Thinking in a Foreign Language

A huge milestone for us as language learners is the point at which we can finally start thinking in a foreign language (L2) instead of relying on mental translation from our first language (L1). Why does it seem to take so long to get to this point, and how can we get there faster?

The short answer is that it's generally a question of the amount of time and frequency with with you actually practice using the L2. If you want to be able to speak with ease, then obviously you need to practice putting your ideas into words and saying them out loud. If you want to be able to write e-mail to friends or coworkers, then you need to practice putting your thoughts down on paper (or on screen, as it were.)

Of course it's great to read, memorize vocabulary, and do workbook-style grammar exercises in the other language, because that adds to your blocks of language knowledge with which you can build your statements and express your thoughts. (And they feel "safe" - we know how to do them, and we do them silently in our heads.) But the skills needed for these activities won't do much to help build oral or written fluency. For the most part, this is all "input," or reception, and somewhat passive learning. You need to specifically practice "output," or the productive skills, that you want to master.

If you can find a person with whom to speak in that language - whether native speaker or another learner - try to have some casual conversation or write e-mail to each other a few times a week. But what if you don't know anyone who speaks that language?

Alternative: Keep a language journal - speaking or writing. Even if it's only for 5 minutes a few times a week, use the simple recording software that's available on every computer, or start a written document or notebook where you just say or write your thoughts. Don't think too much! Perfect accuracy is not the point here: it's training yourself to think and speak quickly in the other language. Even if you repeat the same idea many days in a row (e.g. talk about the weather, your family, your job, your health, your favorite television show...) the repetition will help make certain phrases "stick" more easily and become reflex after a while. Build your "reflex phrase" vocabulary.

You can also target certain vocabulary words or grammatical structures that you want to try to use at least once in your journal that day, and try to use those target forms for a few days in a row until you get used to them too.

You'll be surprised how soon some phrases become "natural," and how much you can say without thinking in the L1 or translating into L2 if you actively practice using them enough!

Reading Aloud and Pronunciation

Recently I was asked: "when we read aloud aren't we just reinforcing bad pronunciation patterns?" What a great question, especially since students in language classes spend a lot of time reading dialogues and other exercises together. The truth is that reading aloud can be a mixed blessing.

The practice of reading aloud can help build linguistic reflexes, helping the tongue adjust to the sound combinations, and getting the brain used to word patterns, etc. This latter piece is also the case with reading silently, but reading aloud can help it "sink in" more for some people because (a) you have to pay more conscious attention to the words to have them register in your speech, and (b) speaking creates auditory input - even if it's your own voice - which is useful for auditory learners. So reading aloud can have real benefits for language development.

A drawback, however, can be the reinforcement of what the person called "bad" (presumably foreign-sounding) pronunciation. To improve the accuracy of your pronunciation, there are several steps you can take.

First, see if you can find text that also has an audio track, either from a textbook, online, or even if you can get a fluent speaker to record the excerpt for you. Then you can listen to the pronunciation while reading along, and try to imitate what you hear.

Additionally, it is very helpful to record YOURSELF as you read. You will hear things on the recording that you don't notice while you're actually speaking in the moment. When you notice something that sounds too "foreign," try to work on it until it sounds like what you think it should be.

Finally If you can get someone to give you some corrective feedback - confirming what is clear and giving suggestions for what could be improved - on not only your free speech but your voice recordings (so you can listen to them together, objectively) that would be the most helpful.

One way or another, since reading aloud won't likely change your pronunciation, but not reading aloud also won't change your pronunciation, you might as well practice reading aloud for the other benefits it can produce. And if you can follow some of the suggestions I've given above, you can then add the pronunciation benefits too. So keep practicing, and good luck!