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Translating to Thinking | ||
Tags: Thinking | Translation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| davidhowell Newbie United States Joined 5081 days ago 13 posts - 28 votes Speaks: German | Message 1 of 11 19 December 2010 at 6:40am | IP Logged | ||
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I was just wondering how you actually make the transition from translating a language to
actually thinking in a language. Does it happen naturally over time or is it something that you have to work on yourself? Any thoughts are appreciated! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6134 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 2 of 11 19 December 2010 at 7:37am | IP Logged | ||
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I'd say both.
It definitely takes time to acquire this "internal voice" for a language and get to the point where you can listen to or read things in the language and not have to consciously translate every word. On the other hand, you can't just repeat to yourself "I want to speak German" everyday and expect that it will come true. You'll have to put in a considerable amount of time studying and exposing yourself to the language before that happens. I hope this helps. :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6003 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 11 19 December 2010 at 11:52am | IP Logged | ||
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In my first couple of languages, I found that as I was consciously producing language, my brain was subconsciously producing the same sentences. At the start, the subconcious production was actually slower than the conscious production, so I stuck with the conscious production. Eventually, the subconscious production was quicker than the conscious production, and I noticed that I was "checking" my subconsciously-produced language against my consciously-produced language before saying anything. The final stage was simply realising that I was normally right, and just learning to trust myself to open my mouth and say it.
And that last thing is why so many people claim to speak better when they've had a drink. Lowered inhibition means you're more likely to say it without stopping and second-guessing yourself. But in the long run, you need to trust yourself without resorting to medication! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6667 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 4 of 11 19 December 2010 at 12:31pm | IP Logged | ||
It happens naturally. The more you use the target language, the sooner it happens. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6695 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 11 19 December 2010 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I try to do my thinking in the target language, using those elements I know even if they don't cover everything I need.
The big question is however what happens when I want to think something but don't know how to do it. Evidently the wish to think something implies that I somehow have some kind of idea about that elusive 'something'. This idea could be something as tangible as a picture or 'videoclip', it could be the reminiscence of a feeling, a hole defined by associations and circumlocutions .... but it could of course also be the same idea expressed in another language, including my native one. And then translation might happen. But the larger your base in the target language is, the fewer holes there will be, and the less risk of translating your thoughts. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| davidhowell Newbie United States Joined 5081 days ago 13 posts - 28 votes Speaks: German | Message 6 of 11 20 December 2010 at 4:24am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the replies everyone! So, last night before bed I tried having a mini
conversation in my head in my target language (german) and the next morning I realized that I had actually, partially, dreamed in that language. Anyone else dream in their target languages? Also, how do you practice thinking in a language? By doing what I did? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Desacrator48 Groupie United States Joined 5300 days ago 93 posts - 127 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 7 of 11 20 December 2010 at 7:08pm | IP Logged | ||
Through your posts on this forum, I know of your extensive background with many other languages. I'm just curious if English is still your primary mode of thought when you are by yourself or if it is shared with another? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5373 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 8 of 11 20 December 2010 at 8:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is obviously different from person to person because I don't translate. Not as a rule, but just because I don't. I see the new words as meaning, as concepts, not as other words in other languages, and in turn, I use those words directly when expressing an idea. Translating it must be so tiresome, not to mention a huge waste of time as everything becomes so much more complicated and confusing and takes so much time.
2 persons have voted this message useful |
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