Arnie asks: "How can I stop translating in my head when people speak to me in French?"

Episode Summary:

• See episode 87 for a previous answer to this topic
• Translating in your head is a very common problem
• There's no quick fix I can give you, only some encouragement and a helpful way of thinking about the problem
• To state the obvious: When you understand what's being said in French, you have no reason to translate
• Therefore, the more you improve, the less you translate
• This is good to remember, as it helps you realise it's a gradual process
• For me, translating tends to be a grammar issue
• My Cantonese right now - often I'll understand something in Cantonese, with no translation. Sometimes, I'll come across a sentence that's grammatically different and I'll need to translate it in my head in order to make sense of it. This dies away over time, as I improve.

Key points:

• Spend more time listening and reading
• Grow your vocabulary
• Start using monolingual dictionaries
• Do more of your daily activities in French

Some deeper approaches to studying:

• When you learn new grammar, focus on grammar patterns, not individual verbs
• With these new grammar patterns, try to get into the head of a native speaker, and feel the way an idea is being expressed - the attitude or feeling - rather than focus on the English translation
• Work with full sentences in your study, not single words

Today's Quote:

• “You don’t learn a language, you get used to it.” – Katsumoto

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