Level Up Your Language Skills by Thinking in English
When you're learning English, you might be looking for little hacks to add to your knowledge outside of lesson time.
And one thing experts often recommend is to try regularly thinking in English.
What does this mean? Well, when we're learning a new language, we might first think of what we want to say in our native language, and then translate it in our heads.
But if you can try thinking in English first, you won't need to translate, and this could help you become more fluent.
So how do you do it?
Start by looking around when you're waiting for a bus, or waiting for your food to cook. Then see if you can identify English words for objects around you, says the website Rachel's English.
Then you can begin building these into sentences: add verbs and adjectives to those objects, education site Repetry says.
Learners often slow themselves down by stopping to look up words in a dictionary. But Spain-based English teacher Keith O'Hare suggests only using words you know when you're trying to think in English.
On his website, O'Hare says checking a word in the dictionary may build vocabulary, but it doesn't build fluency. So, if you don't know a word, find a way to say it using words you do know, or "give up the idea and say something else."
As you get more confident, you can begin having conversations in English in your head, Repetry says.
Some language experts say you could also start and finish each day by describing what you'll be doing or what you've done, using words and tenses you know.
In time, you might begin dreaming in English too!
