it a lot. I recently started learning Japanese which brought me here via some detours :) As a feedback to your video: I think you can get easily away with muss less perfection and thus fewer cuts in the video editing - I for one surely wouldn't mind pauses, uhms or repetitions. That would also be proof that you're actually breathing :)
This is interesting, I have never ever heard anyone bilingual saying what language they think in.
I have lived in England all my life, but many years ago I spent about 4 years learning Welsh, even though I had no-one to speak with in Welsh, but I did listen to the Welsh language station, Radio Cymru.
One part of the Welsh language I did become totally fluent in was the time. One day, in England, coming out of college, someone in the street asked me what the time was, then I looked at my watch and saw the time, thought of it in Welsh, then thinking, what the hell is that in English??? After a long pause I was able to tell the person what the time was. Occasionally I still think a few words or phrases in Welsh.
It was a fascinating video, but the comments here are completely, totally, wonderfully fantastic! There is hope for the human race
Really interesting reflections, thanks. As an English person who has always lived here I’m not bilingual and have never experienced the “thinking in a different language thing. Probably easy for me to say as well but I think your life has probably been much richer as a result of growing up in Japan and you can always visit the uk to see the gardens 😉
Thanks for that! I really appreciate it!
Awesome vlog and intriguing concept! My family is east African and I’m a first-generation American. Growing up in America I struggled to learn English. My parents spoke Swahili, so I was very confused by my Kenyan cultural traditions and American values and customs. As a child I thought Swahili was funny to learn, it just didn't sound real to me (I was a kid)😅 Since I was a child I wanted to be multilingual and travel around the world. Awesome topic! Best wishes! Hope you go to the new Ghibli Park! I have admired Japanese culture since I was a child. Aside from Anime, traditional Japanese cuisine, architecture, art, fashion styles/aesthetics, and even nature and Japanese gardens are fascinating! Looking forward to your next vlog 😊
Intriguing that you can instantly switch the language in which you think. I was 30 before I learned Spanish fluently (edit-Guatemalan dialect), and 12 years later, I still have to take a couple of minutes to switch between languages. I compare it to being a fish swimming in one river, and then hopping to another river, one with a different current, temperature, turbidity, etc.
Fascinating video! I'm half Spanish / half French born in Spain. I lived there for 18 years and then came to France to study at a university and work. I totally agree with the fact that depending on the surroundings, our brain is going to focus on one language or another. It also happens to me to forget words. I feel like being bilingual also makes you less fluent in both languages hahaha
I usually think in Spanish, but if I'm speaking/writing in another language, I think most of the time in that specific language! Even though it's a bit of a mess in my head I'm still very grateful to be multicultural as it broadens my mind and helps me learn other languages too! (I've been learning Japanese for 5 years and I love it!)
頑張ってね！
@@coscorrodrift ありがとうございます！！
My guess is that there are very few people who are so fluent in both Japanese and English and know so much about both cultures. So you have so much scope to help English people understand Japanese culture and language and help Japanese people understand English.
Hi there, I normally do not react on UA-cam videos, but this one interested me. I have a strange path in life. Born and raised in Italy, lived a view year in South Africa, as a child, I now have been living in The Netherlands. My parents are Dutch. I think that the best question someone can ask you is, in which language do you dream. As I think you do, as I do, depends on which country I am in. As I speak Dutch an Italian as a native, but my English is very good (I do travel a lot to England) I never dream in English when I am over there. Always Dutch or Italian. But when I am in Italy, I always start to think and dream in Italian. I sometimes forget in which language I speak to my friends. When my wife and I are in Italy, she sometimes asks me to repeat what I said, but then in Dutch 😅 Well I salute you and wish you a good Christmas. Ciao
Fascinating comments in you vid, and below - thanks everyone. I grew up bilingual English/French, forgotten most of the French now, as I'm bilingual English / Thai now - my brane not big enough for three languages. I use what ever language comes out of my mouth first, don't think about it, unless I make a mistake, e.g. talking to a Filipino in Thai, plenty of laughs. Knowing other languages makes you life so much richer, more / new friends, access to other cultures, ease of travel. 👍👍
I envy you your gifts!!
@@davidtuer5825 Thank you, but I'm no genius, I struggle sometimes! I know a Chinese lady who is fluent in ELEVEN different languages. 😳 My parents were linguists, Eastern Slavonic languages, fairly fluent in 13 different languages, but those languages had many common features & similarities. I didn't inherit their brains.
I was born and raised in Chile, so I speak Spanish always BUT almost all of the media that I consumed is in English (idk why, I just like the content better) so If I spend a whole day or a large chunk of time watching series or movies or UA-cam videos in English then I start to think in English too. I find it fascinated!
