Dreams are mysterious, and experts from scientific fields to cultural studies supply an entire spectrum of reasons why people dream what they do. Although the exact reasons may not be immediately evident, dreaming in a language other than your primary language is common, particularly if you’re in the process of learning another language. Dreaming in other languages can be inspiring and startling in equal measure, but finding out why it’s happening can offer insight into your use of language during your waking hours.
You might be having dreams in a different language for any of several reasons. Since it’s currently impossible to go back and revisit dreams on a whim, it’s not always easy to pinpoint which explanation applies to you. Still, if you speak to other language learners, you’ll find that if you tell them, “I dream in another language,” they’ll be able to relate.
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Reasons for dreaming in a language you know
Dreaming in a language you know includes all levels of proficiency. For example, if you’re dreaming in a language you’re learning, you might dream that you’re holding complex conversations in your target language and your hard work is paying off. Or, if you’re dreaming in a language you’re fluent in but isn’t your native language, your dream might be influenced by a memory that happened in your second language.
People tend to dream about events from their lives. One 2017 study on the memory sources of dreams showed that over 80% of dreams have some connection to the dreamer’s memory. In other words, the more memories you have connected to a certain language, the more likely you are to have dreams involving that language.
That still leaves the question of why you dream in different languages. Your individual circumstances will influence your experience, but here are three reasons that might apply to you.
1. You’re studying regularly
One common reason for dreaming in a language you know (but isn’t your primary language) is that you’re using it regularly in your studies. This is a good sign! It may mean that you’re internalizing the vocabulary and grammar for the language to the point that you can have basic conversations and think in your new tongue rather than translating a thought from your native language into your new language. Some multilingual people report having dreams in different languages they know, so as you become more familiar with a language, it’s possible it will come up more often in your dreams.
Your level of proficiency in a language as you dream can differ from your actual, real-life proficiency. That starts with understanding language fluency levels. When you dream in a language you don’t have native-level proficiency in, you may dream that you’re actually more proficient than you are in real life. Dr. Deirdre Leigh Barrett at the Cambridge Health Alliance points out that psychologists explain this as the part of our brain that enforces a sense of reality not functioning at the same level when we dream. If you dream you can speak a language fluently, your brain conveniently makes that appear real. Let that motivate you to turn dreams into reality!
2. You’ve immersed yourself in the language
Language immersion—or completely surrounding yourself with a specific language—is a powerful tool for language learning. As for how to immerse yourself in a language, immersion can mean forgoing all other languages during your dedicated study time, or it could just mean you’re in a situation where only that language will be of any use to you (such as if you’re traveling in a country that predominantly speaks that language). If your language studies include using only your target language for a certain amount of time, you might be surprised to experience yourself occasionally dreaming entirely in that language, too!
Two researchers conducted a study in 2024 (published in the International Journal of Dream Research) that assessed the role of languages in dreams of 78 participants. Although the majority of participants spoke German as a native language, most considered themselves fluent in English, and about a third of participants had experience in various other languages. The results showed that the more exposure a person had to a specific language during the day, the more likely they were to dream in that language over the following few nights. They also found that speaking, listening, and thinking in a language were more common than reading and writing.
3. Your dream’s setting fits the language
Think about the scenario your dream depicts. Is it an imagined conversation with someone who only speaks French? Are you dreaming about traveling across Latin America? The setting of your dream can influence what language you hear or speak in that dream.
The study from the International Journal of Dream Research mentioned above highlighted a handful of dreams that centered on how the dream’s plot influenced the language spoken in the dream. One person recalled a dream where they visited their boyfriend’s family, who spoke a language the person was not fluent in (Portuguese). In the end, they felt they were outside the conversation, but they felt confident in their language ability as they “spoke” it in their dream. Another person experienced a dream about traveling to Denmark in two languages: their native language (German) and a second language they were fluent in (Danish). When speaking to their boyfriend, they “spoke” in German. When talking to an officer in Denmark, they “spoke” in Danish.
Reasons for dreaming in a language you don’t know
Having a dream in a language that you know might feel logical, but dreaming in a language you haven’t practiced in a while or don’t know at all can feel significantly more mysterious. If you’re having dreams where you’re fluently speaking or understanding a language you don’t know, there could be a few reasons (some unique or unexplainable).
1. You have passing familiarity with the language
If you’re slightly familiar with the language in your dream, your brain may be accessing memories of that language. If you learned a secondary language in the past, even if it was just a few phrases, you could be using information that’s stored deep in your memory, but that you have difficulty recalling while you’re awake.
