How to Think in English\u2026in 68 Minutes! (https:\/\/youtu.be\/mSvkOZ3evao)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\nVideo Transcript:<\/h2>\n
You can take steps, you can practice. Thinking in a language that\u2019s not your native language. You can! And isn\u2019t that a huge part of what holds people back, speaking another language?\u00a0 Trying to remember the word, trying to remember the right grammar.\u00a0 Sure, you can build your vocabulary and you can study grammar but you can also work on the specific skill of thinking in another language.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nToday I\u2019m going to go over the steps needed to do this, and I\u2019m going to give you exercises to do this in English for all my non-native English-speaking students out there.\u00a0 Before we dive in, click here or in the video description to get a free cheat sheet, the sounds of American English, it\u2019s a great reference tool and even I use it quite a bit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThinking in English. First, we\u2019ll go over six steps that you can use as part of your exercises. Then we\u2019ll work on three different kinds of exercises to get your mind going in English.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe first tip is to start simple and name objects around you in English. I remember when I was learning German and I was doing this, I had to learn the article as well, der, die, das. We don\u2019t have that in English, but it doesn\u2019t hurt to really focus on the pronunciation as you’re thinking of simple objects. In fact, that\u2019s why I started my YouTube channel and even my Academy \u2013 when I was learning German, French, and Italian as an opera student, I couldn\u2019t find any resources that focused enough on pronunciation. And I knew that to be effective, I needed the right pronunciation right from the beginning. So I created my YouTube channel and my Academy to put pronunciation forward. So take a moment as you\u2019re naming objects to think about pronunciation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCloset\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBox\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMillion subscriber button. Cool<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGlobe<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWindow<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd if you\u2019re not sure about the pronunciation, listen to some native speakers. You can use an online dictionary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAlso, Youglish is a great resource for this.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nComputer, computer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019re all saying with a flap. Compu– rarararara. A flap instead of TT, a T sound. Computer.\u00a0 Computer. Middle syllable stress. If you can add this step, of focusing on the pronunciation and listening to native speakers, awesome. If not, if you only have 15 seconds, and you\u2019re naming as many objects as you can, that\u2019s okay too. So that\u2019s step one and it\u2019s simple. Take a moment, look around you, and name all of the objects that you can in English. If you can do that very easily, then you can move on.\u00a0 But if that\u2019s a challenge for you, spend some time on object naming. Every time you\u2019re in a new room, a new environment, take a few seconds to do it. Note words you don\u2019t know, look them up, learn them. The context will help you remember them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe next step is to think in simple sentences. Stop right now and think of the beginning of a sentence: I\u2019m—. I\u2019m hungry, I\u2019m tired, I\u2019m working. Do it in English.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019ll wait a few seconds. You’re starting with ‘I’m…’\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow look around you. What can you say about anything in your environment?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis chair is comfy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe drawer is open.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMy desk is messy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThat one\u2019s easy because it\u2019s almost always true.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf there\u2019s something you can’t describe, look up the words you need in a dictionary, memorize it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMemorize that phrase. Learning in context like this will help.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSpeaking of dictionaries, see if you can do this. Get an English-only dictionary rather than a translating dictionary between English and your native language.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf you come across a word in English that you don\u2019t know, use the English-only dictionary, a Learner’s dictionary. Can you see what we\u2019re doing here? We\u2019re building your mind to work in English mode rather than translation mode. There is a thing called a Learner\u2019s dictionary, and it describes every word in English, in simple words and terms. Try it.\u00a0 Merriam-Webster has one, Oxford, Cambridge. If you have to learn and understand a Not as a translation of your language. word by reading in English, by studying what it means in English, then you\u2019ll know it as an English word. So you\u2019ve named single words, and you\u2019ve made simple sentences. The next step is \u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHave small conversations with yourself in English. With yourself?\u00a0 Yes, you don\u2019t feel pressure to speak quickly, to come up with the next thing. You can keep the pace slow, relaxed. I absolutely did this when learning Spanish. In fact, I remember a car trip I did by myself from Sarasota to Gainesville where the whole time I spoke to myself in Spanish. If this is hard for you, stop and give up. No!\u00a0 It will get better and easier with practice. Do it every day. Set aside 2 minutes every day to have a simple conversation with yourself.