What language do you think in?

"If you can speak two languages fluently, what language do you think in?"

Being a bilingual person (completely fluent in English and in French), I often get asked this question. When asked this question, they have absolutely no idea in what an awkward position they put me in, because I then start trying to think about something, try to figure out if at that moment I'm thinking in English or in French, but then realise that I'm not actually thinking about something! However, when I ask them back in what language they think in, they answer 'in French of course!' or any other language that happens to be there mother tongue, making it seem so obvious...


So here is my theory about what language one thinks in:

If I take myself as an example, I grew up in London, so my mother tongue is English. You'll then immediately jump to the conclusion that I speak English therefore I think in English. It is a yes/no situation, because my father speaks English and French Patois, and my mother speaks English and German. So I also grew up with these different dialects, being able to understand what they say, as well. Then again, I moved to France when I was young and was put into another situation where thinking, writing and speaking had to be done differently!

It was only when I arrived in secondary school that one of my teachers asked me what language I thought in. I asked her why such a question, and was told that I tend to do things differently compared to the other French pupils when something was asked in one language or the other. Since then, this "language thinking" question has triggered this curiosity in myself, leading me to try realising if I think in French or English.

This is what I came up with:

• I have a tendancey to think in English more easily when concentrating on a French task
• I tend to think in French when I get cross (cursing in French especially!)
• Remarkably, I find it easier to count or calculate in German!

Now that is where it starts to get strange! Where does the counting in German come from?
I think that it is all due to habits that we take on from our parents. My mother, when it comes to counting our calculating, always thinks (aloud) in German. Just by this example, thinking in a language is actually copied from a parent.

But what actually gets me thinking is do we actually need a language to think?

Do you have what it takes to be a good blogger?

After having spent a lovely time back home in France, the time has come to get back to work and be serious! What? Who, me, serious? 'Never' some would say. But when it comes to writing and sharing my stories, I can do nothing better but chat about what I have discovered. I shall call them my little discoveries!

The second semester has started and one of my goals is to keep up with a blog. 'But blogs are for teenagers who have nothing else to do except for letting the whole world and it's brother know their lives!' some would say. And that is EXACTLY what I am going to do, but with a few twists and turns to make it unique!

In order to achieve this, I had to think about what would make this blog particularly interesting and eye-catching... So, after having searched, admired, read through and most of all, observed a few blogs that my teacher had told us to take a sneak peak at, this is what I came up with:

Not this kind of 'lay out'...

• The layout
  It might be a small detail, but in fact, it's actually important! All the blogs I had a tendancey to look at had original and simple backgrounds, light and bright colours, a  s p a c e d  layout which made it all pleasant to read and never did they tire my eyes. Indeed, many  blogs that use the colour blue are actually considered to be relaxing!
  
• The topics
  Not only did these bloggers write about their life (not everything about them interests us!) but they shared what they like, a wide variety of topics with pictures (a blog is not a book, a blog NEEDS pictures!) and most of all, made each article uniquely amazing with excellently filled contents!



• Each post is unique! (just like you)
  In order for a blog to stick out amongst the others, it needs to be special. How? By making each post unique in it's own way. What I noticed was that these people spoke quite frankly and seemed extremely open to anything, absorbing us into their world, but in such a way that one cannot simply take their eyes away from the article! People need to feel linked to the words that are used.

I'm pretty sure that there are more little things that could make a blog a good blog, but for now I'd rather stick to what I found important and most importantly write about what I like! I have a tendancey to write long posts because my mind flows freely and I sense that there is more in myself than I tend to show. Moreover, it's a way for me to express myself and improve the way I communicate, and all of that whilst bringing a smile to some peoples faces (especially mine). So, time to set new goals from now onwards: one post per week! Challenge accepted!