How Do We Get to Thinking in Another Language?
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- When do we start speaking naturally in another language without translating from our own language? I think this is a gradual process. I discuss this topic with Robin MacPherson, another enthusiastic online polyglot. You can find him here:
/ thelifeofrob
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When I learned French 38 years ago as a young missionary I found that there were two main things that helped me begin thinking in French. Well, actually what I noticed was that I got to the stage where I would be thinking a thought and then I would pause and not be able to recognize which language I was thinking in. That's when your foreign language really becomes a part of you, when it's not so obvious to you what language you were thinking in. But the two things that got me there the most were; a nearly total immersion environment, and having to speak about things that mattered to me in a deeply personal way. The very first technique that I was taught on that last point was to begin saying my personal prayers in French. I had a lot on my mind and in my heart at that time and I did my very best to express it to God in the language I was learning. Of course I got stuck many times and after realizing that I didn't know how to say what I wanted to in French, and trying to come up with alternate methods of expressing myself, I would just say the necessary words in English, but then as soon as I got off my knees I would get my dictionary and figure out how to say it the next time. This will only work for an individual who really cares about pouring out their heart to God in prayer. My point is that you need to find something, whatever it is, that really, really matters to you, and get forced into having to both comprehend and speak about it in situations that deeply matter to you. I could see this work in business or school or many other areas. But the point is that you have to want it badly. For me, nine months after I first started learning French was the first time that a European told me that they thought I was native French speaking Swiss. That's because I became truly fluent in French in Luxembourg and was picking up a Germanic accent from the locals. Maybe almost a year later somebody else told me the same thing. I can't remember if that was in France or in Belgium, but it was a local francophone.
“Talking to yourself” , that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for years and it’s really powerful 🥳
友だち1人もありませんか？
사이 Have you watched the video? 1:10 I am talking about the learning method .
how many languages have you learned?
@@AnnieWayTrilingirl That guy's a troll. just ignore him. If we learn a language by ourselves, our friends are probably not around, and if we're learning a language and nobody we know speaks it, we can just practice talking out loud (when nobody's around), that's what I do, almost pretending to have a conversation. If I happen to meet a native speaker for the first time, at least I'm not pausing every minute searching for words. It makes sense that to speak well, you need to speak a lot. But if we don't yet know someone who speaks our target language, what else can we do to practice, right?
@@michaelrespicio5683 Make friends, incel
I learn whole sentences saying them aloud. 5 days - 300 repetitions per day at least. Later I don't need to translate. I know the meaning of words straight away like in my native language. And also I remember the meaning longer than by learning separate words. This method is called: chunking. It was a real game changer in my learning process and communication skills in English and other languages.😊
Interesting point made by Robin when he says that when you get to a certain level and a native speaker corrects you, you tend to remember this instantly. It's like that you have 99% of the everyday vocabulary you need, so that 1% is easily absorbed quickly. However, if you were working in a technical or academic environment, for example, or if you were studying in a poetry class in the native language, then that 99% might drop down to say 75%.
Yeah, I think that now I know like 99.99% of English words I encounter and quite often the missing 0.01% really sticks out and it is so much easier to remember even (or maybe because) it is very unusual word. For example, this word of the week is Shibboleth:) I am pretty sure I have not seen it before, and I wonder if I will see it in the next year. It will probably fade out of my active memory in the next week but I am fairly confident it will stay in my passive memory for a very long time now I have looked it up on wiki:) Though if I knew only 99% or even less, I would pretty much instantly ignore such obscure word, but now I cherish it as I hardly encounter a really new and interesting word:)
great video Steve! it's incredible how many people Steve has inspired to start new channels, including myself :) thanks Steve
@@NetAndyCz Wow! Sibboleth. That's a new word for me.
@@AndyJugglesLanguages Well, it was for me too, until recently:)
@Zachary Menking haha thanks for the reminder, I can confirm I have not seen the word in a year and forgot what it means and had to look it up again:p
If you listen enough to a language, it will echo in your head. To think in a language you just need enough personally interesting input.
totally!
