STOP TRANSLATING! HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BRAIN TO THINK IN ENGLISH

There are four important steps to

finally thinking in English. And in this

lesson, I'm going to give you those four

steps. Are you ready? Well, then let's

jump right in. Step number one,

perception.

Hearing and receiving English.

Perception is the very important step

that I want to start with. This is when

your brain first hears or sees English.

Your brain needs to get used to English

sounds and patterns. This is very

important for thinking in English

automatically. Here's the easiest way to

understand this first step. Think about

a child, a baby, adorable, so cute, not

able to say anything, but constantly

being exposed to a language. constantly

hearing its mother, its father, its

siblings, aunts, uncles speak to it in

this language. It doesn't really

understand fully, but it's constantly

being inundated with the language. This

is step number one, perception, hearing

the language over and over and over

again. So, why is this step, the first

step so important for you as you're

trying to train your brain to think in

English? Reason number one, your brain

gets used to English. Like I was

explaining with the little child, the

baby, so adorable, constantly hearing

the language being spoken. When you hear

English directly, your brain creates

special pathways just for English. For

example, maybe you are Haitian, maybe

you are Italian, so you speak Italian,

or you speak Creole or French. You have

different pathways in your brain already

for your amazing mother tongue. But now

your brain has to create more pathways

for English. And the more you hear

English, the more pathways will be

created in your brain. You don't need

your native language anymore when you

have the pathways ready and set for

English. Reason number two why this step

is so important. You learn English

rhythm. Again, I'm going to reference

the baby. Again, the baby is hearing all

of this English being spoken around it.

It's also hearing the different paces

and rhythm, how people speak. Your brain

starts to expect English sounds and

patterns. Perception again, hearing the

English. Oh, the last time this word was

said, the next word was this. Or the

last time this expression was used, this

was next. Your brain is creating these

patterns as well. And it makes it easier

to understand without translating. This

is why it's so important to hear tons

and tons of English being spoken. Step

number one, perception. Here's the third

reason. you react faster. Good listening

skills remove the small pause where

translation usually happens. You can

think in English right away. So the more

you implement step number one,

perception, allowing yourself to hear

more English. Just take it in like a

baby. Again, taking in the language all

throughout the day. Remember when I was

studying Korean, I was level one. I

couldn't speak Korean well. I knew the

basics, right? But I would allow myself

to be exposed to perceive Korean all

throughout the day. I would play the

news in the background. I would watch

different Korean cooking programs. They

were playing in the background. I

couldn't understand everything. But step

one is all about perception. I was

creating the pathways in my brain for

the language. We're talking about

helping you stop translating and finally

think in English. So, how can you do

this? How can you implement step number

one, the perception step? I want to give

you five ways to improve your English

perception. Step number one, here is way

number one. Copy different English

accents. As you're listening to all this

English, you're going to hear different

accents. Everyone doesn't sound like me,

your teacher, teacher Tiffany. Everyone

doesn't have the same accent. So, I want

you to listen to American accents,

British accents, Australian accents,

speakers using this accent. Repeat what

they say and focus on their rhythm and

stress patterns. You can repeat after

me. You can pause this lesson and try to

repeat after me. But I want you to

listen to different accents. This is

step number one, your perception,

hearing as much as possible in order to

create those pathways in your brain.

Here's the second way you can finally

implement this first step. The second

application, the way to help you start

perceiving more English is to listen to

English in the background. A few moments

ago, I said when I was studying Korean

in South Korea, I lived there for 10

years. I would play it in the

background. I was level one. My English

was not My English was perfect. My

Korean was not good. I would be playing

Korean in the background. This is

important. So, play English podcasts or

videos while you do other things.

Washing the dishes, cleaning your room,

drawing a picture, whatever you're

doing, play it in the background. Even

when you're at work, play it in the

background. Here's the key. Use slightly

faster speeds like 1.25x.

This trains your ear. I mentioned this

in one of our previous lessons about the

importance of playing things just a bit

faster to train your ear. This is the

second way you can improve again

perception. What about this application?

