If you are a language student, chances are that you will have a lot of words whirling around in your head from your mother tongue and the new language that you are acquiring.

If you are already bilingual or trilingual, you may have the added confusion (or bonus) of multiple languages.

But what happens when you dream?

I was recently doing some background reading on this and it seems that there is no set pattern. Most people dream in their mother tongue and if they have multiple languages, can sometimes dream in them too.

One of the most interesting comments I read was from a language student who when asked when did he feel he finally had a grasp on the new language, replied “When I started to dream in it”.

This rang true for me as I clearly remember the time when I was living in Japan and started to dream in Japanese. I woke up with the feeling that I finally understood the language enough to feel comfortable.

The next time you have a dream that you remember you should make a note of which language it is in.  Ask your friends and work colleagues too, as it can make for some interesting discussion.