André Sanchez That’s been my experience when listening to the Bible in Spanish on the YouVersion app! After repeated listening, I can totally hear the narrator’s voice in my head when I read without the audio or think back to what was said! 😂🤓
CONSISTENT PRACTICE + TIME = HABITUATION. Point is, it will take a few months for you to start thinking in that language. You just have to GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE
Can you please be my friend..
@@amiririm2649 I'll be your friend bud
Hey @LanguageGirl Love your channel too😉
I am from Scandinavia, although I know another language, my English pronunciation is perfect. When I talk to people online I talk in an American accent and people often think that I am American. One of the things, I think might have helped with this, is that I ofcourse put effort in the start to try to pronounce things correctly until it became natural (because I don't like accents). But another thing I did since I was a teenager, was that I switched the language that I was thinking in to English, and I don't know if that is the reason why I don't have an accent, but if I am to try to learn another language fluently (I really want to learn Spanish) I think I am going to do this again.
Everyone has an accent. The American one is different from other English-speaking countries except for Canada. Americans also have regional accents. That or using certain words will reveal to local native listeners that the person is from a different area. Spanish is similar.
Spanish and English have a lot of cognates which are spelled pretty similar or the same with a different pronunciation. It's fairly easy to learn if you know English well. The hard part is developing listening skills. Native Spanish speakers speak Spanish about 50% faster than Native English speakers speak English. To do this they drop syllables and slur words all over the place. You may want to start by listening to people who enunciate distinctly. After mastering this then branch into how everyone else talks.
You can pronunce "th" sound?
you most likely will have a slight accent tbh
I grew up in Milwaukee, lived in Mississippi, and later moved to Seattle. My English pronunciation is "not perfect", as my native PNW people will point out. I guess the point is...it really is different based on where you live.
"You can't rely on people correcting your mistakes."
So.... An American accent is a "perfect" accent?🤡
I think that the best way to getting started to think in a new language is trough podcasts and movies as well. Our brain is like a spoon that can include all the words that it hears during day-time. Me, as native Italian speaker, i had to be studying for 4 years in order to start thinking in English. And now i can say to be really happy with my accomplishments.
been doing things like this, and i can say ive been starting to hear random sentences and phrases in spanish frequently :D
Our brain is like a spoon?😅
@@Kitiwakea spoon, you heard him!
I believe more more on Steve's stance on waiting to start speaking. It seems there's lots of pressure out there to speak fluently and fast. To each their own but I can see now how enjoyable it's to be able to understand a podcast created for native speakers that has more than 1 person talking. The more the merrier 😁
What helps me the most is watching dialogue heavy TV shows. Or listening to people talking. That somehow flips a switch in my brain and it starts to think in that language. Though I find it extremely helpful to build a large passive vocabulary from reading first.
PS: I did really hurt my English pronunciation by reading dozens of books without knowing how to pronounce some words. I am really good at writing them, but pronouncing them is really tricky for me still. The more common ones I know how to pronounce correctly as I was corrected by others or heard them. Might hurt my performance in tests, but it does not impede my interaction with natives.
NetAndyCz so it’s not really the case that reading “hurt” your pronunciation, right? Reading provided you with the vocabulary and practice through speaking improved your pronunciation. But you might not even have learned a lot of these words - at least not early on in your English learning process - if you hadn’t encountered them while reading.
@@loganjukes8820 Ahh, the songs do not work that well for me (though I know they work well for others), but I like audio-books...
I also started to listen to native news radio whenever I cannot study properly or do much else. Just to pick up on pronunciation and get familiar with it.
That being said if I like some song I tend to listen to it as well:)
@@loganjukes8820 Language is music. When we learn a language we are learning a symphony of super complexity. I listen to Annenmaykantareit in German and German rap.
@@loganjukes8820 Chris Ares
What does it mean to think in a language? I don’t think in any language. I’ve been studying Portuguese for over 8 years now and I still can’t read or converse and I have to translate everything into English.
Yes I think talking out loud in another language has helped me retain the words spoken with pronunciation.
Also making recordings of sentences and playing them back is very useful as well.
