Waking up to Spanish/English internal duologue...

Question

Of late, by which I mean over the course of the last couple of weeks or so, I've found that on awaking in the morning (or sometimes during the night), my mind is already engrossed in a kind of silent internal duologue with two voices: one in English, the other in Spanish.

The fully awake, conscious part of my mind feels almost like a kind of passenger or observer in respect of this lucid dreamlike process, which can last several minutes. The Spanish sounds ok, but some of the ideas being expressed are quite weird. This morning, for example, one such idea was, 'quisiera que más futbolistas se pusieran faldas'.

I haven't really changed my Spanish learning habits.

Is this a bad sign because it means I'm doing too much ?

Is this a bad sign because it means I've finally flipped and gone utterly mad (although I'm pretty sure none of the voices is that of God, telling me to commit atrocities, except, of course, atrocities with the Spanish language).

Or it is a positive sign because it means I've reached some new critical stage ?

Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon ? How long does it last ?

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure you are not going mad, don't worry! Honestly, I think everyone goes through a phase where Spanish really starts to sink in. For me, this happened when initially, I translated everything I said into Spanish (in my head), and the next thing I knew I was practically thinking in Spanish. For me this was a critical time, because I realized that Spanish was more than just something more to memorize in school, it was a way to express myself and communicate with others. As I am typing this, I am not thinking in Spanish, so this 'phase' is just that-a phase-it faded away after a couple months. However, if I wanted to right now, I could start thinking in Spanish, so I guess I just gained an on/off button :D A friend of mine was telling me that when Spanish really started to 'click' for her, she started to dream in Spanish almost every night. I have dreamed in Spanish before, but only occasionally. So I think that it is different for every person.The brain is also surprisingly active at night, repairing itself after the days activities, and processing information that you may have acquired throughout the day. So while I can't tell you the exact neurological reason for what you are experiencing, I can tell you it is probably more normal than you would think. All I can say is, embrace it! People may tell you you are weird (my friends would get rather annoyed with me when I just randomly said stuff in Spanish and they could not understand me ) But it is just your way of learning, so don't let them discourage you. Have fun, and don't be afraid to monologue to yourself if you ever need to let some of the Spanish out Buena Suerte, ~Atrevida

Gracias... ;-) - Faldaesque, May 23, 2015