How to Stop Translating in Your Head and Start Thinking in English Like a Native
It's your favorite American English teacher Gabby here with a Go Natural English lesson to help you
Translating everything from English into your native language in
your head in your mind and your brain in your noggin and
thinking only in English it is
Possible believe me no matter what level you're at right now
It's possible to think in English
And I'm gonna show you how I'm gonna give you 9
Tips that will help you on your journey to thinking just like a native English speaker
So if this is interesting to you, then keep watching
So first of all, what's the problem with translating everything
Into your native language before you come up with a response in English. Well if you're in a
Conversation or some situation where you need to really process information quickly and be able to
Then you really don't have time to translate
Even if you're super smart which I know you are and you're really good at English. Which I know you are it still takes time
to process all the information you're getting in English into your native language and then
Think in your native language, okay, what am I gonna say how am I gonna respond and then translate that
Back into English it's a lot of work for your brain to do and no matter how
Awesomely intelligent you are it's gonna take too long in a native speed kind of fast back and forth conversation
so if you are in a social situation if you're in a meeting at work if you are at a
Presentation and you want to ask questions
You really need to be able to think in English
So the problem started with the way that we learn
Foreign languages this happened to me when I was learning Spanish in the classroom
How did we learn we learn through translating with Spanish
I learned that one is Uno and two is dos and
So on so of course it's easy, and it makes sense to begin this way because we know
vocabulary in our native language
but it actually is hurting us once we get into
Conversational English or in my case conversational Spanish, so when I left the classroom
When I left my English sorry my Spanish classroom
And I tried to have a conversation with native Spanish speakers
I was like in total shock my jaw hit the ground because I
Couldn't understand anything and I definitely couldn't respond because I was trying to just
Identify a few words that I could recognize that I could hear that I could listen to that I could comprehend and then
Translate those into English and then think in English to translate back into Spanish
And I was a wreck so I don't want that to happen to you
Maybe you know how that feels already let me give you some suggestions to get you started
Understanding everything in English and being able to respond in English is like a big meal. That's a lot of vocabulary or a lot of
food to digest right so let's start by taking small bites and
digest thoroughly so start by doing small daily activities in
Every day, I take my dog for a walk or sometimes we go for a run so sometimes
I talk to him usually in English, but sometimes just to really confuse him
I talked to him in Spanish and instead of saying come let's go
I'll say ven, vamonos right so you could do this in English
Maybe if you have a pet or if you don't have a pet there's other ways, too
I bet you have a phone if you have a smart phone you could set that in
English so that every time you open up your phone there's English vocabulary
For you to work with this is an example of an everyday
Activity probably multiple times a day you're looking at your phone that you could do in English
And maybe there's other things that you can think of too
So what are some other suggestions of small daily activities that you could do in English?
Comment let me know what you think
Okay, next listen to more English this doesn't even have to take up more of your time
You can give yourself an immersive experience in
English no matter where you are
Open up your laptop or your smartphone and download
Some podcasts in English or listen to internet radio or put on a video on YouTube or on
Netflix in English and play it in the background while you're doing other work that doesn't require intense
focus I love doing this when I'm just doing housework or like organizing stuff around my
room or my office or whatever I will listen to music and other languages because I love learning the lyrics to songs in
Spanish or in Portuguese or in other languages that I want to learn so most recently I was
Listening in Spanish to the song called Lloraras
Which is a famous salsa song I highly recommend it if you'd like to get into Salsa
But anyway, let me continue with tips for thinking in English
Planning what native English speakers are going to say in that next
Conversation or in that presentation or whatever situation that you're going to be in in
English so when you predict based on your life experience what you think people are going to say
You will be more prepared and more confident
You're preparing your brain to receive that information
And you'd be surprised probably like eight out of ten times
You're going to be correct now. Don't get too attached
To your prediction because of course other people don't know that script that's going on in your head
So be prepared for something different to come out of people's mouths but just by exploring the different options or your
Prediction or guess of what you think will happen you're gonna feel way more
Confident, and you're gonna be able to process that information
Faster and to think in English yourself because you're already thinking when you predict what's going to happen in a conversation
four stop learning exclusively through translation
Especially once you're out of your beginner English class we have to learn through association through
Experience through observing watching listening through touching through your life experience you have to
Associate the word with the meaning and not the English word with your native language word
Okay, words are just where they're just letters, okay?