أحب مشاهدة قناتك أستاذ كوفمان! أعتقد أن أفضل طريقة لتعلم لغة معينة هي تعريض نفسك لأكبر قدر ممكن من المحتوى المقدم بتلك اللغة. تعلمت الانجليزية "بالصدفة" لأنني كنت أشاهد على التلفاز مسلسلات مترجمة وأنا صغير، ويوما ما صادفت فيلم غير مترجم ووجدت نفسي أفهم تقريبا كل ما يقال!
You don't think in ANY language. You think in concepts and communicate those concepts through language.
That’s what thinking in a language means.
@@Lerppunenthat’s not what everyone I’ve talked with say. They say they have an internal voice. I don’t have one which is why I’m watching this video.
Dont you have that little voice in your head? Yes most of our thinking happens subconsciously without words, but 100% of the thinking we do consciously is in a language
For example youre planning out your day. "Today i need to go to the shops, then go to work, then the gym, then im going home"
You can think that through in english, spanish, whatever language.
Even writing out this comment, the voice in my head was sounding the entire time as i thought of what to say
Wow love the video and sound quality, also a great informative conversation
I personally don’t think in my target language I’m a native English speaker who learned Spanish through speaking and I don’t need to think about what I am going to say in Spanish or translate in my head I just say it. Same thing in Portuguese I’m currently a B1 and I don’t think in Portuguese I just say the words I know
I’ve been studying Portuguese for over 8.5 years now and I’ve visited Brazil 18 times but I still can’t read or converse. I have to translate everything into English to understand. I’ve been practicing every day with my girlfriend for over 5.5 years now but I still can’t understand her. She only speaks Portuguese. It’s very frustrating. I don’t understand how people can learn a second language because the words just don’t mean anything to me yet. I don’t think in any language. I think in ideas and images like I’m watching a movie. Maybe that’s a clue.
Another great video. I gobbled these up as quickly as I can.
yes! it's incredible how many people Steve has inspired to start new channels, including myself :) thanks Steve
LanguageGirl seriously. He’s a huge reason I started mine. He preaches comprehensible input. Actually, I should say, it’s the reason i started a podcast. 😀
@@AmericanEnglishBrent uu cool. Is your podcast about learning a specific language or just tips to learn languages in general?
LanguageGirl It’s basically like Steve recommends. Slow, comprehensible content in English. No grammar. Mostly about American customs. Stuff like that.
I am one of those people that took French in middle and high school for 5 years and don’t know much French. I took two semesters of Spanish in college and it never quite got off the ground. I am currently over the last 30 days learning Spanish on my own. I definitely know more Spanish in 30 days than I did from two semesters of it. One of the challenges I am facing is wanting to learn to think in my target language from the outset. The Fluent Forever premise is Flashcards with pics and sound. That’s great, but no matter them being in the target language with pic; I still think in my native language. So, it makes me wonder if anyone can get to that point of thinking in the target language when you’re at the beginner level. I just can’t see it from my limited experience. It just seems it comes a bit later once you’re finally getting comfortable in the language and with lots of comprehensible input first. Hope that makes sense.
is all about intrinsic motivation and consistent practice
good luck with your practice!
Try eliminating English and only use your target language even if it's just for an hour or two each day. Pick a subject or activity that you enjoy and know well. Read, watch, listen, or whatever in the new language. If you find words you don't know, write them down to look up later. We think in terms of concepts, sentences, and phrases rather than individual words.
Tom M thank you for the advice. I will definitely give that a go. I am sure that if I practiced that everyday; it would do wonders for forcing me to think in my target language if my native language is off limits.
Lately, I try to catch myself when I’m thinking in English and “re-think” in Spanish. For example, if I catch myself thinking the word “cat”, I go back and picture a cat in my mind and call it “gato”. When I do that, I’m focusing on the picture of the cat and intentionally removing the English. I know it probably won’t work for every situation but it seems to help me.
For german use all the w fragen words it unlocks grammer and gets you mind moving in both aspects of conversation ? Answer and tense
Everyone has his own way that suits his ability and circumstances.
Didn’t Steven Krashen say that the research says talking to yourself has no benefit and only comprehensible input works?
I can’t comprehend anything yet so I have to translate everything into English to understand. I’ve been studying Portuguese for over 8.5 years now and I’ve visited Brazil 18 times but I still can’t converse or read. I practice every day with my girlfriend who only speaks Portuguese and we’ve been practicing for over 5.5 years now but I still can’t understand her. I have classes, read books, use apps and watch movies and RUclips videos.
