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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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”.
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