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This may seem like a rather stupid question, but I posed this question to several naturalized immigrants and was very surprised with the answer. You can also ask this question to any multi-lingual person who is native American.
My native language is Slovak, but I use English so much and for so long I don't even think about it. When I am speaking to Slovakians, I automatically switch to the Slavic mind set. If I interject English into that conversation, I am thinking in Slavic mode so I guess it still rains supreme. It just depends on my situation I guess. For others it depends on how comfortable they are with the language. When I am speaking French or Russian, I have to get into the Latin or Slavic mode, but since I am so uncomfortable speaking the two I fall back on the one that is more relavent... English mindset for French and Slovak mindset for Russian. I tried learning Greek, but it is such a different base than what I am used to I think in the language I use everyday.... English.
mostly english with some chinese and taiwanese thrown in
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov
Social situations: depending on the crowd I am with, English or Bengali. On rare occassions, I may even be thinking (as opposed to speaking, which is much more common) in Hindi.
When I sleep, I think in Vulcan
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" ~ Epicurus
I think in American style English - Northern midwest from Wisconsin and southwest from California.
But my wife thinks in both Hungarian and English but does her math (bill paying time) in Spanish as she lived in Venezuela for 8 years after escaping from Hungary.
Some years ago when her brother in Venezuela died, she went down for the funeral services. Upon her arrival back in Long Beach, she was having trouble trying to speak English again because that whole week was in Spanish.
Yet she speaks Hungarian with her sister who now lives in Germany and married to a Japanese engineer. So their daughter speaks German, Hungarian, Japanese, Spanish, English, Italian, French and who knows what else. Very handy as she works for Lufthansa now.
So their daughter speaks German, Hungarian, Japanese, Spanish, English, Italian, French and who knows what else. Very handy as she works for Lufthansa now.
But what language does she think in?
I'm not quite certain what language I think in. I can only count in Chinese though.
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
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