How to thinking in english....???

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phinamdl

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When I practise to speak english. I always repare a sentence with a native language then I translate it to english to speak.

I knew it wrong for speaking english. But how to thinking in english. Plz give me advice. Thanks in advance :cry:
 

ha179

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I'm Vietnamese and I don't speak English well, too. My friends suggested me listening a lot, so that my speaking skill would improve, and I can see it's true. Everyday, try to listening at least 30 minutes, I recommend you download Pimsleu'method of learning English. It's very easy to listen and you can learn how to speak, too.
 

efltastic

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The best way to begin is by learning basic vocabulary.
After that focus on grammar and 'thinking in english.'
When you reach pre-intermediate level or above, try to read as much as possible. A good vocabulary book with 'authentic' English use and listening will help you a lot to think in English (e.g. Phrasal Verbs in Britain).
Goog luck!:up:
 

hanky

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Not a teacher.

Don't force yourself thinking in English, you will never success by doing thay way. But don't try to thinking in Vnese and then translating either. The best way to learn English is to learn it deeply with a lot of repeatation. For example, find an understandable English material to listen to this every day. Even this material is easy, you still keep listening about it for a least one or more weeks. Once your brain gets used to with the material, you will no longer need to think in VNese and the do translating ... this is the way you get rid of your problem.
 

Abstract Idea

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When I practise to speak english. I always repare a sentence with a native language then I translate it to english to speak.

I knew it wrong for speaking english. But how to thinking in english. Plz give me advice. Thanks in advance :cry:

It is really important that you focus on 'thinking in English' phinamdl. Try to forget any other languages when you are studying/practising English.

There are many threads here at UsingEnglish about this subject, see for instance: https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/103472-thinking-english.html
 

Williamyh

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When I practise to speak english. I always repare a sentence with a native language then I translate it to english to speak.

I knew it wrong for speaking english. But how to thinking in english. Plz give me advice. Thanks in advance :cry:

I don't think people can think in English who are not native speakers, because language translation is necessary. As you are not a native speaker, you already immersed yourself in your mother language, so your first language is not an english, then you need to have a translation process when you speak english, perhaps you can translate faster after some practices.
 

Kätzchen

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I don't think people can think in English who are not native speakers, because language translation is necessary. As you are not a native speaker, you already immersed yourself in your mother language, so your first language is not an english, then you need to have a translation process when you speak english, perhaps you can translate faster after some practices.

No, that's not true. I'm not a native English speaker, but I think in English a lot, even when speaking German. Sometimes I accidentally use English words while speaking German, and sometimes I only know the English word but forgot the German one.:oops:
I read only English books since I was 17, I watch a lot of English TV-shows and I often talk in English with my boyfriend. Prologued contact with a language makes it quite possible to think in it too.
 

Williamyh

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No, that's not true. I'm not a native English speaker, but I think in English a lot, even when speaking German. Sometimes I accidentally use English words while speaking German, and sometimes I only know the English word but forgot the German one.:oops:
I read only English books since I was 17, I watch a lot of English TV-shows and I often talk in English with my boyfriend. Prologued contact with a language makes it quite possible to think in it too.

I don't agree with you. In your case, you are not thinking in English, you just use the term of english to instead of your mother language. I let you know how come you would say that in english, not german, because some of english terms are popular in the world, most of the people would use their english terms, more than use their country language terms...For example, in computer world, most people would say "Memory", "RAM", "Harddrive"..."Notebook"... "Laptop"..."Netbook", even non-native speakers are also using these terms, seldomly using their language.....this is not "think in english", it is so-called "International Language"...Perhaps some of english sentences you always used, then you don't need to have translation process, but in some complicated sentence or situation, if you are not native speakers, you still need to take time to translate your own language into English....
 
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Kätzchen

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Ok, apparently there is no need to discuss this with you since you can look into my brain and see what it's doing.
 

Calisia

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A tiny comment... one would write the title; " to think" or "to be thinking", thanks.
 

phrasemix

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phinamdl,
Here's my opinion, based on just the little bit of writing that I saw in your question. I don't think that you should expect yourself to be thinking in English yet. I think that you will need to spend more time studying the language. How much more time? Probably another 500 hours. That includes the time that you spend watching English movies, studying vocabulary, practicing writing to people, and maybe speaking with a tutor or language partner.

The method probably doesn't matter too much, as long as you keep a good balance. 500 hours spent just studying the dictionary probably won't make you fluent. You need to use a variety of sources.

I believe that what makes us fluent is very simple. It's having a lot of knowledge about the language, with all the pieces connected directly to each other.

How do you connect pieces directly? By noticing patterns. Which words are usually used together? I started my last paragraph with the words "I believe that..." This is a common phrase that often comes up. Remember that phrase. Don't just remember each word by itself.

The other thing is to keep reviewing the things that you've learned. To be fluent and start to think in English, it's better to know a small handful of language really well than to try to learn as many words as you can but not have a strong understanding of how they're used.

So keep working. Keep studying for 500 more hours and then if you still have problems, come back and let us know what you're having trouble with.

~Phrasemix
 

mara_ce

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Prologued contact with a language makes it quite possible to think in it too.
I agree with you. It's possible to think in English. I only think in my native language when I'm talking with someone in Spanish, of course.
 

mydragon

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I believe we can think in english, but it is really difficult! In the past year, I listen english program every day and read a lot of english articles, but I can not thinking in english. Sometimes I was so depressed as I can't find somebody to communicate in english. if only we communicate with others in english we can learn english quickly! :)
 

clevercells

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When I practise to speak english. I always repare a sentence with a native language then I translate it to english to speak.

I knew it wrong for speaking english. But how to thinking in english. Plz give me advice. Thanks in advance :cry:
I think there are two ways to think in english,the first one is to have vocabulary that can allow you to think and speak easily without using another vocabulary that won't be the exact one, and the second way is when you don't understand something like word,idea or so on try to look for its definition in english not in your language,I know it won't be easy but making effort will make your language perfect.
 

Abstract Idea

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I, and many others here, have already stated it is perfectly possible for a nonnative English speaker to think in English. There are plenty of methods to do that, just keep on studying and practicing and soon the results will come.

But I would like to add that a study of linguistics, both regarding L1 acquisition and L2 learning, might shed some light on this topic. I strongly advise anyone interested on this subject to read something serious linguistic researchers have to say about it.
 
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