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Comment by Shenglong | Hacker News Reader

I wonder what degree of bilingualism is necessary. When I speak English, I think in English. When I speak Chinese, I think in Chinese. When I speak French, I think in English.

Moreover, when I speak to my parents, I can weave together English and Chinese to speak in the most efficient and accurate way. Those of you who have two native languages will probably understand what I mean. Some languages lack words to describe certain situations, and other languages are much more direct in describing them. Do we call this amalgamation of languages a third language, then?

I think there needs to be a distinction based on varying levels of fluency; I see it as a major contributing factor.

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I agree the issue is more nuanced than it’s made out to be. I’m still not sure there is a useful, clear-cut distinction between native and second language, at least not for everybody.

I speak English and French natively, but I don’t think in either. I just think; in words sometimes, but mostly in spatial terms, colours, images, sounds, that sort of thing. I only started studying Chinese a few years ago, but I’ve never had the oft-bemoaned second-language problem of thinking in one tongue and mentally translating to another. Sure, there are words you don’t know, but you can always just talk around them, right?

This has been my experience as well. Grew up speaking English and French, am 100% bilingual, could not tell you which I think in. I think thoughts occur at a level of abstraction one step above language.

When I started learning Chinese I also wasn't constantly translating, I just had a limited breadth and depth of topics in which could express my thoughts through Chinese.

I'm not talking about basic thoughts. I mean, when you trace logic in your head, one language or another appears.

I disagree. I have complex, multiple-step wordless thoughts.

You never think in words?

This is a useful test: do a multiplication, say... 12*15, in your head. In what language did you do it?

Usually we tend to revert to the primary language for math.

You are like me, but most people think in words, not abstract micro-fast videos & kinetics.

It made learning French hard for me because people focused on English <=> French. After years of struggling I learned French in about 4 weeks actually in Quebec (northern part) where I was surrounded by actual poulets rôtis and no English translator around and everything clicked.

I don't think in any language either, but I often have trouble translating my wordless thoughts into any words at all, even if it's my native language.

"Some languages lack words to describe certain situations, and other languages are much more direct in describing them."

It's called code-switching in linguistic terms.

What you are doing is called code-switching:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching

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