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGive yourself 30 days. Do this every day for 30 days. Don’t take a day off. If you have five minutes one day, do it for five minutes. A whole conversation, as simple as it needs to be, in English. In 30 days, you\u2019ll see. Wow.\u00a0 I did improve. This is worth my time. And rededicate 30 more days. Once you\u2019re able to do this, I think you\u2019re able to do step 4, which is really exciting. Change at least one of your everyday life things to English. Everyday life things? What’s that? Switch your calendar to English. Use the English months and days of the week and write what you\u2019re going to be doing in English. Or do you do to-do lists?\u00a0 Try it in English.\u00a0 A\u00a0 grocery list.\u00a0 Or change your Facebook settings so that your language is in English. Everything you see, you’ve got a friend request, and so on, will be in English. Maybe try internet searches in English. Or read an English newspaper, or listen to news in English. Do you write a journal? Try writing it in English. Yes!\u00a0 I love this. Take one thing everyday thing and do it in English. Switch your brain. Every morning when you wake up, before you get out of bed, take two minutes to think about your day in English. Here\u2019s another idea of an everyday thing you can do in English: take one thing like getting dressed, making breakfast, getting from your car to your desk, cleaning up. As you\u2019re doing it, in your head, narrate in English.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLaundry day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThat’s light, that should go there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet’s see. Does this need to be sprayed for stains? Yeah.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBetter spray it. Al l right, let’s load up the washing machine.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThat’s too light, that should go there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, shove it all in.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet’s get some soap. Where is that?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHere it is.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPut it in there, close the door, press ‘start’, there we go!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd here’s another one I love: learn how to do one thing in English. It can be really small, like, how to poach an egg. Research it and learn about it in English only, watch only English videos and read only English instructions. Or maybe it\u2019s something bigger, a bigger project like how to knit or how to draw. Take an online course in English only on that topic. Pick something you\u2019re dying to know how to do anyway. This will make it a super-enjoyable lesson. The next step is something you\u2019re actually going to want to be doing all along, with all the steps, and that\u2019s…\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nKeep track so you\u2019re doing it every day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOnce you choose that you want to think English and stop translating in your head, write down every day what you do. And of course, do this in English. It could look like this:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nToday I named everything around me that I could think of in English two different times. I watched a 3-minute news story in English. Just having a place to write it down can motivate you to do it. And the last thing is something you can do every night after you lay down for bed, motivate you to do it. but before you fall asleep.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRecap your day in English.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou\u2019re taking advantage of this opportunity that you\u2019ll have every day, no matter where you are or what your day was like: no one I know falls asleep the moment their head hits the pillow.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat a lovely day that was. I got to meet my mom for lunch, go for a walk in the afternoon, and I even had time to watch a movie after I put the kids down to bed. And who knows, by putting your mind in English mode just before bed, maybe you\u2019re even setting yourself up to dream in English, continuing your practice. The brain does amazing things with what it\u2019s learned that day while you sleep. <\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nStep one is object naming, so let\u2019s get into that. But first a huge thanks to all my supporters here on YouTube, everyone who has joined my channel, they get special badges to make their comments pop, early release of videos when available, access to members-only posts and videos, and the top tier gets a free monthly audio lesson. Thank you! Click JOIN to learn more.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe strategy we’re going to use today is naming objects in English, and we\u2019re going to use our visual flash cards. This is the first step in training your mind to think in English. We’re going to take a picture, and you’ll be prompted to name different things within that picture. You won’t see the word written, you won’t hear it in your own language, you’ll just have the picture, and your mind will recall the word in English. We’re going to strengthen that ability to think in English by concentrating on it with simple objects.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf you see an object and you’re not sure of the word for it, don’t worry, at the end, we’re going to go over each word so that you can learn the vocabulary that you don’t already know, we’re going to build your vocabulary too. And because you learned it with a picture, you’ll have a visual for it, and that’s going to help you remember the word. If you already know all the words, great! Then this is just a practice in seeing something and recalling the word in English, training your mind. Later in this series, we’re going to train you on sentences and engaging in conversation. Let’s practice. Remember, you’re going to see something, and you should name it in English in your head. You don’t have to say it out loud, just think the word. Ask your mind to get into English mode, and to let go of your native language. A lot of these will be words that you know. So you can see it, think it. See it, think it. Build that connection to thinking in English.