Monolingual dictionaries
I want to be a polyglot. This is my goal in life.
Me to man, i study English and Spanish, but after I will study more languages
Are you not afraid that AI will be so powerful that everybody will become electronic polyglots? And then you will realise that you've lost many years by studying something totally not useful?
@@denysantos9012 I wish you to become a polyglot
@@quandmeme9970 look at this in other way - when this time comes it would be even cooler to be able to speak directly in a certain language. imagine talking with your friends or family through your smartphone - it's totally different experience. it's more like a chat, it's not a real conversation anymore. it's a huge barrier between you and people you talk with. you'll never achieve the same point of connection with any translator since there translation process anyway.
about wasted time. it's only wasted if you don't enjoy the process, if you take it like a task you don't want to do. If language learning process is your hobby, your point of interest you'll never ever think that your time was wasted. it was well spent anyway.
p.s.: i'm new to English then sorry if there's something unclear or any mistakes takes place.
p.p.s.: "lost many years by studying something totally not useful" - it's called school, u know ;D college/uni included
I'm not talking about smartphones, but chip in the brain or something similar.
Where is this guy from? I know Steve says he is located in San Francisco but his accent in English sounds like a weird hybrid of American and British.
He is Canadian.
His RUclips channel (about) says he is from UK
It says Canada in About
I meant Robin, not Steve
@@olegabbatini7015 About
Hi -
My name is Robin and i'm from the UK. I've
spent the past decade becoming fluent in 8
languages. I am an accredited author, speaker,
interpreter, and private instructor.
I understand the struggles of learning a new
language. It can be scary not knowing where
to begin, frustrating trying to meet people
to practice with, finding time in our busy
lives to study, and retaining what seems like
an insurmountable amount of vocabulary.
Sometimes we can't help but feel anxious that
we're not learning fast enough or worse yet,
believe that we're just "not good" at learning
languages
Muy buenos tips
It's funny hearing you guys saying this. Early on I felt it made more sense thinking in a language was the real secret to complete immersion, when in fact both thinking in it (the inner voice) and speaking it seems to be the two least effective methods for me. I've found in actual practice it's about learning how to listen, listening, and then following up with reading and listening again.
I can listen to two different speakers. One I will connect with almost immediately. The second, I will struggle with terribly to the point I cannot understand half the words spoken, while listening @ 50% of the recorded speed of the person's normal conversation.
It's perplexing, but it's what has been working for me and it's how we first learn to speak as a child, well before we can read or write or even think in a language. In fact, reading teaches spelling, but that can be a hindrance as well, since pronunciations, accents, stresses and omissions to sounding out certain vowels and consonants between two languages can vary markedly. But hey, it's also what I'm very good at, stating the obvious.
When we look at french movies I often repeat loudly what they say to train but my wife and son get nuts unfortunately.
it's okay. they will get used to it. Sometimes I speak in French to my parents. Instead of getting mad, they just try to decipher what I am saying. It's a fun game
I also talk to Google translate. I may not always get the answers I want but I aleays ger one ;)
It is not possible to think in the target language, at least not for beginners.
Beginners need to think first in their native language and then translate word for word into the target language. That is because beginners have no other choice.
Beginners will first learn individual, isolated words. Eventually they will learn sentences and expressions, but that happens much later.
So beginners have no other choice other than direct or literal translation.
To ask beginners to think directly in the target language is unreasonable.
It can happen, and faster than you think.
One approach is to use Monolingual dictionaries.
Preferably for beginners like the Longman dictionary for learners of English.
If try to you learn a language throughout translation, you will remain translating in your head. And you will FAIL at ever becoming advanced.
J'aime cette vidéo
Great guy 😊
Hold your mobile phone to your ear and no one will know you are talking to yourself.
power move
At what point in this video did the two of you teach us how to think in another language?
Indeed.
And the answer is ...
Monolingual dictionaries.
Preferably
For beginners like the Longman dictionary for learners of English.
If try to you learn a language throughout translation, you will remain translating in your head. And you will FAIL at ever becoming advanced.