My Mum was French my Dad speecks Swiss-German I am bilingual and i thinkng in my one braine language for examble hous or the color red or love, close your eyes and you see it. From braine language to spoken language it is a litel thing is like moving your finger.
I'm 63 and i love your videos
The humble king
Fascinating that you have described something like a 'dichotic listening' test, but from a multi-lingual perspective. Since we read in a voice (out loud in our head), the surrounding conversation is like a second stream, but our brain can only process one. Which one do you choose? We usually end up trying to tune into both, and end up with poor results in both. So interesting that your attention seems to be language aligned. Thank you for sharing!
I was born to an English family in French Canada (Monteal) and for the first 4 years of schooling everything was taught in French. As a result, my mind flip-flopped between English and French depending on the situation. When I moved to Australia as a teenager I thought I had lost all my French until I visited France and it all rushed back, it was a very strange feeling. I can only think in French when I'm in a French country
I'm Dutch, and we speak a lot of English. Our University education is also mostly in English (I studied to be a psychologist). So I also think in both Dutch and English. Was interesting to hear that it depends on the subject, I don't think I have that..
You are an extremely interesting person and I thank you for your very erudite and compelling explanation of what it is to be perfectly bilingual (especially for two very unrelated languages).
You'll go through the ebbs and flows of the "what-if's" throughout your life. I tend to remind myself that life is about the culmination of ones experiences. The more experiences you collect gives you the ability to relate & connect to more people in the world. I still go through the battle of balancing my uniqueness with my need to connect with Hafu like me; individuality vs group mentality...
Ahh thats a great description of how your brain works with language. Mine is split between "childrens language and adults language". My mother raised us with Japanese spoken in the house, so all of my young childhood experiences are heavily tied to Japanese language and Japanese culture. English was only spoken outside the home, so I thought of it as the "adults language".
In the end, I think there is no wrong way of being, everything just works out. Life is ironically funny. Ganbatte ne Jazmine!
Don’t stop making videos Sach. Could listen all day! ✌🏾
I am bilingual ... English and Spanish ... born and raised in the USA ... Only spoke Spanish until the 1st grade at 6 years old .. Spanish when at home and English when at school. English is my first tongue and it's true... I think in English or Spanish depending on my surroundings.
American Sign Language is always my first true language. I can read English but it’s always translating in my head to ASL. I’ve known that hearing people struggle to learn sign language because they focus more on auditory sense than visual sense. French Deaf educators taught us their sign language back in the 1820s so it naturally evolved into our own sign language. I would tell you that I can’t understand British Sign Language but they are starting to adopt more ASL signs due to globalization of Deaf people sharing their sign languages. I learned first about Japan through old classic American war movie called Midway (1976) & to see how Japanese war planes crash into the ships… I realized how scary it was to fight them. I’m glad it’s better now but peace is always preferred choice in my opinion.
a bandit to u and i is always someone elses hero and savior.
a hero to u & i is always a bandit to some other folks.
in order to preserve peace, always be prepared for war.
nobody want to wage war against who is always ready for it.
You should do more vlogs. You are an interesting person in an interesting country and a lot of people would subscribe to watch your vlogs.
Sachiko your videos are fascinating. In the theme of your last video, when you opened this video talking about being a British girl sitting in a British garden, your accent was considerably more British. But as you talk that accent softens and North American sounds come out a lot. It's so interesting hearing about your experiences, thank you for posting!
That's so funny! Thank you for pointing it out! haha
Thank you for commenting!
i agree, it would be quite a shame if you weren't born in japan, because then the rest of us may never have been introduced to you and your adventures!
You're too kind! Thank you!
I have to say your English accent is both musically and phonetically beautiful to my ears.
Having worked in the UK for 8 years, I sometimes switch to thinking in English rather than French, depending on the topic. When I talk out loud to myself (for example, while walking or in the car, to prepare for a job interview - do other people do that ?), sometimes it's in English as well. I also tend to swear in English in France, because it doesn't sound "rude" to me, just exotic. ^_^
Do you swear in English or in Japanese yourself ?
Fun story: I was working in IT in London at the time and my manager came to me one day with a piece of code I had written, telling me he didn't understand what it was supposed to do. I read the code again and told him "Well, it's quite obvious to me, plus I took the time to document it in the code itself with comments, so what do you not understand ?" and his answered took me by surprise: "You documented it all in French !". And that was true ! But I was so accustomed to switch between the two languages, that I didn't realise in which language it was written, even reading it in front of him. And it made perfect sense to me, of course. I must have been tired, and my brain switched to what was easier the moment I wrote it.
