How do you think in English? You have to train yourself to think in English. It’s like a football player who practices everyday. That practice is what makes him able to perform well in the game. During practice the football player will pass the ball to his teammates over and over again. During a game he won’t have to think about passing the ball, he will just do it. In order to train yourself to think in English, you will have to start practicing like the football player.
The first step is to think of individual words that you use daily. Simple everyday words like book or shoe or tree. After you have learned to think of several words you want to start thinking in sentences. Train your brain by listening to English. After you understand a lesson or program then play it back and repeat. Listen and repeat, listen and repeat. The more you listen the more you learn. Listen first and make sure you fully understand what you’re hearing. Next, repeat what you hear. This will train your brain to think in English. After you reach that level start having conversations with yourself in English.
To start thinking in English you need to start simply. First, think of some words in English that you use everyday. For instance think of the word ‘book’. Whenever you see a ‘book’ you should not think of the word in your native language. Instead you should see the ‘book’ and think ‘book’. The more you practice, the easier it will be to think of book in English and not translate it in your head. Don’t worry about forgetting your native language, it won’t happen. What will happen is whenever you talk about a book in English you will have the mental picture of the book and not have to think of the word ‘book’. Just like the football player you practice and practice and soon you won’t have to think about it, you’ll just do it. You’ve trained your mind to see a ‘book’ as the word ‘book’. Practice everyday and soon you’ll be thinking of different words in English.
After you’ve added several words to your vocabulary move on to this next step. Start thinking in sentences or ideas. This will take some more practice but is well worth it. The first step in this process is to improve your comprehension or listening skills. Why? Most of us learned our native language by listening to others talk. We then repeated what we heard. This process of listening and repeating is the most effective way to learn a language. You can start at Global English Salon.
As your comprehension improves, so does your speaking ability. Listen first, then repeat when you understand what you've heard. If you practice listening to English you’ll be more relaxed when you are in a conversation. If you practice like the football player, you won’t have to think about it when you are speaking English.
Another way to start thinking in English is to say what you think in English. For instance if you think, "I forgot to do my homework last night" then say that aloud in English. If you think "I’m going to the store." Say it aloud in English. Whatever you think, speak in English. You might want to be alone when you practice this to avoid strange looks. Better yet have your roommates help you with your conversation. If you practice this way enough you’ll be ready for the next step. Self-talk.Have silent conversations with yourself. Whatever you think in your native language, think it in English. For instance, "This is a great day, I’m going to go to the park today. I’m hungry, I’ll make something to eat." These are the same conversations you have with yourself everyday in your native language. Turn those conversations into English and before you know it you’ll be thinking in English without thinking about it. I’ll be back later next month. Until then, start thinking in English!
Ryan Kent-Temple is a webmaster helping people worldwide to "Improve My Spoken English" online. He is also a moderator on the World English Club Forums which is available for everybody that desires improvement. If you want to find out more about this please visit http://www.WorldEnglishClub.com
to Learn English Online, which is a leading site on the topic of how to
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» left by Thomas from MI (4 years 50 days ago.)
Offers only platitudes instead of insightful comments. Also the obnoxius formatting and abundance of boldface makes the article almost unreadable. Respond to this comment
» left by Terry Li from China (4 years 25 days ago.)
This is very helpful. My friends are using everyday for practice. Respond to this comment
» left by Prince Yee from china (3 years 179 days ago.)
I love english, just like speak in English. Respond to this comment
» left by River Huang from Beijing (3 years 152 days ago.)
Good think in English idea. I try hard to improve my speaking english Respond to this comment
» left by Luis Pedrosa from La Paz mexico (3 years 63 days ago.)
I start all ready to teach my students, with these techniques, they are enjoying them selfs Respond to this comment
» left by Quang Huy from Hanoi, Vietnam (2 years 318 days ago.)
thank you very much. This is a good advice for improving my English Respond to this comment
» left by Henry from China (1 year 295 days ago.)
Then there must be a more essential question that is how the english think. It seems easier to say than to do. But if we can see this problem clearly, that would benefit a lot to thousands of millions people in the world. Respond to this comment
» left by frank from china (1 year 195 days ago.)
helpfull ways to think in english . thanks very much . Respond to this comment
» left by kmasterit from Vietnam (1 year 168 days ago.)
So helpful. Thanks ^_^ Respond to this comment
no this is a thing which can be misundestood by taking in the way like thinking in english in your mind by traslating your native , that is stressful and compulsive ,which is against the natural ways of adaptation....learn it as you know your mother tongue...otherwise misunderstood .......can go in some other way...
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