I knew a woman once who was born deaf. My job was to help her get a job. Naively, I assumed we could just communicate by writing on a piece of paper.

This ended up being a very frustrating experience for both of us. Her first language was signing and she had not had very much experience with written words.

It took me a long time to realize that she thought in sign language. I don't sign but I imagine it shapes your thoughts differently than verbal or written English.

Humans don't need language to think, but it strongly shapes how we think when we use it. I don't know if LLMs can think without language...it is the only "thought" they have.