And I totally get what you say about focusing on a language while you are surrounded by another one. I cannot read a book in English while listening to pop music in English, for example. It interferes. But I find it easier to read in English in the French metro or in a French train, than reading a French book. I can filter out French to focus on the English.
One thing I realised taking the metro in Paris after several years in London, is that I was missing my own "little sphere of privacy" of being able to speak (quietly) to a friend in French on the London tube, knowing very few people (if any) would understand what I am talking about, and filtering out others' conversations in English around in the process. First time I took the metro in Paris, I wanted to talk in French to a friend, but I was understanding everybody else discussions, and could not filtered them out. I was finding myself rude to hear and understand others' private talk. And I couldn't do anything about it ! It was a very weird experience.
The being able to cut out one language part I can definitely relate to. When e.g. working on a translation of an English text into German, I can have a Japanese podcast or stream running in the background and still focus perfectly fine. But I cannot listen to anything in German or English, it will completely mess me up.
For me, it is weird because I think in images and not in languages, yet I also have dialogues that I can hear.
That's a super cool explanation, I can't imagine the confusion , I know a little Spanish and I feel the same way when I go to Mexico I think Spanish, but here in the US I don't, crazy, thanks for sharing, glad to see you're doing well I really enjoyed the first video the "7 million" hits video or whatever, great to hear from you
Hi!
I'm born, raised and live in Sweden and both my parents are Swedish as well. We learn English already at 7 years old all the way to high school (so 11 years). And I can find myself think in both language depending on the subject just as you describe. As soon as I start talking or writing I start thinking in English. I'm an author and even as I write my books in Swedish I sometimes think i English. It's really funny how the mind and brain works.
When my 5 year old son started to talk he did so in both Swedish AND English. Only from hearing UA-cam videos 2 hours á day. Both me and my husband only talk Swedish at home but even so he would understand when he say: Apple and we repeat in Swedish: Äpple. Really fascinating.
Just started learning Japanese so I wonder how all this will work when I''m somewhat fluent in it 🤪
You are so unique and a beautiful person.
I think in the language which I am surrounded with at that moment, sometimes I have to think in one language so I can translate in the other if I am more familiar of the subject at hand in the other language.....I don't know if that make sense to you, hard to explain , same for reading.
I lose vocabulary if I do not interact in one or the other often enough.
thanks for the vid, be well!
Great video! I was born in Korea, then lived in France, then Canada and worked in a few other countries. I am trilingual and my dominant language went from Korean, French and now English. It’s quite hard to keep three languages proficient but I try by reading the news and watching TV in three languages. People say my English has bits of Korean and French accents mixed. When I speak French in France people say I have a Quebecois accent and the opposite when I speak French in Montreal. When I speak Korean in Korea people think I’m a second generation overseas resident. Anyway it’s hard to feel like you belong completely but fortunately nobody really cares in a multicultural place like Canada.
Ah the “could have been” thoughts… I’m nearing forty and there are four different countries where I get that feeling when I visit there. My advice, for what it’s worth, is that those thoughts can turn negative. It’s important to stay grateful and grounded and keep those thoughts at bay.
I am a Chinese descendant born in Malaysia. In school we study mostly in Malay our country national language and English. In school we normally speak in English, at home usually 2 Chinese dialects if our parents are from different dialects group. At school we have classmates of different race, e.g. Malay, Indian and occasionally Sarawak natives or Sabah native. I think we Malaysian can easily speak 3 to 4 languages. Though we may not speak them fluently nor our vocabulary is fantastic. Usually in a sentence it may contain 3 to 4 different language string together to form a sentence.
Fascinating video -- interesting and informative! Looking forward to your next video!
You are very lucky to be bilingual and having two countries to appreciate and love!
That is so interesting to hear. I've often wondered about the thought processes of someone who was raised bilingual.
As someone who learnt another language as an adult I still find myself naturally thinking in English first to try and solve something and then translate it the other language. I'm sure that would change if I was living amongst the other culture full time but because I still live in a predominately English speaking country it's just not the case to think in both languages all the time.
Thanks for watching, and sharing!
I have a pretty similar experience. Being born in Poland, Polish is my native language but as I kept studying English, I started thinking a lot in that language. I find differences between those languages amusing in many ways, as for day to day operation one can be very sharp, precise and direct while the other not so much. I also know some basics of German language and I also started thinking in German, at least in the very limited way I know it.
But real pickle for me is desire to learn Japanese and I find it, as being completely unfamiliar with hiragana and katakana, how to approach that and how will thinking in Japanese look like.