The real true meaning is what you understand and then you can attach that to the word okay?
livro in in Spanish or Portuguese
It's a thing with pieces of paper and writing that I can read and learn from so I hope this is making sense
But you have to stop learning exclusively through
next very closely related number five is to stop using a bilingual dictionary the best use of your
bilingual dictionary where there's English and then your native language is actually as like a
Coaster where you put your coffee cup on
On top of your table, so it doesn't leave a circle on your table
That's the best use for it because if you continue to use this bilingual dictionary to learn vocabulary
In English you're always going to be practicing
translation so just use that thing as a coaster or whatever and use a
monolingual dictionary instead monolingual means one language so English to English and you're going to
exponentially expand your English language
next number six label objects in your environment in
English you can just do this in your head
It's super simple super fast and easy doesn't cost anything or you could actually write the words on paper and tape
Those labels right to the objects or use sticky notes or something and for example if I see a book and I'm learning Spanish
Then I would write on my sticky note libro
And I think I said Livro before, but that's actually portuguese I get confused between Spanish and portuguese
I will tell you honestly it is not always easy to learn both at the same time so anyway
Libro is booked if I'm learning Spanish
Maybe livro if I'm learning Portuguese hey if I'm learning Arabic
It's kitab you can help me with my pronunciation in the comments, but put a label on everyday objects
This is really especially helpful for beginners intermediate
Level English learners, but it can be fun to do just to remind yourself to think in English at any
English when you talk to yourself out loud
It does so many good things for you
Not only are you going to practice your pronunciation your speaking your vocabulary your fluency
But you are developing that thinking and English skill
so what kind of things should you say when you're talking to yourself out loud in English and
When should you do this well first of all I would suggest doing this perhaps in the privacy of your own home
Maybe not around your co-workers or people that might think you've gone crazy
Well, you could ask yourself questions for example right now
I'm thinking what am I going to eat for lunch today?
So if I am trying to improve my Portuguese I might think to myself and say out loud
"O que vou comer hoje no almorco?"
Yeah, think that's right. If it's not you can tell me in the comments
but it's okay if you make a mistake talking out loud to yourself if your grammars not perfect if your
it's okay because the point is not to be perfect the point is for you to develop that habit of
Thinking and speaking the language so it's totally okay
Just make a mental note of what you're not sure about if you are not sure if you're supposed to use
like the article the or whatever it is you're not sure about and then you could ask someone just like I asked you in the
Comments, you could ask your native speaker friend your teacher or do some research online
Another way, I really love to talk to myself out loud in languages
I'm learning is to sing a song so I mentioned earlier that I was
Listening to a song called Lloraras, which means you will cry
it's kind of a sad song actually, but I love to actually sing that song when I'm
Just you know doing house chores or walking my dog
I'll just be like yeah se que tu no quieres que yo a ti te quiera
So I'm not a great singer so I'm gonna stop but just to give you an example
That is what I love doing and I might even mix in some Salsa dance moves. Well, I'm singing
eight just start thinking in English with a
Mantra or a motto or some phrase that just gets you started like on
Automatically so my phrase might be I am improving my English
And I would say that in English out loud to myself or just think it okay if I'm learning Portuguese
Bom dia, a cada dia estou melhorando meu portugues.
Emotion is really important really really important even if I look crazy
It doesn't matter it does help you and it lifts your spirits, and it gives you energy
to improve your language skills
Our last tip to help you think in English is to just do a little bit each day
So don't force yourself to think in English all day every day from the get-go or from the beginning just start with
30 seconds, I'm sure that you can think in English for 30 seconds. You could set an alarm
Maybe every day at 9 a.m.. You're going to think in English for 30 seconds
So you know on your phone put an alarm for 9 a.m.
And you can title it think in English
And then set your timer for 30 seconds and just think in English no matter
You can just say hello to yourself over and over and over for 30 seconds. If that's the best you can do
I know you can do better. I know
But it's just an example that it doesn't matter how complicated your English is when you train to think in English
Start and that you are consistent. So do a little bit every day
And you're going to be thinking in English all day long in no time if you loved these
Let me know in the comments share this video with
Your friends who are learning English or maybe your friends who are learning other languages because these tips totally apply to any language you are learning
Thank you so much for watching be sure to subscribe to Go Natural English here on YouTube visit the website at
Thank you mwah. Love you guys. I'll see you again soon. Bye for now
