So, you have embarked on this new journey of learning a new foreign language. And since then, you have just failed to resist yourself from ‘translating’ every possible word of that very language you have encountered, right? You might be shocked to know it but this habit of translating in your head is actually a ‘slow poison.’ But, it doesn’t mean that mental translation is something that you ought to strictly prohibit yourself from doing. Anyway, guess what? Your foreign language learning experience may get adversely affected by this habit of yours, at times.
To straighten the creases of worries appearing on your forehead and aid you in getting rid of this somewhat disturbing and unhealthy habit, we have come up with this article. It will shed some light on how to stop translating in your head once and for all!
Gear up to indulge in this enlightening journey. These tips and techniques we are going to disclose here are sure to prove effective in taking you out of this addictive habit of finding the meaning of a novel word by ‘filtering’ it through your native language. That is a little absurd thing to do as you can never get to the actual meaning of the foreign word by doing so! Reform yourself by continuing to read this piece!
#1: Relate A New Word With Images or Emotions
Learning a language can turn out to be pretty nerve-wracking. But hey, there is nothing to get worried about it! The first step towards stopping yourself from translating in your head involves connecting a new word with a familiar visual experience, such as an image or a feeling. Instead of allowing yourself to extract the meaning of a new word by digging out its counterpart in your native language, it will be prudent enough to associate it with something visual or to a feeling that you have experienced before.
Do you know what awesome idea you can use at the moment? Well, it is nothing but watching relevant images and videos that are streamed in the new foreign language which you are learning. The more you start watching these types of content, the better you get at restraining yourself from translating stuff in your head.
When you rest your eyes on a video or image that is related to the new word you are learning, your brain gets activated as it can relate to the visual element presented in front of you. As a result, your capability to retain the meaning of the new words gets multiplied manifold. And, the same goes with ‘feelings’ too because when you get access to some sort of related images or videos, you finally succeed in getting rid of the habit of finding out the meaning of the new phrase by bringing your native language into the picture. So, now you have got a viable solution as to how to stop translating in your head, right?
#2: Narrate Every Possible Action Of Yours
Do you know what common reason triggers people to start translating in their minds? Well, it happens when you start facing hurdles while conversing with others in a new language. When you listen to others speaking those words in that foreign language, you get a feeling that you have ultimately mastered this new language. But, guess what? The story doesn’t end here. You start facing difficulties when your turn comes to speak in that foreign language. Due to this hurdle, several language learners like you go back to continue the practice of translating every new word by taking cues from their native languages. Since it is likely that you do this too, here is a solution for you to get rid of this problem.
Wondering what the solution is? Well, you need to aim towards speaking the new language fluently without facing any major pauses or breaks. And, this is not at all a difficult thing to do. After all, you are already aware of the new words, aren’t you? All you need to aim now is to master fluency in this novel language. A ninja technique to achieve this goal is narrating all your actions in that new language that you have learnt recently. For instance, the activities you are doing, the things you are seeing in front of you, the emotions you have perceived while doing an act – all these are to be narrated by you in that very language.
What’s next?
Once you practice converting everything you are doing in terms of narration in that new language, you can sense the improvement you get as a result of this activity. Now, when you will converse with someone in this new language, you will perceive the change because you won’t have to resort to translating things into your native language. After all, you will gain the ability to communicate in that foreign language with utmost proficiency. And, you won’t even have to face breaks or pauses at the time of conversation with other people.
What is awesome is that you can take the aid of monolingual dictionaries to prevent yourself from going back to the habit of mental translation. There will be times when you won’t be aware of the meaning of certain words. And, at such moments, you will be tempted to go back to translating words in your head. When such a situation occurs, make sure to use monolingual dictionaries to handle things well. It isn’t that difficult too, you see?
Final Words
Mental translation of words in your native language is nothing bad, but yes, it can hamper your learning language experience. Unless you succeed in getting rid of this addictive habit, you won’t be able to emerge as an expert in this language. So, follow the two techniques we suggested above, and see how your query as to how to stop translating in your head gets solved quickly. What are you waiting for? Wield these strategies and rise above this habit of mental translation. You can do it well! Good luck!