Practice hearing similar sounds. Work on

hearing the difference between similar

English sounds like ship and sheep in

fast speech. For example, I can say the

ship had many sheep on it. Ship sheep.

You want to train your ear to hear the

difference, right? To hear, hey, these

sound similar, but there are subtle

differences. Remember, step one is all

about perception, hearing as much

English as possible. And part of hearing

is deciphering the differences. Here's

another way you can improve this step.

Make English your default language.

Change your phone, change your computer,

change your social media all into

English. Make English the normal

language around you. Remember, you're

trying to train your brain to think in

English. Step one, perception.

Constantly put English in and you will

stop translating. Here's another way for

you to implement step one. Listen to

multiple English sources. Watch English

videos with English subtitles while

listening to English music. Watching and

listening to English podcasts at the

same time. It's going to seem like

confusion at first, but you're watching

an English video. In the background,

there's English music playing and then

maybe somewhere on the left there's a

podcast playing. Think about it. Your

native language, amazing, French,

Spanish, Creole, uh, Spanish. I said

Spanish already. What's another one?

Italian. Whatever your language might

be, you're constantly hearing many

things throughout the day at the same

time in that language. You have to do

the same thing but in English.

Step number one is all about perception.

Allowing your brain to take in to hear

more English to create those pathways.

Are you ready now for step number two?

Yes, my friend. Step number two. Now

it's about comprehension.

Understanding English directly. Step

number two is comprehension. Let me

explain.

This is where your brain understands

what the English words mean. The goal is

to understand English concepts directly

in English, not by translating them to

your native language. First, I'm going

to go back to my initial analogy of the

baby because even in your country,

babies also learn the same way. Step

one, again, perception. hearing all of

the language being used around them.

Then something happens where the baby

starts to comprehend. Wait a minute.

Water. That word is not just random.

When mommy says water, I see this clear

liquid in a glass. Or I see mommy put

this clear liquid in my bottle. Ah, this

is water. Comprehension is starting to

happen. Again, for you trying to train

your brain to think in English. Step two

is about comprehension. You've already

put the English in perception now

comprehension. We have to understand

what the words mean without translating

them. We need them to be connected to

only English. So let me give you some

reasons why this is so important. This

step why direct comprehension prevents

translation.

Number one, the reason is you connect

ideas in English. Remember I said the

baby hears water and sees this clear

liquid. There's the connection, right?

You connect ideas in English. When you

understand English words through other

English words, you don't need your

native language to explain them. When

you understand English words by

connecting them to other English words,

you won't need to translate. Reason

number two why this is so important. Why

direct comprehension prevents

translation. You understand English

specific meanings. Some English ideas

don't translate or exist in other

languages. Direct understanding captures

these special meanings. Let me break

this down. When I was studying Korean,

there were certain concepts or ideas,

words, expressions that I had never been

exposed to. They did not and they do not

exist in English. So even now when I am

trying to explain a Korean phrase, a

Korean word to one of my American

friends, it's tricky because we don't

have that concept in English. So this is

why it's so important as you're learning

English, my friend, and you're trying to

think in English without translating,

you need to learn things in English and

explain them using English because some

things might not may not exist in your

language. Here's the third reason. You

think faster. Understanding directly in

English is much faster than translating

back and forth. And I'm smiling because

this happened just a few weeks ago. I

was on the phone with my friend, my

Korean friend called me and we were

talking and she was we go back and forth

between English and Korean and she said

something in Korean and she's like,

"Wait, Tiff, what is that in English?"

And I immediately understood what she

said in Korean. But when she asked me to

translate it into Korean, into English,

I paused and I was like, "Uh, because

that pathway was not in my brain. That

pathway was only for Korean. Now I was

trying to dissect a Korean pathway in my

brain and connect it to an English

pathway that had never been created. You

see what's happening, right? I

understood directly immediately in

Korean. When she asked me to translate

it to English, that's where the pausing

happened. That's where the confusion

happened. We're trying to eliminate

that. You don't want to translate. You

want to understand directly in the

language you are learning. You got it?

