Hey everyone, welcome to the English Fluency Journey podcast.
These episodes were created based on our videos on YouTube for those who'd rather listen than watch.
So happy listening. Hope you enjoy our content. so today's topic that we're going to talk about i think can be related to almost every English learner and that's why I think it's so important for this question to be addressed.
How to think in English? How do we learn to think in English?
How can we shift from translating in our heads to thinking in English?
I'm going to be talking from my experience and from my perspective.
First of all, let's talk about why is it so important to think in English.
The main reason for me is that we usually can't literally translate words or sentences from our native language to English because oftentimes it doesn't make sense in context.
And a word that we use to say something in our native language isn't used the same way in English.
You've probably heard this a thousand times when native speakers say this is not how we say this, we don't use this word like that, doesn't make any sense or what do you mean?
They truly don't understand what we're trying to say. because it's confusing to them when we use wrong words.
Another reason is that it takes too much time when you're speaking to someone and you're translating in your head from your native language to English and the person you're talking to may not be that patient or may not have that much time to wait for you to figure out what to say.
Also, when you're translating, it's very hard keeping up with conversation because while you're translating and trying to make sense of it, a person keeps talking and you can simply lose track of the conversation.
Not to mention the fact that when you're nervous you can simply forget everything and the lack of vocabulary affects your communication but forgetfulness i think is a totally normal thing and you can just simply explain something in other words and continue talking.
One more thing, if you need to translate a word or find an equivalent to an idiom in your native language because after reading the meaning, it's still kind of blurry, Do it.
It doesn't mean that translation is something terrible.
In fact, if you want to be a translator or an interpreter, It's an absolute must-have skill.
You need to train yourself to translate.
Be patient, take your time with this, just as with everything else.
Don't rush your progress, you just simply can't start thinking in English overnight.
Now, let's start from the beginning, because I really believe that from the very beginning of your language learning journey, it is very beneficial to have this holistic approach. meaning that when you're starting learning a language, you have to work on your pronunciation and accent, listening, speaking skills, as well as grammar right away.
But since we're talking how to learn to think in English in particular, I suggest you begin with of passive listening if you're a beginner.
What do I mean by passive listening? It's when you're watching or listening something in English a lot throughout the day. whenever you have time trying to understand but not really putting a lot of effort just getting used to hearing the language all the time, basically.
Then after a little while, you switch to active listening.
So now you're really working on understanding.
So whenever you come across a new word or idiom, you look it up.
Why do we start with listening? because your brain needs to get used to hearing English all the time and it will inevitably grasp some English.
I mean, things like word order, collocations, idioms, etc.
And the next time when you're speaking In English, your brain will give you some sort of a signal if something's off, if what you're saying doesn't sound right.
Listen to podcasts, audiobooks, watch YouTube videos, movies, all this in English.
Now, when you are at the active listening stage you can start applying the describing practice.
That's how I call it Describe your actions in English Everything that you're doing, have done recently, will do in the future, just say these actions like when you're reading a manual for doing everyday activities.
Then if you don't know or aren't sure how to describe something, take a minute to look it up.
Don't put it off. Do this at that exact moment when you need it, because otherwise you will forget about it.
That's a habit training. And you're not going to have to do this all the time.
The more you do this, the more you will learn, the more you will know, and the less you You will need to do this over time.
Speaking your mind practice. That means whenever you want to say something, you have to say this in English.
If you're too shy to speak in English in front of someone or with someone, Again, do this when you're alone.
Talk to yourself. a bit different from the describing practice.
So when you describe, you just describe your actions.
And when you're speaking your mind, you actually talk about what you frankly think of something or someone or how you feel about things.
So let me give you an example. This sweater is so old and threadbare.
Why do I even still have this? I need to throw it away. or you know when we're watching something talk shows movies we like to comment on something that we you liked or didn't like, even when we're alone.
So do this. Whenever you're alone and watching something and you want to comment on it, comment on it in English.
If you commented on it in your native language and that happens automatically, then do this one more time in English.
Again, it's all a matter of practice and developing it as a habit of practice.
The more you do something, the better you get at it.
And everything that you do helps improve your English in general.
At the end, I would work on actually thinking in English, controlling your thinking process.
If you try it, you'll notice that it's a tough call to control your thoughts.
We're thinking constantly, subconsciously, thousands of thoughts fly across our minds.
So when you're just sitting and resting, you're still thinking about something. and you want to try to train to truly think in English, start focusing on thinking in English.
That's not gonna be easy. When you catch our first couple of thoughts, start thinking them again in English. then you're kind of controlling the process of thinking in English.
And the next thing you know, you're realizing, hold on, now I'm back to thinking in my own language and not in English. and you're going back to controlling again.
I think it's so hard with the actual thanking process, firstly, because you can't hear yourself.
So when you're speaking, can hear whether you're speaking in English or not.
And secondly, because for your brain it's absolutely natural and comfortable to use your native language. happens without your realizing it.
And it is hard enough to simply control your thoughts, not to mention to control them in another language.
But it's possible, it's that same training that takes time and effort. reading if you like to read then it's amazing read a lot on different topics and out loud or to yourself, it's that same input.
For me, reading is a very powerful tool.
I read out loud usually. So I train my pronunciation and the next time I see a word I know how to pronounce it because I looked it up.
Why did I look it up? because the way that words are spelled and the way that they are pronounced doesn't correspond in English like in 95% of the time.
You need to learn the pronunciation of a word when you learn a word.
And also when I read out loud, when I pronounce words and idioms new words and idioms, I memorize them better.
Now, to wrap it up, I wanna tell you, you have to train a lot and regularly.
Be consistent, in other words. You have to get comfortable with consuming and being exposed to language. then over time your brain will start using your target language in the thinking process and you'll notice that when you want to say something you want to say it in English.
Over time, it becomes effortless and self-conscious, so just keep going, keep working.
Okay guys, that's it for now. Thank you for choosing our podcast.
Until the next one.
