How to stop translating in your head: Speak English Fluently

866,282 views ・ 2016-09-13

Speak English With Vanessa


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hi.
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I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
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How can you stop translating in your head when you speak English?
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Let's talk about it.
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I recently got an email from a student from Vietnam who told me, "Vanessa, I can't stop
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translating in my head.
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I want to stop, and I don't think it's good to translate, but what can I do to stop translating?"
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This is a question that I want to answer for him today and also for all of you who feel
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like you're translating in your head, and you want to stop, but first of all, I want
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to talk about something heart to heart with you.
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This is, a lot of English learners make rules for themselves about what they should and
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shouldn't do.
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"I shouldn't use subtitles.
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I shouldn't translate.
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I shouldn't use a dictionary."
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This is really stressful on yourself because not the same method works for everyone.
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It's sometimes useful to use a dictionary.
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Sometimes you're going to translate in your head.
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It happens.
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I want to say to you first, if you feel like "I shouldn't do this" or "I shouldn't do that,"
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take a step back and think about why do you feel like that.
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Is it actually useful for you?
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If it's useful for you, don't stress about it.
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Follow that method if it is working for you.
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Now that I've talked with you about not stressing when you're using English, let's talk about
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how you can start thinking in English more so that you'll stop translating all the time.
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My first tip is to listen to English a lot and surround yourself with English.
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For me, when I'm learning French and I watch a French movie, after I watch the movie, my
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brain is going, going, going in French, and I really just want to use it and speak because
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it's in my head a lot.
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The same will happen for you.
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If you're listening to an English podcast or watching a TV show, even if you're using
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English subtitles, hearing and surrounding yourself with English is going to help you
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transform your brain into English, and that's going to be the step to help you stop translating
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all the time.
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The second thing is to use an English-only dictionary.
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Do you ever use a dictionary to translate words that you're not sure about?
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Well, something that's useful is to get a dictionary that is completely in English.
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The definitions are in English and everything is in English.
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This way, when you read the definition, you're also learning new words.
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You're learning how to describe that word in English.
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This is just another method for surrounding yourself with the language.
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The third tip to help you stop translating in your head is to use sticky notes.
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Do you know what these are?
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These are little pieces of paper that are sticky on one part so that you can put them
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somewhere, on the wall, on your book, anywhere.
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Well, these pieces of paper are great for surrounding yourself with English.
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How can you do this?
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Well, you can take a little piece of paper and write a sentence on it with expressions
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or words that you want to learn.
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I recommend making a full sentence like this one here.
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"I like to drink tea in the morning."
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Maybe if you're learning "in the morning," "in the afternoon," "at night," this is a
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great way to learn this in context, and if you like to drink tea in the morning, you
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can tape or stick this piece of paper close to where you make tea so that in the morning,
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when you make tea, you'll see this, and you'll think, "Oh, yeah.
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I like to make tea in the morning."
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This is something to help surround you with English, no matter where you are, even if
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you're not living in an English-speaking country.
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I did this when I was learning French at the very beginning, and it was so helpful and
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pretty fun to think about where could I put another note or another idea so that I could
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improve some expressions and learn naturally.
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I hope that these three tips, listening, using an English dictionary, and making sticky notes,
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has been helpful for you and giving you some ideas about how to surround yourself with
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English because, in the end, this is the goal.
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You want to surround yourself with English as much as possible.
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Now, I have a question for you that I'd like to ask you, and you can write your answer
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in the comments below.
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My question is, what are some other ways that you can surround yourself with English, no
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matter where you live?
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Let's give each other ideas, and you can share with each other.
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I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say.
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Talk to you later.
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Bye.
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If you enjoyed this video, be sure to download my free ebook where you can learn 5 Steps
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to Becoming a Confident English Speaker.
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You can share it on Facebook, upgrade to the listening audio version, and don't forget
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to check your email to get the free ebook.
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Let's see what it is.
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All right, here is the free ebook.
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You can download yours today.
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Just click on the link, and it will be in your email within a few seconds.
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Thanks so much for listening with me.
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Bye.
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