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October 17, 2008

Strange But True!

Q. From a Cleveland reader: “I came to the U.S. when I was 10 years old, speaking only Croatian. Now, 30 years later, I find I still dream in Croatian and don't ‘get' jokes in English. People have to forewarn me that a joke is coming. Why this lingo-lag for me?”

A. Bilinguals report a number of interesting linguistic effects in their dreams. Some seem to stay with their native language for quite a while whereas others switch quickly, even before becoming completely fluent, says Harvard psychologist Deidre Barrett. Most common is for these dreamers to switch from language to language, often using their later language when dreaming of present issues and their earlier language when dreaming about people from the past, childhood emotional issues, etc.


 
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