In My Dreams!

I’ve heard it said that one knows he or she is becoming fluent in a language when such a person begins to dream in that language. I’m not sure how much truth there is to this because I am far from fluent in Chinese, but I have blurted out Mandarin on two separate occasions in my dreams.

My utterances have been limited to “我没有衬衫” (I don’t have a shirt), referring to a request for a souvenir shirt from America in one dream and “我已经有” (I already have them), referring to brake pads on my bicycle in the other dream.

Bizarre as hell? Yes.

A sign of progress? Possibly.

3 Comments


  1. When I dream in Chinese, Chinese people always speak perfect Chinese, and I always speak imperfect Chinese. Sometimes I don’t even know what they are saying. It’s really depressing.

    Quote | Posted January 6, 2007, 7:57 pm

  2. At least your subconscious is fluent.

    Quote | Posted January 6, 2007, 8:04 pm

  3. Hey, hey, hey, “我已经有了”, you forgot “了”。

    Quote | Posted January 7, 2007, 12:31 pm

Leave a reply


In My Dreams!

I’ve heard it said that one knows he or she is becoming fluent in a language when such a person begins to dream in that language. I’m not sure how much truth there is to this because I am far from fluent in Chinese, but I have blurted out Mandarin on two separate occasions in my dreams.

My utterances have been limited to “我没有衬衫” (I don’t have a shirt), referring to a request for a souvenir shirt from America in one dream and “我已经有” (I already have them), referring to brake pads on my bicycle in the other dream.

Bizarre as hell? Yes.

A sign of progress? Possibly.

3 Comments


  1. When I dream in Chinese, Chinese people always speak perfect Chinese, and I always speak imperfect Chinese. Sometimes I don’t even know what they are saying. It’s really depressing.

    Quote | Posted January 6, 2007, 7:57 pm

  2. At least your subconscious is fluent.

    Quote | Posted January 6, 2007, 8:04 pm

  3. Hey, hey, hey, “我已经有了”, you forgot “了”。

    Quote | Posted January 7, 2007, 12:31 pm

Leave a reply