I have a friend who is Cuban and English is her second language. I asked once if she thought in English or in Spanish and she wasn't sure. Then the conversation turned to the Helen Keller situation. There would be thought undeniably but in what manner would it be framed?
This is a good question and of long interest to me.
You think primarily in your native language. You will seamlessly think in your second or third language when it better conveys an idea. Much the way you'd slip into a second or third language in conversation to get a subtext or non-literal across. This is particularly the case for idioms or inside jokes.
E.g. "Porque no los dos?" literally means "why not the two?", but idiomatically conveys choosing between two (usually unwise or bad) ideas and smacking BOTH buttons at once for the lulz. E.g. "Should we do tequila shots or streak through the neighborhood" would beg for a response of porque no los dos to point out how bad an idea either is.
As an alternate example, if I'm cajoling my spouse, the goto thought or phrase always starts with mon cheri in an outrageous French accent. I wouldnt even think of that in English because it's a stodgy language to convey over the top flattery.
I hadn't considered the Helen Keller situation. I've worked with a handful of native Hispanics, they all thought in their native languages.
Maybe Helen thinks in whale noises
Janet had been in the US since age 6 and felt that she lapsed back and forth when she "thought". We decided that must be a higher abstracted layer therefore with something lower guiding it. That led to discussion of the Keller case.
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