Realistic Verbal Interaction in Non-Lucid Dreams

After reading the recent post on "Letters and Numbers in Lucid Dreams," I wanted to bring this subject up.

I am almost through first semester of third year German, and whilst I constantly learn and store new words, grammer and such, I am completely unable to speak it realistically unless it's with someone I know and trust (Or on MDMA as I now know). Otherwise it fails to flow easily if at all, for some reason I am very uncontrollably self-conscious about speaking foreign languages. If someone were to start speaking German *deliberetly I can understand upwards of 3/4 of it all, the 1/4 are words I do not know.

Yet I have had upwards of 7 dreams in which I am speaking and understanding German at a fluent speed. I remember these and all dreams vividly enough to remember everything I say and hear, so I know it wasn't just my merely thinking it was all proper. Obviously I cannot speak words I do not know, and in turn I cannot and do not hear those in my dream speak words I do not know as they are only mirrors of my own knowledge on the matter.

By third year you know enough to speak about most matters intelligently, so I'm not just all giddy over some 7 year old type of thing. I just wish I could talk like that in real-life.

Has anyone else experienced anything of this sort?


B.T.W. If Hermann Goering was anything in real life like he is in my dreams, then he's a really weird, awkwardly unfunny, guy.

* Without dropping letters, and at a constant rate of pronunciation- about a medium pace.

Dear Classico,

Essentially, what we have here is a situation in which your waking self is somewhat shy, and your dream self isn't. This is to be congratulated. Some people have shy dream selves.... people have written in saying that their dream recall totally dropped off after having had one of those 'caught out in public naked' dreams -- so embarrassed were they that on some level they can't bear to go back to dreaming. But you are quite comfortable in dreams, or, rather, your dream self is quite comfortable.

Perhaps it is meant to be a confidence building situation. I can remember dreams in which I sang and played in public, and, subsequently, I went on to play and sing in public. I suppose it allows one to have some level of certainty that one is indeed capable of such things.

And about languages, presently I am wading through Mandarin Chinese. Just yesterday I was jumping for joy in a restaurant, and a friend asked me what the big deal was, and I had to say that I understood what one of the servers was saying. The owner of the restaurant, who prides himself with being both a scholar of Mandarin and of English, has decided to have me encouraged by telling his workers to only feed me as I can negotiate my purchases in Chinese. All of these people can speak english quite well, but it all reverts to Chinese when I walk in, and certainly impressed my friends, and scares them alittle bit too, until they are themselves reassured with some English.

My first working foreign language was another language from the Far East. I had been a Volunteer, teaching English as a Second Language in the Country. I used the native tongue for not much more than the merest of polite exchanges and to order food. I really thought I knew hardly any of it, and had not much time to learn it, as the natives kept me quite busy doing what I had come to do, which was to teach english, english and more english. But then, on a interlude in the Capital, one of the other Volunteers had invited to the Country this wonderfully cordial man from Switzerland, with amorous promises which she could not fulfill, since she had very recently become engaged to one of the Natives. So she foisted the gentleman off upon me. My, but he was a good sport about it all. And he wanted to see everything and go everywhere, and mostly he wanted to get everybody's opinion upon each and everything there was to know or experience, and caste me in the role of his interpretor. My God, I had not known it until then, but I was able to speak the language, since I was forced into it.

Damn, what an awesome first response.

I have truly learned from these experiences, yet I wish I could learn more.

Changing the subject somewhat. I used to play the *Piano constantly, and got fairly good at it. Unfortunatly I stopped playing for family and personal reasons. Within the last year I took up the Violin. I wish, and have slowly started, to play the Piano the again. I picked up where I left off- Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. I can remember about 2/5 of it, and have obviously lost much ability to play.

Like the German I have demonstrated a similiar ability with these instruments. Its not just me hitting keys, I consciously recognise and interpret the keyboard- they are all correct, and I play with the same ability as I do in real life. Perhaps, as with the German, I can regain some ability aswell as lose the shyness.


*Played the French Horn, which I loved- unfortunatly the cost of a Double is out of my price range.

Dear Classico,

My!? I started on violin and then went on to keyboard. Now, they gather dust as I put all of my time into other things. My music is satisfied since I am a member of two different Choirs -- the first was in a small Church out in the jungle, but I was talent scouted up and now also sing at the Cathedral. That is music enough to satisfy those needs.

You won't need to worry about shyness much longer. These dreams of yours will indeed have their intended effect, and, inperceptively, you will find yourself more comfortable among people, showing off both your linguistic as well as your musical skills. The confidence gained in your dreams simply has nowhere else to go, now doesn't it?

Yeah, I think it is having its intended effect. I agree that it has no where to go but into reality. I have had the same problem with music, but not nearly to such a degree. My dreams are probably reflecting my recent changes in life- I have gotten out of the house, and opened up to friends, etc. In general I am beggining to lead a non shy life, yet there are those things holding me back. It's very probable in my opinion that my dreams are getting me going on those last items.