Why Translating in Your Head Makes You Speak English More Slowly

Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinLanguage. Identity. Choice. Meaning.© Tymur Levitin The strange experience many learners share Many students tell me the same thing: “I watch videos — I understand.”“I listen to lessons — I understand.”“I read articles — I understand.” But then a real person speaks to them. And suddenly: They catch only fragments.They panic.They […]

Many language learners believe that translating in their mind is a necessary step in learning a new language. When they hear a sentence, they translate it into their native language.When they want to speak, they first form the sentence in their native language and only then try to convert it into the foreign one. At […]

Many learners describe themselves as “slow”. Slow to understand.Slow to respond.Slow to speak. They assume the problem is memory, age, or talent. Most of the time, it’s none of that. The real issue is mode. Language Has More Than One Thinking Mode Languages do not operate in a single cognitive mode. There is: Both are […]