Dreaming in Foreign Languages

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My first dream with French in it:

I felt that I had woken up and could see the room around me, but I couldn't move. We call it 俾鬼責 in Cantonese, meaning a ghost is lying on top of you, and you have to yell at it to tell it to go away. So I yelled in Cantonese: "停呀！" ("Stop!"), but it didn't work. Maybe the ghost didn't understand me? So I tried another language: "S'arrête !"

But I used the present tense instead of the imperative

[Xelian]

I've had dreams where people say certain phrases I know in Japanese or Korean. I remember one where the people in the dream were speaking Korean but for some reason I could only reply in Japanese o-o... It was very odd and I felt pretty frustrated as the Korean people couldn't understand me lol.

I've had a few dreams that were mostly English with some Japanese sentences thrown in. I've also had a few dreams where I'm signing in sign language or seeing someone sign, but I think the signs are usually off yet the meaning is easily conveyed because it is a dream and everything in dreams makes sense hahaha...

Anyway, I really like having dreams about visiting foreign places or using my language skills in dreams, even if the words are mixed or jumbled I still think it's so interesting!

[Xelian]

My first dream with French in it:

I felt that I had woken up and could see the room around me, but I couldn't move. We call it 俾鬼責 in Cantonese, meaning a ghost is lying on top of you, and you have to yell at it to tell it to go away. So I yelled in Cantonese: "停呀！" ("Stop!"), but it didn't work. Maybe the ghost didn't understand me? So I tried another language: "S'arrête !"

But I used the present tense instead of the imperative

I have dreams like that often, we call it "sleep paralysis" in English but not many people think it is a ghost holding you down. I usually can't speak in those kinds of dreams... It would be cool to do that~

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Quite often, if I fall asleep with clear and comprehensible L2 sentences playing in the background, I would hear those sentences in my dream. One of these dreams with French sentences went like this:

I was with a Chinese ex-schoolmate. I said something, he went bitter, and he started to recite French sentences to show-off:
Quel genre de chien est-il....
Il rest toujours calme dans un coin....
(sentences from the CD I was playing)
Sometimes he'd forget and stop midway, and when he resumed, what he said would be unrelated to what he was saying previously (because it'd be the next sentence on the CD). Bitter me would point out that he recited wrong.

Then there were more and more characters, all of whom conversed in French.

One of them was a Caucasian man who said his dog:
rest toujours calme dans un coin....
("sits/lies quietly in a corner all the time", a sentence from the CD)
My father wondered how the dog sat/lied there, so we opened the man's bedroom door to look. It turned out to be a tiny room, and the dog was snuggled up in the lowest shelf of the shelving unit that stood on the floor.

A pic from the internet:

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I have dreams like that often, we call it "sleep paralysis" in English but not many people think it is a ghost holding you down. I usually can't speak in those kinds of dreams... It would be cool to do that~

I believe it's paralysis but I grew up hearing it's a ghost I've only experienced it twice, both times during daytime naps, and I wasn't scared. I tend to be quite clear-headed in my dreams, doubting things that don't make sense. For example...:

I was again sleeping with clear and comprehensible L2 sentences playing in the background, this time in German and spoken by a male voice, and the sentences were editted to have 1-second pauses between them.

Dream 1:

I was walking down the street with my boyfriend, and he kept talking to me in German (the L2 sentences I was hearing). I understood most of it, but I thought to myself: Aren't you Chinese? Why are you talking to me in German? I can't understand everything, you know!

Then I woke up, and turned the volume up a bit because it was getting noisy outside. I went back to sleep, and...

Dream 2:

My father was learning German, and recited sentences in German to two of his friends (the L2 sentences I was hearing), because they spoke German and could correct father if he made any mistakes. Father recited many, many sentences. Between each sentence, he had to pause to think for one second. I looked over to him, and realised he wasn't holding a book. I thought it was great how he could recite so many sentences from memory, and decided to do the same myself.

Father did a good job, and his two friends only corrected him once or twice. Then father showed me his textbook, which was large like primary school textbooks. Father said he had to learn German because he needed it for work. And I thought to myself: But aren't you retired...?

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Another dream I had when having clear and comprehensible L2 sentences playing in the background, this time in French, male voice:

My boyfriend and I were in the lobby of a students' residence. We had just bought a French VCD course. To my surprise, he could say every sentence on the VCD, and his pronunciation was so native-like! I walked around packing my suitcase, while he sat in front of the computer saying French sentences.
Je vous sers encore du thé.
Est-ce que Monsieur Dupont est là?
.... ....

Damn it! I didn't know he spoke French! I went over to the computer to see whether there were sentences on the screen for him to read off, or was he so awesome that he was answering questions with sentences that he made up himself. Turned out there were words on the screen, but only he could see them and I couldn't.

I continued to pack my suitcase, secretly paying attention to what he was saying. His pronunciation was so accurate! He could even pronounce all the syllables in very long sentences, and that's hard!

I asked him when he learned French, but he didn't answer me, and just continued to read his sentences.
Je t'offre ce bouquet de narcisse.
J'espère qu'il te plaît.
.... ....

[garyb]

Upon returning from my first trip to Italy, I had a recurring dream for several nights about being on a bus in Bologna and conversing with fellow passengers in Italian. But I only knew very basic Italian at the time, so it can't have been the real thing!

More recently I've had a few dreams involving Spanish. They're usually about being in a situation where I need to use the language, and in some I understand but the words just won't come out when I try to speak (which reminds me of a common anxiety-related dream I've had in the past about needing to fight but feeling paralysed) while in others I don't have any problem. On waking up I've realised that the Spanish was quite correct, although at times it was mixed with other languages. I also remember having some quite long dreams all in French back when I studied that.

For me, dreaming in a language isn't a sign that I'm becoming fluent (I think we know that's nonsense), but it does seem to be a sign that my brain has realised that I'm serious about the language. I had already been considering studying Italian and had learnt some basics before going there, but it was the trip that made me want to get good at it, and the dreams followed. Similar for Spanish, I had been intending to study it for years and done so on-and-off, but these dreams came after I started studying regularly for the long-term.

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Yet another dream I had when having clear and comprehensible L2 sentences playing in the background, this time in French, female voice:

I was at a major dinner event organised by my high school held in a hotel ballroom. My former (English) teacher Miss C was speaking on the stage. She commended me for a French essay that I wrote, and then she read the essay out. Everone was busy eating or socialising, while I paid attention to the essay that she was reading out (the L2 sentences that I was hearing). And I thought to myself: It was indeed very well-written!

[Ramazzati Tenchú]

Yet another dream I had when having clear and comprehensible L2 sentences playing in the background!

Do you fall sleep while listening to L2 sentences on purpose?

I tend to be quite clear-headed in my dreams, doubting things that don't make sense.

You might be on the verge of a lucid dream if you keep doing this. If you get in the habit of asking yourself if you are dreaming at the start of every study session while listening to the L2 sentences, the next time you do this you might find yourself being aware that you are dreaming.

http://lucid.wikia.com/wiki/Reality_check

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Do you fall sleep while listening to L2 sentences on purpose?

No, I think I wore earphones to bed only for afternoon naps when it was noisy outside. Or I meant to do shadowing but fell asleep instead.

You might be on the verge of a lucid dream if you keep doing this. If you get in the habit of asking yourself if you are dreaming at the start of every study session while listening to the L2 sentences, the next time you do this you might find yourself being aware that you are dreaming.

http://lucid.wikia.com/wiki/Reality_check

I find lucid dreams very interesting, and have read a little bit about it. But I love my dreams and don't want to change them. I'm busy enough changing the world in real life!