How come when I learn a new english word, I could here it and immediately understand what it means. But when I hear a word in a different language that I’m learning, like Japanese, I have to translate the word in my head instead of just understanding the meaning. Even with spanish, which I’ve grown up speaking, I have trouble keeping up with things since I translate a bit in my head. Also how do i stop head translating?
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You get to a point where it just clicks. It started by me dreaming I’m French and then one day i was listening to someone and i realized i understood without first translating it.
It is mainly because people who speak other languages do not think in the same patterns as English speakers. I speak seven languages, and I do that all the time. Very VERY little of any language seems to “come naturally” to me, even though I am called a language savant. Do me in any country and within 2 weeks I speak it like a native. But I do not THINK it like a native.
IME there’s nothing wrong with translating in your head if you don’t need it – as long as you don’t get distracted by it it’s fine. Often when you’re learning new languages, though, you learn vocabulary by reference to a language you already speak – so you learn e.g. ‘食べる means “eat”‘. This means that for a while, your brain only knows the Japanese word by reference to the English word, and thus any attempt to decode that word or produce an utterance using it has to go through English. It’s often better to bypass that connection with English and just learn to connect 食べる with the concept of eating directly. With enough practice your brain learns to do that anyway, but you’ll never be able to speak or understand at a fluent speed if you’re always going through some other language first.
this is interesting, i’m a native english speaker who learned spanish as an adult and i’ve never done this.
in short, however, it’s probably just because you’re not as used to speaking those languages as you are to english. when you recognize the sound of the ‘foreign’ word but not the meaning, your brain will connect whatever information it has–which is often the same word in your ‘native’ language.
Mmm. . interesting.. most bilingual ppl (including myself) would always keep the language the same as you go through the thought process in your head (or the inner monologue). Translating in your head actually creates more work in the end because some expression just doesnt’ translate very well.
I speak two languages fluently and another two on a six year old level, and I never had to do it. I always just understand the meaning. Not sure why you do it, but it’s not a universal experience
The first thing to say for ELI5 is that we do not all of us translate into (or out of) our L1 in our heads. My L1 is English. I never ever feel any need to translate in either direction when speaking or hearing French or Czech. I do feel a need to translate into Italian when speaking sometimes — because I simply don’t have enough time spent in the language, don’t have a large enough vocabulary, don’t have all the grammar structures as “second nature.” Enough time in any language using it translation-free makes it second nature; insufficient time leaves it always a translation chore.
It’s the process of language acquisition. It’s normal to make sense of things in the language you first acquire it and the language you are most comfortable in using. The more exposed you are to something in use, the more “automatic” it becomes.
For example, I can recite my father’s mobile number in Vietnamese, but I pause to translate it to English, and vice versa for my own number. I only use my father’s number in Viet and I only use my number in English, so even though I know both languages fluently, I use what is “automatic”.
When learning something new, your brain is building neuron pathways that become stronger with use. When learning a first language, these pathways will be built between the word itself and the concept of the word. The issue with second languages is that they are usually taught through reference to the first language. Manzana in Spanish is linked to the word apple in English, not the concept of an apple (or the other way around in your case). This is where the extra step of translation comes from. With enough use of a word you will be able to hear and speak it without translating in your head as the word and the concept become more linked.
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