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!