What does it mean to “think” in a language? I don’t think in any language now. I think in ideas and images like I’m watching a movie. I’ve been studying Portuguese for over 8.5 years now but I still can’t read or converse. I’ve visited Brazil 18 times. I practice every day with my girlfriend who only speaks Portuguese and have for 5.5 years now but I still can’t understand her. Thanks
Why do we need to think in the target language?
Hey Steve!.
I like you videos and keep going!!
If i decide to contact a native tutor to improve my speaking, the best way îs to mix the topics that i want to talk about wiith the tutor's proposals?
Hmmm... “onnano-kata”.... nah.. one shouldn’t say that even with “- kata” affixed
Kono/Ano JYOSEI or
Kono/Ano JYOSEI- no kata... are correct!
(Ano/kono onna/otoko is definitely no-no...it sounds condescending ( “that bitch..” “that punk”)
onna and otoko is just fine when describing a gender of a human but never describing a person
of that gender...Ajabaja!
PS. ...sono originaria da Giappone ma sono cresciuta in Svezia, dove ho frequentato la scuola internazionale.
..E secondo la descrizione di Steve, sull’altro video,
Credo che possa anche definirmi capace d’livello B2 in italiano. 😊
Our polyglot community 🤠
I just want to go to the Philippines and not have to resort back to English just talking and learning in Tagalog
Love how he was a fan of Steve’s back before he started really diving into other languages! I feel like I’m watching my future self!
yes! it's incredible how many people Steve has inspired to start new channels
including myself
Live abroad.
I watched Robin’s video on thinking in your target language and by talking out loud or in your head. I really like this idea but wonder how this works if you have limited knowledge of words in your target language? Do you use a combination of target and native or build your vocabulary first? I find I have an “advanced” level in my native English that I don’t have comparisons in my target language German. Or do I “dumb” it down with the easier words in my target language while I build this vocabulary?
I don't know what to say. I don't do this myself. I prefer to focus my time on acquiring more of the language through input activities.
I do pretty much the same thing in all languages that I speak and I'd say that, if the objective is to think in the target language, you shouldn't break your train of though by thinking in another language. If the missing word in question is very specific and not very important to you, like "ironing board", you can go around it using different words, like "that piece of wood where you unwrinkle your clothes", or you can just ignore it and go on with our train of thought, preferably the former. But if you're missing a lot of words, what I'd do, or rather, what I did, in the case of German, was to always keep an open tab with google translate on my phone at all times and do a quick voice search, using an example phrase that contains that word, whenever I needed. I am aware that google translate is far from perfect but if your target language is an indo-european language I'd say it does a good enough job for you to get the word right. Besides, I feel like it's really boring to waste time reading a dictionary, I'd rather get the word that I'm looking for and get out of there before I lose the joy of doing what I was previously doing. By the way, in the specific case of German, they do use a lot of anglicisms in their day-to-day lives, so you do have a wee bit more leeway to do it as well.
I definitely use Spanglish to keep the flow unless I can find a work-around. I was talking to a native speaker yesterday and didn’t know the word for “in-laws” so I just said “my husband’s parents”. 😂
Zerofodão That sounds great!
👏🏽
And the answer is ...
Monolingual dictionaries.
Preferably
For beginners like the Longman dictionary for learners of English.
If try to you learn a language throughout translation, you will remain translating in your head. And you will FAIL at ever becoming advanced.
I talk to myself at the gym and get funny looks.
What would one call the American accent that this guy is talking?? West coast gay?
I KNOW 13 LANGUAGES 6 of them are advanced level. As a linguist and academic I couldn't catch what the exactly point he had ? There is nothing new or extraordinary. He is a young man and did talk just about the ways that already exist couple of decade.
Looks like english is not one of the languages you know at an advanced level.
@@andresanchez728 Definitely. I have started learning English just 2 years and 7 months ago completely from scratch and on my own. And as a linguist I conducted an experiment to learn without practice at all. You can watch the result of my efforts in my channel. But I hope in a year I will achieve advanced level.
@@linguamus What do you mean by "without practice"?
André Sanchez I thought your English level is good enough to get the meaning of “ without practice at all” :)) just watch my video and you’ll find answers
André Sanchez “no practice with people”