What Our Dreams Tell Us

Look at this painting. Can you guess who painted it?

In what way is this painting connected to dreams?

What is a dream?

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• money
• school
• work
• family
• friends
• being chased
• falling
• being naked
• flying
• being late for an important event
• failing an exam
• natural disasters
• 
  

Which of these things are pleasant to dream about?

Which are nightmares?

Which can be both?

Do you remember your dreams?

Have you ever shared a dream with your friends?

Watch and say what these people dream about.

Do you remember your dreams?

What do you dream about?

• “I usually don’t remember my dreams.”
• “I’m in, you know, those old exam halls, can’t find the room, can’t find my seat in the exam room, don’t know which exam I’m going to, then realise I’m naked. I think it sort of stops at that point really, when I realise that all is lost.”
• “I always have dreams about tornados. They’re usually a big storm and I have to try and run away from them, which is weird because I’ve never been in one and I’m not really scared of them, but I always dream about them.”

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Similar or different?

Look at the couples of words and decide if they are similar or different in meaning.

remember - forget

feelings - thoughts

symbol - message

awake - busy

random - organised

recycled - new

Do you think our dreams try to tell us something? Read the text and find out what it says about it.

What are your dreams trying to tell you?

Can you remember a time when you woke up from a fantastic or strange dream? Maybe you were afraid and turned on the light or the dream was so good you wanted to sleep longer. But do you think your dreams are telling you something?

Can you see the future in dreams?

For hundreds of years, people thought dreams were messages from gods or spirits. Today, too, many people can remember a time when they saw a place or person in their dream and then, later, the dream happened in real life. Maybe that’s not surprising because we dream a lot but we probably only remember the times when something happens in a dream and then happens for real. Most people have four to six dreams every night after the age of ten. That’s as many as 2,000 dreams per year. So, an 80-year-old person has probably had 140,000 dreams. Maybe we forget 95–99 per cent of our dreams, but that’s still thousands of dreams that might ‘come true’.

Are dreams recycled thoughts?

Around the 18th and 19th centuries, there were two popular ideas about dreams. One said that the things we see in our dreams are things we keep in our subconscious because we don’t want or need to think about them when we’re awake. The opposite idea said that while we’re sleeping, the brain organises memories and thoughts from the day. Dreams are just random thoughts from our day but we try to make a story from them when we wake up.

Are dreams messages from our brains?

But perhaps both ideas are a little bit right. Maybe dreams are made from the thoughts we have during the day, but we see them as symbols. For example, a dream of flying might be a symbol for an exciting new job. When we’re awake, we think in words most of the time. But when we’re sleeping, the part of our brain that helps us with language sleeps, and the part that makes us happy or sad or angry is awake and busy. So, maybe our thoughts come to us in dreams as feelings and symbols instead of words. If you can understand these symbols, you have a window into your subconscious. If you want to understand the messages, you have to match them to what’s happening in your life.

How can you understand the messages?

One way to help you do this is to keep a dream diary. As soon as you wake up, write down everything you remember about your dreams. Use pen and paper, not your phone or computer because the light might wake you up and you’ll forget faster. Sometimes your eyes will be half-closed and your writing will be difficult to read.

Now you can match your dreams to your daily life. Think about the people and place where the dream happened, as they might mean something too. Also, how you were feeling in the dream is important. If you were afraid instead of happy in the flying dream, maybe it means you are worried about the new job. Are you ready to find out what your subconscious is trying to tell you?

Nicola Prentis

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True or False?

1. We don’t know for sure if dreams mean something or not.
2. We forget more dreams than we remember.
3. Most people have about 10 dreams every night after the age of ten.
4. Dreams speak to us in words and pictures.
5. When we're asleep, the language part of our brain goes silent.
6. It’s a good idea to use a computer to write your dream diary.
7. Dreams can be a key to your subconscious.

1. What did people think for hundreds of years about dreams?
2. What does flying in your dream mean?
3. Are dreams stories that our mind tells us?
4. How many different ideas about dreams were there in the 18th and 19th centuries?
5. How are dreams related to our daily lives?
6. What do you need to do if you want to understand your dreams?

Find examples of:

irregular verbs in Past simple

regular verbs in Past simple

a passive form

1. Do you think keeping a dream diary can help you in some way?
2. Which idea about the meaning of dreams do you find the most plausible?
3. Do you believe dreams have a meaning?

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Listen and fill in the missing prepositions:

The River of Dreams

... the middle of the night

I go walking ... my sleep

... the mountains of faith

... the river so deep

I must be looking ... something

Something sacred I lost

But the river is wide

And it's too hard to cross

Even though I know the river is wide

I walk ... every evening and I stand ... the shore

I try to cross ... the opposite side

So I can finally find ... what I've been looking for

... the middle of the night

I go walking ... my sleep

... the valley of fear

... a river so deep

I've been searching for something

Taken ... of my soul

Something I'd never lose

Something somebody stole

I don't know why I go walking ... night

But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore

I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life

... I find what it is that I've been looking for

... the middle of the night

I go walking ... my sleep

... the jungle of doubt

... a river so deep

I know I'm searching for something

Something so undefined

That it can only be seen

... the eyes of the blind

... the middle of the night

I'm not sure about a life after this

God knows I've never been a spiritual man

Baptized by the fire, I wade ... the river

That runs to the promised land

... the middle of the night

I go walking in my sleep

... the desert of truth

... the river so deep

We all end in the ocean

We all start in the streams

We're all carried ...

By the river of dreams

1. What does the singer do every night?
2. What places does he see every night?
3. Does the singer know why he walks?
4. What emotions does he feel?
5. Does he feel that it's important to cross the river? Justify it.

💭💭💭Match the verbs on the left to the meanings on the right:

look for	discover something, especially truth
find out	go or flow (about rivers)
run	walk with effort through water
wade	try to find

Where does the Volga river run to?

Have you ever waded in the water?

Have you ever looked for your keys?

How would you react if you found out you won a lottery?