It's so true that each language has its own character!
@@jazmine_sachi How would you describe the Japanese character when you speak it? Precise or poetic?
I am attracted to asian women, especially japanese. Its the strangest thing to see a beautiful english woman, who for all intents and purposes, is japanese.
On your points about language. I have spent almost 15 years watching anime with english subtitles. Suddenly this year there was like this switch flipped and I can roughly follow along with a conversation in japanese with no assistance. I have never had formal lessons. Its just years of being exposed to the language have essentially naturalized me. I am like a toddler ready to be formally taught the language. I could probably survive as an immigrant worker in japan at this point.
I love this, Thanks So much for sharing! One that i always find intriguing & ask bilingual friends is what language to they dream in?
Born in Sweden and learned English in school. Studied a bit in the uk and have lived in Ireland.
I find it that it’s easier for me to mix English and Swedish than doing it the other way around. I can write and talk in Swedish while having English conversations or media in the background, but I can’t do the same for Swedish.
Having the BBC on in the background, while typing up a report in Swedish, is fine. Listening to some Swedish radio while trying to write something in English, isn’t.
Super interesting. Thank you for sharing your bilingual experience. I am bilingual in Spanish and English but I do most of my thinking in English (because that is the language I use the most with work/friends) but when I am with family that does change.
Hello, First of allo let me say I think that you're great and doing a wonderful job. I am multilingual. I was born in Holland, so I speak Dutch, lived in the United States, so I speak English, lived in Israel, so I Hebrewpretty well , was married to a Taiwanese woman (now divorced), so I speak some Chinese, live in Spain presently, so I speak some Spanish in addition to which because of being Dutch I have some ability in French and German. What a mouthful, lol, In all of these languages when I converse in them I think in them. It is difficult though. Once, when I was married, I went to Belgium with my ex-wife and two children. Belgium is tri-lingual, Flemish (just Dutch with a slightly different pronunciation), French and German. On one day we went to all three language zones starting in German, then Flemish and ending in French. I had done quite well during the day at our various stops and had been able to converse with everyone, I was in our car speaking with my wife. She was speaking to me in Chinese and I replied in my Chinese (definitely it wasn't as good as hers). Anyway, we found a nice french restaurant to go to. I parked the car and led the family into the restaurant. The host walked over and I began to speak to him at which point my entire family burst out in laughter. Turns out I was speaking Chinese to him. My mind had noy turned off from the conversation that I had with my wife. Also, because I have lived in so many places I feel a little bit like that old saying, "Jack of all places, master of none." Am I comfortable in most places? Yes. Am I truly one of them? Probably not. I accept it for what it is. I have however, I feel, had the best life in the world. I plan to go to Japan this summfor a month or two and am really looking forward to it. Best regards and keep up the good work!
Hi Sachiko-San, I was born and raised in Puerto Rico (all the way here in the Caribbean haha) but my mom is an elementary school English teacher, so growing up, I was exposed to English all the time in the form of Cartoons, TV, Movies, Video Games, etc. At 26 I went to the USA to work on my Master's so it was only then that I actually started to consider myself fully bilingual (Spanish/English). Now I'm starting to learn Japanese but that's another story...As far as thinking, I believe I am just like you - it depends...if I'm talking to my best friends (who happen to be American) I think in English but then if I'm just carrying on with my day, I mostly think in Spanish haha so it's quite a blend! Recently though, I've been having these moments in which I see an object or something and the first thing to pop in my head is the Japanese name (if I know it haha) so I'm starting to worry that once my Japanese gets better I'm going to have these moments where I am thinking/talking in 3 languages at once LOL. Anyways, I really like your channel! Keep up the good stuff!
Thank you for sharing your assessments.
Hey. love your videos and instagram posts. I am from Iran but grew up overseas learning in English. I also speak persian and the way I process languages in my mind is exactly as you described.
So cool that you're in the same boat as I am! Thank you for the support!!!
There maybe more to your maths processing in Japanese than you think? Numbers and basic arithmetic would be advantageous in Japanese over English. Japanese has shorter words for numbers. For example 4, 7, 9, 2, 5, 3, 8. If you try to remember those in Japanese you have a much higher chance than in English. W-ner, t-wo, th-ree. VS ich, ni, san. There are studies on this.
That is SO interesting! and there I was thinking I just couldn't do maths in English!
A future tuber is born.....
