As many of the world's statistics say, more than half of the world's population today are bilingual speakers, and even more than one third speak more than 2 languages. There are 7 billion people in the world, roughly 6,500 known spoken languages, and Mandarin Chinese is the most popular to date.
-311 languages are spoken
-162 are indigenous languages
-149 are immigrant languages
-There are 14 Million households where English is not the primary language spoken
What I am focusing on are the children that are raised speaking more than one language while they were growing up, not people who learn a new language in their adult life.
So knowing all of this, what language do you think in?
As someone who was raised to speak the 2nd most popular language, Spanish, and then learn English in school, I can say with confidence that I did think in Spanish before having to think of the "english" way/word. There are some studies that have focused on how languages can determine the way you view the world and be able to live flexibly in different environments. Nicholas Weiler wrote an interesting article in a science magazine with regards to the way having a certain dominant language reflects the way you view life. (link)
Personally I learned Spanish first from home just like ever child learns their first language, and when i went to school I was taught English. In this case English was my weaker language (and with some parts of my life still continues to be weaker). Learning the new language at first to communicate, you will speak in English and when you fail to think of a word then you might insert the synonym in your native language.
The more you surround yourself in the new language that you are learning (i.e. English), the more you are able to pick up the meaning of the words you've learned from slang, peers and surrounding community.
"That got me so tight" "It's brick out here" (NY)
"Hey man, I'm tired I'm going to bail" (Cali)
"Pop a squat" "Barking up the wrong tree" (southern)
Overall, the more you use the weaker language in your daily life, the more it becomes second nature to you. Keep both languages constantly active in your brain (never really turn one off, they both stay active whether you use it or not).
Over time, I found myself no longer needing to "translate" from Spanish to English as often anymore, but rather from English to Spanish, as I am learning and growing more in English. I am not able to transfer what I learn in English to Spanish, because I have not been taught.
ex. I have learned terms and vocabulary in science like biology, chemistry, physics, but have not learned the same terms in Spanish, so I am not able to translate certain words like "equilibrium, pipetting, atmosphere, etc" without making it up as a stand-in until I take extra effort to look up the word, and remember it.
So, what language do you think in?
You actively think in both, but in certain situations one is more dominant than the other.
