I was reading a text in English the other day and I suddenly realised that I understood everything I was reading but there was no French words in my head. It's like I have some kinds of images in my head that allow me to understand what I read/see/hear but I do not have the French equivalent of the English words. I do not really need a dictionary or a translator because I understand the general meaning of the words and what the author is trying to convey so that does not stop me in my reading. This is why I am terrible at translation. I know the words in both languages but it's like I do not have the thread to link the words together. I've comparmentalised the two languages in two different boxes and never mixed them together so they don't really interact with one another. It's weird. How did that happen?