After all my years studying Japanese, so far I've never quite managed to take that step and start 'thinking' in the language - it's been the single biggest hurdle to taking my very poor speaking ability up to even a competent level. My brain is just so immersed in English that I just can't seem to adapt, not even when I was living in Japan! Maybe I'm just too English for my own good! I'll say this much though - my English is impeccable, so even if I'll always struggle with other languages, I'll be the bloody most spiffing exemplar of my native tongue!
Basically what I'm saying though is I'm very jealous of your bilingual upbringing - all those malleable child genes, and no doubt plenty of hours spent learning and studying since childhood, really makes a difference in this regard. Just looking in from the outside, it seems like being able to flow between two different languages and cultures like that must be quite a vivifying experience, though I'd be curious to learn what that might be like for you in terms of cultural differences and the like, and what your experiences of Britain have been like when you visit it as a Brit raised in Japan, assuming you have that is?
The world of youtube recommended the Max D. Capo interview I don't know why, but it was a great video and I am now subscribed to your channel. I don't mean to offend but I see you very much as Japanese. Your body language and mannerisms are very Japanese. Slight tangent i'm not bilingual, but my father is Irish (republic of ireland) and my mother is Scottish, but I was born in England. And both my Irish and Scottish family see me as English, even though I see myself as British.
No offence taken! I spent my whole life in Japan, so it's only natural that you'd think that! How do you feel about the difference in how your family identify you vs how you identify yourself?
@@jazmine_sachi Thank you so much for replying to my comment. For your question, the answer would be very long. Maybe it is body language, but in general it's always been when i have spoken, which is ironic these are blood relatives who talk about battles so long ago. I need to share your videos with a work colleague who is Japanese to see if she sees you as Japanese!
Yep. Same with me. I'm switching from my native language to English depending on who am I talking to. Or the environment. If I'm watching a movie in English for example, I'm already set to English, so I tend to comment on that movie in English.
Anyway, I have my full respect to people who managed to learn Japanese/Chinese, one of those very "exotic" languages for any westerner. I tried learning Japanese, and I found it really difficult. Especially the reading part. They all look like tiny little houses and trees to me lol. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be disrespectful or something. That's just the way they look to me, as a "foreigner". That's why I totally appreciate, and I think it's amazing for anyone to learn this language.
こんばんは(休み前 夜ふかし中w)
英語上手いですね！
ってくらい幸っちゃんさん＝日本語のイメージがが強い😅
今回フル英語だったけど、１つ１つの単語が海外ドラマの英語より全っ然、聞き取りやすくて『俺こんなには英語聴きとれたっけ？』って感じで字幕のおかげもあって30％くらいw理解できました。
あとで音声翻訳アプリ使ってもう一回動画見てみます✨
幸ちゃんさん頑張ってね‼️
英語ききとりやすくてよかったぁ～！またこれから日本語動画も出てきますよ～
Interesting. You're good at describing this. I lived in Greece a while as a Norwegian. All my interaction was in English and I remember it all became much more easy when I start dreaming in English. After that I stoped translating Norwegian thought into English, but rather do the hole thinking process in English. Much smoother dialog then.
Hi there!
Loved your video!
I'm just gonna share my experience, even though I'm not bilingual at all. In fact, I like to define myself as a "failed bilingual". I was born in Italy, more precisely in South Tyrol, a small region in the Alps where there is a minority (which in fact is majority in the region) of people who speak German as their mother tongue (beside Italian, which they learn at school). They don't really speak standard German though, but more a German dialect, which I really still struggle to understand. My mum is Italian speaking, while my dad was born in a German speaking family, but they have always been spoken Italian to eachother, as my mother doesn't understand a word of German. When I was little, he tried to speak German to me though, but I would always answer in Italian, except for a few very elementary words (like "hi", "yes", "no", "bye bye"). My friends still make fun of me because when i peak up the phone with him I unconsciously use this elementary German words and then switch immediately to Italian.
Do i regret not being bilingual? A little bit, especially when I had to choose University, because it would have given me far more options (because I could have considered the European German-speaking countries as well). However, I think also that being bilingual is not just about having a parent who speaks with you in other language. It is more a set of mind and it requires some effort and motivation, which me (and my parents) had not at the time. I didn't really like the German language until I grew up and learnt it by myself. But despite all this i have been always glad of having the opportunity of growing up between two different languages and cultures. Even though I didn't get to learn the second language as my mother tongue, I have always been instinctively more open and fascinated by cultures different from mine - after all that's also why I ended up watching your videos.
Did you know about this speaking-situation in South Tyrol? Take care and keep doing what you do!!!!
its super interesting to hear which languages you think and when. i only think in English - because I am english, but I find myself thinking in other languages that I've learned when I'm bored or when my mind wanders.
That's so cool! Thank you for sharing!!