STOP Translating In Your Head: 13 Minute TRAINING!

If you're translating in your head, then you  know that's a frustrating way to speak English.  

But the good news is, there  are concrete things you can do  

and practice to stop translating in your head  and start thinking in English. In this video,  

we're going to use the holiday of Valentine's  day, and we're going to give you tips and  

strategies to start thinking in English, stop  translating in your head, and increase fluency  

speaking English. As always, if you like  this video, or you learned something new,  

please like and subscribe with notifications. And  come back here next Tuesday for our next video.

Today, we're going to take you through two  steps in training your mind to think in English.  

The first step is simple. Naming objects  in English. Just one word descriptions.  

Then you'll see short videos that you'll describe  in sentences, in your head, in English only. And  

as we go, we're going to go over how to keep  your mind in English. So clear your mind, take a  

breath, you'll see an image with an outline of an  object for a couple of seconds. There's plenty of  

time to name the object if you know it in English,  just say it in your head. If you don't know it,  

no worries, we're going to go over everything at  the end of the video. It's a simple exercise, but  

when you put yourself in the English mindset, and  let your mind go to English first, it builds that  

habit of your mind to think in English when you  need it in conversation. So you'll see a photo,  

and there will be different objects circled in  it. You'll see each one for three seconds. Relax  

and put your mind in the English mindset. Think  of the English word. If you don't know it, just  

wait for the next slide. Let me show you what I  mean. See the picture, think the word in English.

When you saw this, did you think strawberry?  Or maybe you even know this would be called a  

chocolate covered strawberry. What's  circled here? Did you think bowl?  

And do you know this word? Did you think  of stem? If you ever see something and  

you don't know what the word is, see if you  can think of a word that describes it, like  

small or green, or even a related word like  plant, but just try to keep your mind in English.  

At the end, we'll go over the words so you'll  learn them if you don't already know them. So here  

are a few more images with circled objects. Take a  breath, ready? You're going to think in English.

Is your mind going in English? One of the  things I like about this exercise is that  

you can do it anytime, anywhere, because  it's all in your head. You can be at work,  

take 30 seconds to name things around you in  English, or to think through sentences, describing  

your environment or what you'll do next. Thinking  in English is effective English practice.  

We'll go over some possible answers for  those pictures at the end of the video.

Now we're going to watch some video clips, then  you'll have 10 seconds in your head to describe  

what you've seen in English. If that's too much  for you, just name objects, actions, adjectives.  

Let me show you an example of  the kind of clip you'll see.

How do I look? Oh, um, I don't care.  

These are all from the Friends, Valentine's  episode from season one. So you might think

Joey's holding a knife, or maybe you can go  deeper, Joey is looking at his reflection in  

a knife, or Joey's worried about how he looks.  Maybe you describe his clothing. He's wearing  

a turtleneck and a jacket, or maybe you describe  this setting, they're in a restaurant, it's busy.  

And if you feel overwhelmed, just make it simple.  Don't try to think a sentence, just think a word,  

like plate, knife, or a very simple sentence,  like, there's a plate, or there are two people.

So you'll see the scene, then you'll have 10  seconds to describe in English what you saw.  

You can just think it in your head.  Here are five scenes in a row.  

There are no wrong answers. Just think  in English, whatever comes to mind.

How do we end up with these  jerks? We're good people. 

I don't know, maybe we're  like some kind of magnets. 

I know I am, that's why I  can't wear a digital watch.

And here we have the last of Paulo's garapa. Wait, Rachel isn't that almost pure--

Hello, funny valentine. Hi, just Janice. 

Hello, Joey, our little matchmaker. I could  just kiss you all over, and I'm gonna!

It's all right, it's all right, you don't have to  explain. This isn't the first boyfriend bonfire  

that we've seen get out of control.

You're our third call tonight.

What did you think? Did you put  together sentences in English?  

Let's go back over each scene and i’ll describe  things that you may have said. But remember,  

there are no wrong answers here. If you thought  of anything in English, that's excellent!

