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Still translating in my head | ||
Tags: Thinking | Translation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| parkskier Newbie United States Joined 5755 days ago 15 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 18 29 May 2009 at 9:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is probably a pretty common problem among language learns but I just wanted to get some input and help. Currently I'm studying Spanish and I'd say I'm at an intermediate level. I have started to read books in Spanish but I've run across a problem (at least what I think is a problem). When reading the Spanish words I translate them to English in my head. Is this a big problem? What can I do to slow and eventually prevent this? Thanks!
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| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5758 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 2 of 18 29 May 2009 at 11:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi parkskier,
Translating in your head is something that all language learners go through for a time, I think. It's natural to use your mother tongue as a crutch to learn your target language, so it's not a huge problem, I don't think. As it's a crutch, I think our brains carry on using our mother tongues, in your case English, to aid us in learning the language. As we get more experienced in the four main skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking) we begin to think in the language. I find that talking to myself in the language, whether aloud or just translating my thoughts in my head, helps to solve the problem of translating and helps you to begin actively thinking in the language, although it does take time. Of course, when you begin talking to yourself initially, you'll still be translating, but after a point you'll begin thinking in Spanish and won't even realise you're doing it! The short answer is just keep at it; thinking in the language comes with repetition. La práctica hace al maestro! Buena suerte con tus estudios. Jack Edited by LanguageSponge on 29 May 2009 at 11:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6364 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 18 30 May 2009 at 1:23am | IP Logged | ||
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Just don't do it. It's your mind, if you can't control what it does, who the hell can?
Seriously. Just read. If you don't understand it then who cares. The problem probably is that you learn by translation too. You probably link an English word to a Spanish one which is terrible. You only want to link the meaning. The English word is not the meaning. The English word is worthless, it's just a vessel through which the meaning travels. It points to the meaning. Edited by zerothinking on 30 May 2009 at 1:25am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5901 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 4 of 18 30 May 2009 at 1:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Try reading faster and see if that helps. Then you don't give your mind the time to think things through by converting to the familiar, then you will either understand the meaning of the word in Spanish or you won't, if you don't then you can slow down and see what it means but then carry right on at the speed you would read at in your L1. Your mind will take the easy way out and compare what it's seeing to what it finds easier to process if you let it take the time to do that - so don't.
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| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5661 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 18 30 May 2009 at 9:26am | IP Logged | ||
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It is normal to translate in your head for quite a long time. It all comes down to exposure. There are probably words in Spanish that you already recognise straight away, without thinking "what does that mean?". At your stage, though, the number of words you have to think through (and therefore translate) is pretty large. As time goes on, your brain will begin to recognise more and more automatically, so that you don't need to translate.
What your brain does is recognise patterns. When you start out those patterns are often not even single words - they are parts of words - you recognise the beginning of a word and remember the rest of it (sort of like solving a puzzle). Over time, with masses and masses of exposure, your brain will recognise patterns of word clusters as single "units". So when you see or hear things like "To tell the truth .." and "If I were you ..." your mind will just recognise them without word-by-word translation. I agree with Lizzern's advice about sometimes going at a faster pace than you can comfortably cope with. One good approach is to listen to an audio recording in Spanish of the news, and read a transcript of it at the same time. The speed will flood your brain - and you will hardly understand anything. But, when you go back to a slower speed with simpler texts, it will magically seem much much easier. Edited by Splog on 30 May 2009 at 9:28am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5915 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 7 of 18 30 May 2009 at 4:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's perfectly natural, and actually gives you an insight into something quite interesting. Once you reach a very advanced level you'll notice there are 2 tracks, if you will. You can switch between them, in listening or reading. On the first track you read or hear it in Spanish and understand it in Spanish. On the second track you read or hear it in Spanish and a little translator machine in your head will churn it out in English in the background. If I need to a simultaneous translation, I'll switch the little machine on.
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| Javi Senior Member Spain Joined 5973 days ago 419 posts - 548 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 8 of 18 31 May 2009 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | ||
Well, unlike other posters, I've never gone through this translating phase. I think it's a natural result of having learnt with Assimil, where listening is the key, as well as reading aloud. When you listen, especially to the quick talk in the radio and podcasts, you don't have the time to translate, at least I couldn't even if I wanted. Once you get used to decoding the language delivered at its natural speed, reading is just hearing a voice in your mind, it's not different from listening. Later on, you can start reading silently, which means a pace even greater. So my advice would be that, unless you're completely familiar with the Spanish pronunciation, intonation and timing, you should work with material that has both text and sound. With this basic training, when you read something on your own, try to focus on how the text sounds in your mind, don't worry about the meaning because the meaning takes care of itself. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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