【Language-Learning】The reasons why you should think in your Target Language when speaking it

【Transcript of Podcast Episode #26】

Today I will be talking why you should think in your target language when you speak in your target language.

First of all, why do you think you should think in your target language when speaking your target language?

I’ll give you three reasons. 

Reason #1:

If you think your mother tongue, you have to translate it so it takes longer time,

especially if your mother tongue is Japanese and your target language is English. 

Since these languages` word orders and sentence structures are very different,

you’ll get tired if you have to translate it all the time.

Reason #2:

If you do the direct translation, it would sound strange and

if you think in your mother tongue, it’s most likely to be direct translation.

Reason #3:

You will freeze when you cannot remember the exact translation.

If a word in your native language pops up in your mind, it’s natural that you try to find its translation.

To avoid that, you should think in your target language.

These are the three reasons.

Then, what should you do to train yourself to think in your target language?

Let me give you some of the methods I use.

#1  Practice talking to yourself in your target language

#2  Memorize expressions and collocations in chunks

#3  Read a lot in your target language

#4 Use your target language as a tool to do other activities

For example, play games in your target language or research on your target language,

write a shopping list or to-do list in your target language

Make your target language part of your daily life. 

So, why don’t you start thinking in your target language if you haven’t already.

You don’t have to do it all the time. 

You can set a time like “one hour when you are commuting you think in your target language”

or  “during lunch time I think in my target language” like that.

It depends on your lifestyle, right.

All right, that’s all for today.

Thank you so much for listening and I hope to see you next time. Bye!