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat was that like for you? Was it easy? If so, that’s great! That means you’re already well on your way to having the habit of thinking in English. I’m going to see if I can stump you with some vocabulary later in this video. If that was hard for you, don’t worry, wherever you are, your starting point is okay, and the training starts now. Doing this, doing the training is how you will get better. Let’s review the words now. I’ll say it out loud in case you don’t know the word, you can hear a native speaker saying it. See the object, hear the word, repeat the word in your head, think it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, so this is how it’s going to go. We’re going to train your mind to think in English. Let’s go to the next picture.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWere there any words there you didn’t know? Don’t worry, in the second half of this video, we’re going to go over all the words. But for now, we’re just going to go through a bunch of scenes in a row with objects for you to name. Some will be pretty easy, and some words might be harder, a little bit less common, don’t get frustrated if you can’t do all of these, that is your starting point, and by investing the time here now, you’re taking your first step to improving. Alright, let’s do it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow are you doing? I’m checking in on you. Are you doing okay? We’re halfway through. Let’s keep it up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAre you still thinking in English? Great! Okay, let’s review. There might have been some words in there that you don’t know.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThat one’s less common.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDid you know that plant?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you just said this singular, bicycle.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said stadium, court, or basketball court.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you just said screen.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr you could have said fans, or maybe just people.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said clouds.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHuddle is the word we use when you put your arms around each other like this and gather in a circle.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDid you know this herb?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said mug.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said woman.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said man.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt’s their wedding day so they’ll often be referred to as bride and groom.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said teeth..\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said nail polish.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is also called a lemon wedge.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said picture.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nClassic.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr walking path.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOr maybe you said bow.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis part of the shoe is the sole, and it’s a homophone with the word ‘soul. They sound exactly the same.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow was that? Did you already know all of those words? If so, awesome. You\u2019ve got a great vocabulary. Let\u2019s jump to another video that goes over just naming words that describe what you see.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFirst, you’ll see a picture with different sections highlighted like this.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd when you see it, you’ll think in your head: wing. Then something else will be highlighted and each time you see a different highlight, think the English word. If you don’t know it, don’t worry just wait for the next one. Let\u2019s keep going with that image.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThen you\u2019ll see this.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd you’ll have three seconds to come up with a verb to describe anything that’s happening in the picture. Any verb, any action that’s happening. And then you’ll see this.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd you’ll have three seconds to name an adjective. An adverb would be fine too. Then at the end, we’ll go over everything like this.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWing, beak, claw. Or maybe you just said foot.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFlying or landing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhite, or maybe you said graceful.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI’ll suggest verbs and adjectives that you could have said, but of course you may have come up with something totally different from what I say, and that’s okay. There are no wrong answers here if what you’re saying describes anything that’s happening in the picture. Now if you saw that image, and you said something like drinking Coke. Then that doesn’t actually describe what’s happening, but hey, if your mind said that in English, that’s something! We’re going to move pretty quickly. So just relax, open up your mind, and let the English come in. Remember, you want to direct your mind to go to the English word first. You should know most of these words already, we’re building the skill of recall. We’re going to do a bunch of pictures and then we’ll go over all the words.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n