NRI Tips: The ‘unconscious adaption’ to the foreign culture and language.
When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself. ~ Plato
I talk to myself all the times, I always have. Bigger the dilemma, more I talk; this is also another way of my brainstorming and mulling over new ideas.
Be it a thinking out loud or in whispers or in silence, thinking is part of being human. Thinking and logic is what separates us from the animals. We all think, it is a part of our problem solving nature.
For those living overseas or away from the place of your childhood, do you ‘think’ in your mother tongue or the adopted foreign/new language?
Back home in India, my train of thought was always in my mother tongue. It was natural; speaking the same language as my brain, thinking something and then saying it loud during the conversation. It was automatic -without noticeable delays.
Ane then, I came to America. 
When I first came here, I recall that I continued to think in my mother tongue, even when talking to my American colleagues - in a meeting at work or any other social settings. I used to think in my Indian language, and then translate my thoughts it into English for the verbal exchange. At times it slowed me down; It was no longer automatic. I used to re-phrase a lot. This is how it was; I never thought it would change much.
However, lately I find myself thinking in English more and more often. Read the rest of this entry »
