Language is just a means for someone to communicate what they're thinking orally. If you're talking about your cat, you're likely at least vaguely thinking of it, and memories of an orange cat and how much you care for it go beyond language. Someone thinking in a language I'm not already familiar with is really just a temporary sort of muddiness to my understanding, but it's very easy to catch on.

[He's learned a lot of languages this way. :v]