Excellent. All right. So, how can you do

this? How can you actually put this into

practice? Our practical application for

step two, the comprehension. Five ways

to improve direct English comprehension.

So, the first thing you can do is learn

new words in English only. I'm going to

say it again, my friend. Learn new words

in English only. When you learn new

vocabulary, connect it to English words

and pictures you already know. Never

translate. I remember being in class

teaching my students. And I would see

them take out their dictionary and try

to translate. I teach them a word in

English and they try to translate it to

Korean. Sometimes I would allow it

depending on the complexity of the word.

Other times I would say, "No, no, no,

no, no. Think about it. How can you

describe or explain this word in English

without using Korean? You want to try to

learn a word using words you already

know. This is the first method trying to

put this into practice for step two

comprehension. The second thing you can

do, the second application is to use

English dictionaries

only. Listen, when I'm telling you my

friend, I understand your challenge

right now. I understand your desire to

only think in English. The same thing

happened to me when I was studying

Korean. I wanted to only think in

Korean. I wanted to stop translating and

I followed these steps. I came to

understand how the human brain works and

I followed these applications. Number

two, again, use English dictionaries

only. When you don't know a word, look

it up in an English English dictionary,

not an English French dictionary, not an

English Spanish dictionary. Look it up

in an English English English English

dictionary and explain new words using

English you already know. Remember in

class playing a game slashdoing an

activity with my students where I would

have one student see a word in English

and then here or she would have to

explain the word to her teammates or to

his teammates and get them to guess the

word but they could only use English to

explain the word. It helped them improve

their vocabulary. It helped them think

in English. So for you my friend, use

English dictionaries only. Number three,

applying trying to master this second

step of comprehension.

Guess meaning from context. When reading

something, try to understand unknown

words from the situation. Don't look up

every word immediately. As you're

reading something, maybe you're reading

an article, maybe you're on a website,

reading a blog post. You're going to

encounter words that you don't know.

Don't panic. Don't immediately pull out

your dictionary.

Guess. All right. The first two

sentences were talking about this. Then

we have this third sentence with the

word I don't know. What could this

possibly mean? Trust your judgment.

Trust yourself. Just guess. Attempt. Try

to guess the meaning based on the

context. Again, training yourself to

think in English. Number four,

read different types of English. In one

of our previous lessons, I told you the

difference between book English and real

English. Book English is still

grammatically correct. It's just a

different way of speaking, right? It

sounds more more professional, right?

So, you want to read different types of

English. Read English articles about

science, history, business, and culture.

This builds your English knowledge in

many areas. Change it up. You're

watching videos. You're listening to

podcasts. And you're reading about a

myriad of different topics. This is

going to help you think in English. Why?

What was step one?

Yes, you got it. Perception. For those

listening, sorry, that clap was loud.

You perceiving more. Step one, taking it

all in. Step two, comprehension. Now

it's in there and your brain is working

making these connections. You you

learned about science and you learned

about history and you have your

vocabulary database being built and

you're connecting the English pathways.

And what about this one? Think in

English daily. That's right. Daily.

Describe your day, your feelings, your

thoughts to yourself in English.

Practice explaining everything in

English. Today I talked to my friend. We

talked about or we reminisced about, you

know, being back in high school or back

in college years ago. How did I feel? I

felt happy. What else did I feel? Talk

about your emotions. Describe your day.

Express your day in English. Training

your body, training your brain

specifically to think in English. Step

two is

yes, comprehension. It's kind of a cheat

is on the screen, right? Step one,

perception. Step two, comprehension. Now

we start getting even deeper, getting

into step number three. Step number

three is decision

making. Choosing how to respond in

English. Step number three is decision-

making. So let me explain. Your brain

decides now how to respond to what you

heard. Advanced English speakers like

you, come on, claim it. Claim it.

