![]() ![]() Concrete nouns, verbs and adjectives are quite easy to translate, but idiomatic phrases get trickier, so you’ll want to be especially sure that you’re using the correct idioms and expressions all the time. Because you’re thinking much, much more than you’re speaking or writing, it can be easy to fall into bad habits-that’s why double checking your language usage is still key. If you can’t figure out how to say what you’re thinking, make up an approximation that you’re still absolutely sure is 100 percent correct. (Hint: If you get less than 1000 hits or hits that include only learners’ dictionaries and forums, you probably have something funky going on.) When you’re able to start doing this, you’ll want to double check everything you’re translating, either with a native speaker or by googling the phrase with quotation marks to see if lots of native speakers are phrasing it just like you are. Soon enough, though, you’ll graduate to wanting to translate two-word phrases and beyond. If you’re really limited in terms of vocab, you could even count people, animals or objects in your head. Same goes for buildings, animals, clothing, whatever. If the correct word for tree isn’t coming to you, think “green,” “wood” or anything else that can describe it. ![]() When you see a tree, you could think “tree” in your target language. If you’re a beginner, try simply taking some time out of the day to describe what’s around you. Is this easier said than done? Here are some mini-steps you can take to start working toward narrating your life in your target language. When you’re cursing the weather, your neighbors, the long line at the grocery store… translate! Practical Steps When you think about your daily schedule, translate. When you remember conversations, translate. If you don’t already narrate your life in your head, then start doing it consciously! This kind of active exercise is where you’ll get the most practice. ![]() Some people are very visual or quantitative, meaning they don’t have streams of words constantly going through their brains. You could have thought of this one, right? Sure, it seems like the most obvious step to take, but not everyone does it. (Download) Thinking in a Foreign Language Made Easy 1. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy.
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