~ Reading, Thinking and Writing…in Alia Lingua ~

A long time ago someone told me that humans can see dreams only in their mother tongue. I am not a neuroscientist to deny or confirm such a hypothesis, however, my experience has been quite the opposite. Though I did come to find many articles stating that it actually is correct, provided the person who is dreaming does not speak any languages, except their mother tongue. That makes perfect sense, for we think how we speak, how we read, and how we write. And vice versa.

One of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century Lugwig Wittgenstein coherently stated “Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt” (The boundaries of my languages mean the boundaries of my world). The freedom of thinking and relating to the reality in a language accurately correlates with the ability to write in that language. Hence, when it comes to learning a language one can not focus solely on grammar or vocabulary. Learning a language is a holistic endeavor. As I have mentioned in my previous post Der Denksport der Sprache or Can You Truly Know a Language, it is a choice, a commitment, and a strategy. Let me put it this way: If you want to become fluent in a foreign language, your goal is to start thinking, dreaming, if you wish, in that language. How? Consider taking these two steps:

Read in the foreign language. The sooner you start reading in the language you are learning, the sooner you will get used to the ways of the corresponding cultural vision of the world. For every language, as well as every human, sees the word differently. In English and German your age constitutes what you represent at the moment of speaking, i. e. you are 27 years old, du bist 27 Jahre alt. In French, Spanish and Polish the time you have spent on the Earth constitutes your gain, i. e. tu as 27 ans, tienes 27 años, masz 27 lat (lit. I have 27 years). The more you read – from Instagram posts to classic novels – in the language, the more you connect with its way of thinking. While reading you enter the flow that results in your thinking the way the language does, which first builds understanding and transitions into adopting the pattern. Nothing creates a more sustainable connection between a language learner and a foreign language than thinking of it or in it.

Write in the foreign language. There is a great deal of focus on speaking, and it is understandable. However, what gets lost in translation is that reading and writing are equally important. Eloquence, which is the hallmark of fluency, does stem from being well-read and certainly good in creative thinking. Writing is one exercise some try to minimize, or master on a very formal grammar-oriented level, i.e. I can write without grammatical mistakes, etc. However, writing is as indispensable as reading in the way it is instrumental in reflecting the data that you brain collects, archives and classifies into patterns. When translator is working on retranslation of the work that has been translated before them, they try not to look at the previous texts with the mere purpose of avoiding intertextuality or subconscious “borrowing” of ideas. There are always exceptions based on different work styles, motives etc. However, in the vast majority of cases it is human brain’s incredible cognitive capacity to store and reproduce information that makes it a precaution for translators to search for previous versions of translation. Hence, if a language learner who reads extensively also starts to write, they will sooner or later start reproducing the patterns their memory has stored from all the textual data it was exposed to. And that is a wonderful news! Writing in combination with reading enhances language proficiency exponentially. It can be creative writing, journaling, etc. The point is that writing leads to fluency, both on paper and in life.

Therefore, nothing brings you closer to thinking, thus communicating easily, in the foreign language than reading, writing, and even dreaming in it.