One participant in a 2022 study on the language-dream relationship in multilinguals had a dream where they used only a handful of words they knew in a language and proceeded to dream in that language. That being said, it’s difficult or impossible to say if they were dreaming of an accurate conversation in that language.
2. You underwent a transformative experience
Have you ever wondered, “Can you forget a language?” Brains can hold onto memories of language for much longer than you’d think possible. You can see this demonstrated in cases of people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries and wake up speaking another language. For example, an English-speaking teenager woke up from a coma speaking Spanish fluently, despite only knowing a few basic phrases before the accident.
Dreaming in a language that doesn’t exist
If you dream in a language you have experience in—regardless of proficiency—you have a foundation on which the language of a dream can build. Those languages are real, after all. But what if your dream features a language that doesn’t exist at all?
Anecdotal, first-hand accounts from across the world show people having seemingly unexplainable dreams where they spoke in a language they didn’t have a name for upon waking. Some attribute it to messages from a spiritual source (e.g., a religious deity or a ghost), while others simply marvel at the experience.
One thing to consider is that most languages share a few basic concepts (like syntax), even though they are presented in different ways. Taking advantage of identifiable patterns like these is how people invent constructed languages, whether they’re used in real life (like Esperanto) or fictional settings (like Klingon in Star Trek). If you’re particularly attuned to or well-versed in linguistics, it’s possible that you’re dreaming of a fake language that sounds like it has similar patterns to a real language.
How do you say ‘dream’ in other languages?
If you wake up from a dream where you spoke a language you’re not fluent in, you might feel inspired to learn it for real! Start with learning the word for “dream” in the languages Rosetta Stone offers.
| Language | Word for ‘Dream’ |
| Spanish | sueño |
| French | rêve |
| Italian | sogno |
| German | Traum |
| Arabic | حُلْم (ḥulm) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 梦 (mèng) |
| Dutch | droom |
| Farsi | رویا (roya) |
| Greek | όνειρο (óneiro) |
| Hebrew | חֲלוֹם (chalom) |
| Hindi | सपना (sapna) |
| Irish | brionglóid |
| Japanese | 夢 (yume) |
| Korean | 꿈 (kkum) |
| Latin | somnium |
| Polish | sen |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | sonho |
| Russian | сновиде́ние/snovideniye |
| Swedish | dröm |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | panaginip |
| Turkish | rüya |
| Vietnamese | giấc mơ |
Frequently asked questions about dreaming in other languages
The meaning of dreams and why dreams are the way they are continue to inspire research in psychology, neuroscience, and even cultural studies. While the exact reason you dream what you do (and how) can be difficult to discern, the reasons you might be dreaming in other languages do have some scientific explanations. Other people like you have asked these frequently asked questions to try and find the meaning in what language they see, hear, and speak in their dreams.
Do bilingual people dream in two languages?
While the frequency varies, bilingual (or multilingual) people absolutely experience dreams that differ from their primary language. The language a multilingual person dreams in on any given night is often influenced by the language (or languages) they’ve been using most recently. For example, if someone has native-level fluency in both English and German but is on a business trip in Berlin where they’re using German more than English, the chance that they’ll dream in German goes up.
What does it mean if you speak another language in your sleep?
Dreaming in a language different from the language you usually use can happen for many reasons. The more real-life memories you have related to the language in your dream, the more likely you are to dream in it. That can be the result of consistent language study, using multiple languages in your daily life, or primarily using a language (or languages) different from your native language.
What does it mean when you dream in a language you don’t speak?
Dreaming in a language you don’t speak (or only know a handful of phrases in) can mean your brain is accessing memories of that language and creating a dream scenario where you find yourself needing or wanting to use that language. You might feel proficient as you speak it in your dream, but your actual level of proficiency may be vastly different from how you would interpret it if you were awake.
Can you subconsciously learn a language in your sleep?
While becoming fluent in a language subconsciously is a tall order, you can absolutely pick up pieces of a new language while you sleep! One 2022 study about learning new vocabulary implicitly during sleep showed that a group of participants who had no experience in East Asian languages could learn Japanese words in their sleep by playing a recording of the word with related sounds (e.g., the Japanese word for “dog” with the sound of a dog barking) as they slept. While not as effective a language learning method as actively studying while awake, it certainly can’t hurt your studies if you want to try this out for yourself!
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