I just asked my ex-husband, who is fluent in a number of languages, since I thought of him when I read your question. He said as long as you understand the words you are speaking or writing, it doesn't matter which language that you use. I hope it works for you.

Consciousness has no language.

Only Thought does.

When you have to formulate an idea and you are thinking it into existence you associate a language to the process and create a "Thought Form"

The real energy foundation that is intertwined in this thought form is the energy of creation and consciousness is the interface or experience of interpreting that energy.

Each stage is slower than the other.

The spoken word is the slowest form of energy transfer because language and translation limits the transfer to only those who know the language.

If you think the same words without speaking it the energy is faster.

If you think the same "idea" without hearing your self speaking the words the energy is even faster.

Thoughts without words move much faster than thoughts that are words with sentences.

If you experience the idea as consciousness without unraveling it into individual thoughts the energy is even faster.

Pay attention to the moment when you get a sudden idea. In that moment the energy is pure and has not been restricted into a limited one dimensional transfer called thought > words > sentence.

You can see this problem for yourself when someone asks you to explain an idea that you have and you start speaking it in words and sentences; and on your first attempt to explain your idea, they don't get it.
So now you speak another sentence to clarify your idea further. But they still don't get the entire picture. Sometimes you have to draw diagrams and write many pages of words to transfer your idea to somebody else.

An idea within your consciousness has the greatest energy potential.

Unfortunately all of us who were educated in school have been psychologically castrated by the need to transfer all inspiration into thoughts and words in order to not only have our inspiration accepted by others, but also for us to examine the contents of our own consciousness.

We have gone through many generations of mankind forgetting how to grasp inspiration in its pure form.

It is now in our DNA that we only work within the spoken language and the thinking mind.

But the real work in energy and the real magic is still taking place in the dimension of inspiration.

When we speak words and think thoughts it is still in that other place that the real energy work is being carried out.

We have been trained (manipulated) to be many steps removed from that position of power.

So now we substitute words and sentences in specific languages to do energy work.

It is still energy work. But your ability to manipulate it is removed by many steps when it is filtered down into slower and slower forms of energy transfer.

It is roughly broken down (in this example) from inspiration to the written word where each stage is a lower form of energy

inspiration: Pure energy from source

consciousness: That which can be processed by the mind is used and everything else is dropped

comprehension of inspiration as consciousness: Much is lost as only what makes sense individually is retained

Thought: The transfer of what was understood into ideas that conform to universal acceptance and are comprehensible by others

Words: Forming of ideas into pre-determined energy signatures called words and sentences. Much more information is lost here again as only ideas that are accepted by the mainstream are chosen for broadcast

Sentences and the written word: More information is lost at this stage at the expense of grammatical correctness.

Now the whole purpose of putting this information down was to make the following point.

When you do affirmations as written words you are actually starting at the bottom rung of the energy ladder and working you way up.

Nothing wrong with this as it is a great mechanism that produces results.

What matters is that it works because you are working with energy.

The fact that you are using words from a particular language is irrelevant to the place where the energy work is taking place.

Over time you can let go of the need to use words or a particular language.

You can bypass the need to use words and language.

You can jump up the ladder to a vision in your mind with consciousness without associating words or language.

You will have to initially do it in meditation until it becomes habitual.

At the end of it you will realize that you already use this power of envisioning to attract your experience.

FEAR is exactly that!
APPREHENSION is exactly that!
ANGER is exactly that!
FRUSTRATION is exactly that!
HOPE is exactly that!
CONFIDENCE is exactly that!
JOY is exactly that!
INSPIRATION is exactly that!

It is the use of energy without associating words and thoughts to it.

We however lock into one of these energies and run a continuous dialog in consciousness, thoughts and words not realizing that in doing that we are in a constant mode of attraction of that which occupies our attention.

In other words

When we complain WE ARE USING THE POWER OF AFFIRMATIONS

When we are angry WE ARE USING THE POWER OF AFFIRMATIONS

When we are afraid and telling everyone and ourselves about it WE ARE USING THE POWER OF AFFIRMATIONS

When we are sad and again and again repeating the details of our sadness WE ARE USING THE POWER OF AFFIMATIONS

When we are happy within ourselves and happy for others WE ARE USING THE POWER OF AFFIRMATIONS

When we are inspired and think it, and talk about it WE ARE USING THE POWER OF AFFIRMATIONS

The language of choice is irrelevant.

IT IS WHAT'S IN YOUR MIND

You already know how to use the Power of affirmations as you have used it every day with every thought from you childhood until now.

I know this is an older question but I would like to contribute as well since I have been doing affirmations in English and German.

First of all, YES, they both work just fine. You only HAVE to HAVE the intention to make it work. Reciting a sentence without any powerful intention makes even the stronges affirmation just a stopgab and waste of energy.

When I do my affirmations in English I say the affirmation aloud but also visualize the action I intend to achieve. My third eye starts kicking in, and it is observable when an affirmation works.

I haven´t read a German book for 17 years and I must admit that despite the fact that I am living in Germany, it is now a bit trickier to translate even my own stuff into German since I usually write everything in English (LOL). It`s not always basic English just like this answer.

So, yes, you have to understand the nuances, the subtleties of the language and the meanings of the words just like you do in your mother tongue.

I hope this helped to whoever seeks the answer.

Good luck on your journey.

and once agian my source speaks of this as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O077VLdp4SE#t=37m25s

love n light "

rob

Hello everyone! Thank you for bringing this up. I'm from Russia and english is my second language. I've just started my inward journey, after years and years of not paying attention to what is really matter for me. I meditate, i use affirmations, thinking good thoughts. Most of the sources i use for my inspiration are in english, and because I'm so in love with english, it is natural for me to even speak to myself in english. And I noticed that with affirmations i sometime try to translate my thoughts to russian in order for them to work. And it is very distracting and kind of steal the moment of inspiration. I'm happy to hear that language is not that important. Thanx for your answers!

it would be the clarity and intensity of the thoght form
that solidifies the goal to guide your will.
should one fully comprehend what it is that is desired
the language of thought ought not be an obstacle