Do you need to form the question in English only?

I don't know if this thread is on the right sub-forum or not; hope that this place is appropriate.

Should I form a question in English or form it in my native language? Since I find it's easy & comfortable to ask in English when do my own reading, but when do a reading for my friends, many of them just quickly form a question in our language. Thus, I usually have to follow them and find quite uneasy to read and interpret the spread.

Hope everyone can shed some light to me.

Thank in advance.

As you are the reader and interpreter of the cards I think you have to use the language you feel most comfortable with. But if there's a way to do it in a way that the querent can participate too, that would be ideal. Any chance that since you're bilingual, the reading could be too?

I form the question in whatever language I'm going to perform the reading. That is, I form the question in English when I'm reading here on ATF, in my mother tongue German when I'm reading for friends and sometimes in English, sometimes in German when I'm reading for myself (I tend to switch languages within sentences a lot, whatever comes to my mind first). I think it adds to the flow of the reading if question and answer (the reading) are in the same language.

But by all means, do what you feel comfortable with. I'm comfortable in both German and English so there's no difference to me. But if you're more comfortable and more able to interpret the reading in English then tell your friends about it. Let them state the question in their mother tongue and translate it mentally while you shuffle (or while they shuffle). It would be best, if they have a basic understanding of the English language as well so you could perform the reading in English and only translate those parts they don't understand into their mother tongue.

Best wishes, Astraea Aurora

So long as you understand what you're asking, the language doesn't matter.

As long as you have a question in your mind before shuffling, it doesn't matter whether it's English, Greek or any language. The intention is the critical determining factor.

I know what you mean,PuppyDung. Even names of the cards sound weird to me in my mother tongue. This is because I learnt most about Tarot in English. I bought my first 2 Tarot decks in England. But I think the language is not important. When you read Tarot,you read with your intuition or any other psychic skills you've got Just do what feels most comfortable for you and your querents. Good luck

I don't think it matters at all, often I don't even formulate the 'question' into words at all, and instead keep the abstract 'feel' of the issue in mind when shuffling, drawing and dealing the cards.

I entered the thread saying "Huh... that's funny... Why would ANYONE ask a question in another language other than their mother language? That's so stupid...".
I'm argentinian, and i've just discovered i think in english !!!

-Crap, this is new XD!-

John

(My name is JUAN by the way XD XD XD)

Psy said:

I'm argentinian, and i've just discovered i think in english !!!

Click to expand...

<laughter>

It'd be interesting to find out what language you do numbers in, and what language you dream in - bilingual people I know dream in the language of the setting of the dream.

Back to the original question: if someone thinks they "ought" to ask Tqarot questions in English because that;s the lan guage of Tarot, reflect for a moment on the dominance of the Marseilles (French) decks for a couple of centuries, and the Italian decks before, during and after that period. The earliest surviving Tarot decks are Italian, originating in Milan. I'm busy enough - I'll be d*mned if I'm going to grab an English-Italian dictionary and translate Tarot questions from fluid English into bad, broken Italian! I'm sure my Tarot decks, including the Italian ones, would be horrified.

I believe that the cards listens to your native toung, the language you feel and connect to more. In my case, Spanish, I do readings in Spanish, My cards understand me well enough when I ask them a question and in return the cards understand and answer my questions to the point where if it was someone siting next to me speakings to me. As in french its comprehensible. And were in english not as much as Spanish nor French, but Comme Ci, Comme Ça.

Call me crazy, but that is my expirience.