Do you think in Japanese?

[kudamono-chan]

My mom has an interesting problem sometimes. We are in Japan, and both of our vocabularies currently don't get us more than "Is this train going to Yokohama? Where is the train station?" etc. She studied French in college but can't remember most of it when she thinks of it. Strangely enough, when searching for a Japanese word, she says that she'll come across a long-forgotten French word or phrase that means the same thing. Perhaps this isn't thinking in French or Japanese, but it sure is kind of weird...no one else in our family speaks French.

[shippai]

I've caught myself thinking "やばい" whenever something goes wrong, and I never translate it to English.

If you think about it, thought is in itself its own language, and this is easier to understand if you've ever had an experience that is incapable of being described by words. As many other posters have said (roughly), you don't think in any established language alone, though it's true that if you aren't proficient in the Japanese language (myself included), you won't be "thinking" in 日本語 much.

[Takoyaki]

わぁ！このスレッドはまだいきてるよね～！It's been awhile since I last posted here. But an update: Now I think in a mixture of Japanese/English all day long. I think it's from watching too much J-TV! I keep calling my grandmother's cat "baka!" because everytime I go to the kitchen it asks to be fed. And I go to the kitchen a lot...

The more you get used to it, the better. Don't try to translate in your head too much, don't try to memorize, just try to get used to it so it comes naturally. the more you use it the better!

[Snowflake]

That's good to hear, Takoyakiさん! Very encouraging. I'm not even close to that point yet, having just gotten a fairly firm hold on kana. I'm looking forward to reading simple kana words, silently in my mind, and "hearing" Japanese, not Japanese-> English translations. I know I have a long way to go before that happens, but that's what I'm looking forward to .

[Takoyaki]

Yes yes! Ganbatte ne! Kanpai! (Strong Chinese Kombucha tea makes me very energetic! Can you tell? If you are ever too tired to study take a gulp of this stuff, it's amazing!) Let's all keep cheering eachother on!