The Incredible Linguistic Journey in the Dream World.
After a couple of months in France during my Erasmus period, I started dreaming in French. It's a strange experience, considering that since I've been living in the Netherlands, it seems like my subconscious prefers expressing itself in English rather than in Dutch.
For my daughter, on the other hand, it's the prevalent language, and one evening I heard her speaking in her sleep in Dutch, which is normally indecipherable for me, let alone in a dream!
The dream is like a journey through the borders of the unconscious, a realm where linguistic barriers dissolve, and languages intertwine in an intricate dreamlike ballet. For polyglots, this experience proves to be fertile ground for exploring the complexity of the languages they've acquired.
But if you dream in another language, does it really mean that you are learning it?
The studies seem to support this idea. Research conducted at the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa examined the connection between REM sleep and efficiency in language learning, providing surprising results that add an additional motivating factor to our linguistic journey.
REM Sleep and Language Learning
REM sleep, the deepest stage characterized by rapid eye movement, has long been associated with information processing and memory.
The study conducted by J. De Koninck and his team explored the role of this sleep phase in language learning. Monitoring ten English-speaking students during an intensive French course, they discovered a surprisingly positive correlation between language learning efficiency and an increase in the percentage of REM sleep.
In summary, according to the study, the more effective our learning, the more likely we are to experience a significant increase in REM sleep. According to the researchers, during sleep, our brain actively consolidates the new information learned during foreign language lessons.
In more recent times, a pilot study on Polish students highlighted how exposure to a language, proficiency level, and attitude toward a new language influence how the language itself is used in dreams. It was observed that multilingual dreams often reflect a higher language proficiency than in reality, emphasizing a deep desire to fully master the learned languages..
Dreaming in a different language not only adds a touch of mystery to our nocturnal life but also seems to indicate linguistic progress. So, as we delve into our dream adventures, we might find ourselves dreaming in new languages, accompanied by the awareness that our brain is actively working to integrate and refine the newly acquired language skills.
For now, I alternate between dreams in Italian and English, and for those in Dutch, I await the subtitles.
Comments