How do we end up with these  jerks? We're good people. 

I don't know, maybe we're  like some kind of magnets. 

I know I am, that's why I  can't wear a digital watch.  

Monica opens the refrigerator. She takes out  salad dressing. They're making salad. Rachel  

is peeling a carrot. Phoebe's drinking beer.  Her hair is curly. They're in the kitchen.

Here's the next clip.

And here we have the last of Paulo's garapa. Wait, Rachel isn't that almost pure--

Rachel has a bottle of garapa. She pours  it into a fire. There's a small fire in a  

trash can on the coffee table. They all  jump back when the flames get higher.

Here's the next clip.

Hello, funny valentine. Hi, just Janice. 

Hello, Joey, our little matchmaker. I could  just kiss you all over, and I'm gonna!

They're in the coffee shop. Joey's  sitting on the arm of the orange couch.  

Janice walks in and kisses Chandler  on the cheek. She's wearing a red  

jacket. She kisses joey all over the face.  Chandler is smiling.

Here's the next clip.

There at a restaurant. The chef is cooking at the  table he flips some food into the air and Ross  

catches it in his mouth. It's hot so he spits it  out. Everyone claps for him. Here's our last clip.

It's all right, it's all right, you don't have to  explain. This isn't the first boyfriend bonfire  

that we've seen get out of control.

You're our third call tonight.

Some firefighters are at the apartment.  They're in full uniform with hats. Monica  

and Rachel are a little embarrassed. One of the  firefighters is holding a clipboard and pen.  

Phoebe's sitting on the couch. Of course, there are a hundred different sentences  

you can come up with for any of these scenes. If  you find you really needed a word that you didn't  

know in English, then go ahead and look it up,  watch the video again, and think your sentence  

with the new word. Do it again tomorrow, and  the next day. I bet you won't forget that word.

Let's go on now to the photos.

A box of chocolates. This along with roses  is the most classic valentine's day gift. You  

might have even said a heart-shaped box. Okay,  it's making me very hungry looking at this.

Here, roses, the other classic gift. Petal,  cake, wow, that's a really pretty cake.  

Frosting. Or you might hear it called icing.  But icing is a little different. It's usually  

thinner and stiffer, whereas frosting is usually  fluffy like this. Cake stand. Straws. Candy,  

or maybe you said heart. Jar. This kind of  jar is a mason jar. Wrapper with a silent W.  

Here, I was trying to get you to think the color  pink, but maybe you said background, or wall.  

If any of these slides were hard, hopefully this  one was easier for you. Blue, green, orange,  

purple, yellow. Do you know this kind  of bird in English? Flamingo. Feather.  

For this, maybe you said heart, or maybe you said  engraving, lock, fence. Cookies. Now these cookies  

have icing. Thinner, harder, different from the  frosting on the cake. Mmm. I'd eat that cookie.

Doily. This is a paper doily, and  they're popular for making valentines or  

cards to share with others. But this  is a real doily. This one was made by  

one of my ancestors, a great, great  grandmother, or maybe a great, great aunt,  

probably a hundred to 120 years ago. But  they're used to decorate flat surfaces,  

like you might put a lamp or something on top of  a doily that's on a table. It's pretty, isn't it?

Mug. Handle. Whipped cream. If you've seen  my video on ED endings, then you know why we  

drop the ED ending in the pronunciation, and just  say whipped cream, even though it's spelled with  

an ED ending. If you haven't seen it and you want  to know why, then click here for that video.

The more you train your mind to think in English,  the faster you're going to be able to express  

yourself in English. And that's going to  make you more confident speaking English,  

engaging in conversation. If you haven't already  seen it, check out this video that goes over  

other tips, things you can do every day to  get you thinking in English more and more.  

If you've seen that one, then keep learning now  with this video. I also have a bunch of courses  

in my online school Rachel's English Academy where  you can train to take your English communication  

skills to the next level. Check it out at  rachelsenglishacademy.com and don't forget to  

subscribe. I make new videos every Tuesday. That's  it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.