Do you try to think in a foreign language?

[True2marie]

Do you try to think in a foreign language.

I read that the ability to think in a foreign language gets a person closer to being fluent in it. I don't know how true this is. I have never 'forced' myself to think in another language.  I mainly attempt to muster up the words to use when communicating with others in it.

[Aishe]

I've never forced myself to think in a certain language or other, mostly my thoughts are English. But there are times when I find myself thinking in a mixture of languages? And it turns into a sort-of Pigeon English where every second or third word or phrase is in either Thai or Chinese. I think it depends on what I'm thinking about and the environment I'm in though, if I'm thinking about something Thai of course there are going to be a lot more Thai words in my head.

I don't know if forcing yourself to think in a particular language or other works or not. It sounds difficult though, as generally your thoughts are just subconscious and the way you naturally think will come through anyway - it's not as if your thoughts are just one track.

[Kotro]

Yes, I actually do this constantly. English is my main secondary thinking language, although I've found myself doing the same in French and German. There is a certain order and simplicity to English that is lacking in Portuguese, so a lot of my practical day-to-day thought processis in English, while the more abstract will occur in my native tongue. I'm not sure about it helping someone become fluent in a language, though - it certainly has done nothing for my German!

[SpiralArchitect]

Now that I think of it, most of my thinking is actually in English and not in Hindi. I suppose it is because apart from conversation with people I come in contact with a lot of English through my books, songs and the movies I watch.

In fact, the mental notes of things I make are also in English.

[Lola]

I am not that far in my language studies, but I always think in English. I can not be a hundred percent on my answer, but it seems my brain would get jumbled. I might pop up one or two foreign words, but I think mainly my thoughts will stay in my native tongue. I wonder if there is a link between how you learn things and if you will speak the foreign language in your head?

[Baburra]

I think this is a very good tip! I might try it out, thanks!

Obviously, my answer is that I don't.  I can see how it could work, though. It surely won't take the place of actual conversation, but it seems like a good place to start from.

[mareebaybay]

I have never tried to think in a foreign language, however I had a teacher who wanted us to try and do so. Thinking in another language is hard though, I mean you are thinking in a language that id not native to you. You are thinking in a language that you are not accustomed to.

[pandandesign]

I do sometimes because I speak both English and Chinese throughout the day, which I would use them interchangeably. I tend to think more in my second language, which is English more often the Chinese because I sometimes help my parents to translate from Chinese to English. My mind would always think about English and Chinese at the same time because I am taught to be able to use both languages interchangeably.

[anna3101]

It happens naturally when I read a book, watch a film or talk to someone. Afterwards my brain tends to go through what I've seen/heard/learnt and it automatically does so in the language that it processed before. Even if it lacks grammar and vocabulary for it

I thought it was like this for everybody?

[Richard.H]

I believe this to be of paramount importance on the path to becoming fluent.

I do this even when I only know a single sentence. Obviously this cannot be considered "thinking" but if you know the word or expression for the given situation you best conjure it up in your mind. It trains your brain in switching between languages. I find it then easier to speak faster. Basically you stop trying to translate foreign words in your head because your head is already used to the foreign words.

I think, and I might be wrong but, if you don't think in the language you're learning then you will always have to do that additional step of translating in your head.

Anyway, give it a shot! It doesn't hurt

[宇崎ちゃん]

I try to think in Japanese each time I think about it.
If I don't, I either think in Dutch, Polish, English or German.
It's mostly random, but sometimes I switch between these 4.5 languages (yes, that's FOUR AND A HALF!) depending on the person I think about or normally talk to.

Like if I think about a conversation with my mum, I exclusively think in Polish because the language we talk to each other is always Polish.
In contrast: if I think about what my instructor of my driving school (yes, I still don't have a drivers license yet!), I think exclusively in Dutch because we always speak Dutch with each other.
Even when it comes to writing: if I think about a conversation on a forum, I always think in English because all forums I currently visit are in English.
And so on.

Japanese, German and Spanish are the languages I think in less often because I use Japanese against just a few people about which I never think of, Spanish is a language I just started to learn and German remains unused at the moment.

So in order to think in a certain language, past experience with someone or something is important.
And because of this, I often tend to think with music playing on the background of my thoughts.
Like I think back what my instructor of my driving school said about how I drove on the motorway last week and at the same time think about Dschinghis Khan - Moskau (and each time I listen to it in the real world, I instantly get the motivation to program, I don't know why but it always works).

[jumbo]

I've been learning French for a while now and I'd certainly say that "thinking" in French, or atleast trying to, has been quite helpful to me.

Why is thinking in a foreign language a better way to learn it? Here's why: When you learn a language from another language, you create associations between words of the two languages (translations). However, when you think in that language, you create associations between words of the language you are learning and their meaning (object, expression etc).

So, for example, if I am learning French through English, this is what my strategy would look like: Looks at bed --> Translates the English word 'bed' to French --> Says 'lit' (French for 'bed')

However, If I begin to think in French, this is what my strategy would look like: Looks at bed --> Says 'lit' (French for 'bed')

As you can notice, when thinking in the language, you create direct memory associations between words and meanings. Whereas, when you learn a language through another language, you go through the additional step of translation.

[sillylucy]

I sometimes find myself thinking in Spanish even though it is not my primary language. I also dram in Spanish and sometimes dream that I am fluent in Spanish even though I am not in real life. Our brains are so weird! 

[Trellum]

I haven't really stopped to really think about it, but I think most of the time I am thinking in English, mostly when I am using it though (almost the entire day), but the rest of the time I think in my mother language.  I also dream in Spanish most of the time, just the other day I was having a very intense dream and I woke up shutting cuz words in Spanish, lol.  It was both hilarious and scary D:   I guess once I learn dutch well and use it on a daily basis in the Netherlands I will be thinking in dutch as much as I do now in English. 

[Lingua Franca]

It's the only way that you can truly be fluent. If you are thinking in another language and translate afterwards there will be a delay in your speech. Not only that but you might run the risk of translating certain expressions word for word into the other language. This might create confusion to the other person. It's not easy to thinking in a language that isn't your mother tongue but well worth the effort.

[Wanda Kaishin]

I realize some people actually make "thinking in a language" a distinct step in their language learning, creating exercises and such for themselves, but I assure you this is a step that can be skipped, because it happens naturally as part of the learning process. 

[kurdapia]

While learning the English language, I forced myself everyday to think in English and it helped me big time. Before we speak, the mind has to process the thoughts first so why not think in your target language right away? No need to translate your thoughts that you conceived using your native language thereby making it quicker to process your ideas.

[Tyrell]

My native language is Indonesian, so yes, I do think in English. I don't 'try' to do it, it just happen naturally for me. In fact, I seem to think in English way more than I do in my own language. I get a bit confused between the two sometimes though.

[dylr88]

Yes, I think in a language I am learning, I sometimes make conversations up in my head like I'm talking to someone in the language I'm learning, or thinking what to say before I talk to my friend on Skype.

I am not however advanced in the language I'm learning, so most of the times I think in my native language, but I try to find out how I would say it in the language I'm learning. 

 

Thinking in the language you are learning really helps you improve and bring bck your vocabulary.