Advanced English speakers like you make

these decisions using English social

rules and communication styles, not

their native cultures way of

communicating. This is when we're

getting deep. Step one, perception.

Hearing a lot of English. Step two,

comprehension. You're understanding the

meanings, connecting to what you already

have. Now, decision-m.

How do I use what I have in my brain? I

have to use it based on what I've seen,

what I've observed other native English

speakers do, how they've spoken, based

on their culture, not on my own culture.

This is when it gets very important.

We're still talking about thinking in

English and bringing everything out.

Step three. So, there are three reasons

why this is so important. Before we get

to the reasons, I want to remind you my

goal is to help you achieve your English

goals. And I hope you're enjoying this

lesson. If you want to continue studying

with me, remember I have a course just

for you called the 365day

English study plan. Every day of the

year, a lesson prepared already for you.

If you want to enroll in the course, go

to speakenglishwithtiffany.com/365

plan. The link is in the description.

And I would love for you to join me and

I want to take you to the next level. So

now we're still talking about thinking

in English. We're on step three,

decision making. Here's the first

reason. The first reason why English

style decisions stop translation. You're

making a decision on how you want to use

what has been put in and comprehended.

Number one, you learn English social

rules. Understanding how English

speakers communicate helps you respond

naturally without translating your

culture's communication style. For

example, when I was learning Korean,

there were certain communication styles

that did not exist in English, in

American culture. I had to learn how to

speak based on Korean culture. You, my

friend, have to learn how to speak

English based on American culture,

right? Cuz I'm an American and I'm

teaching you American English. So again,

you learn English social rules, your

decision- making, how you're going to

use what's inside. Here is the second

reason. The second reason is you handle

emotions in English. You learn to

express feelings and reactions using

English patterns, not by translating

emotions from your native language.

We're still talking about thinking in

English. You have all the information in

that you've heard perception. Now you've

comprehended step two, step three,

decision-making. I have all this

information. I've watched native English

speakers and when they feel this

emotion, this is the word they use. When

they're feeling this emotion, this is

the expression they use. I'm making the

decision because I'm processing it in my

brain. I want to use this because I've

seen Americans do this and use this.

This is my decision. This is what I'm

going to use. Thinking in English in

order to speak English fluently. Third

reason, you choose English communication

styles. You learn when to be direct,

when to be formal or casual in English

without thinking about how your native

language handles these situations. When

you've exposed your self-perception to

so many different situations where

English speakers are discussing things,

then you've comprehended the meaning and

now you're saying, "Ah, in this

situation, this is how they speak. In

this situation, this is the information

or the words they would use." is you

don't have to think about your native

language. You're thinking only in

English.

How can you put this into practice?

Here's the first way. Again, five ways

to improve English decisionmaking. You

have perception, you have comprehension,

now we have decision-making. How can you

do this better? Again, thinking in

English, these processes, these steps.

First, record yourself in imaginary

conversations. Create scenarios. meeting

new people, handling complaints, giving

presentations, and record yourself

responding naturally in English.

Remember, your brain is amazing. You're

training yourself to think in English.

You're practicing these situations so

that when they actually happen, your

brain is like, "Ah, we've done this

before. We have this pathway in the

brain. We've done this before. We've

recorded this and now it's the real life

situation." So, record yourself in

imaginary conversations because as

you're practicing, as you're recording

yourself, you're making decisions.

Here's the second application.

Develop your English personality. Notice

that you might communicate slightly

differently in English. Develop this

English-speaking you with appropriate

humor and social behaviors. And I want

to add a caveat to this. The more

comfortable you become, the more your

real self will come out. So in the

beginning, you're just going to be

emulating or copying what you see. But

you are an individual. You are amazing

and you have your own ideas, your own

style of making jokes or your own style

of speaking. The more confident you

become in your ability to think in

English, to read a situation, to

understand what the vibe is, the more

yourself, the more your true self will

come out. But in the beginning, you're

just copying what you're seeing. All

right, here's the third way. Practice

difficult conversations.

Roleplay job interviews, disagreements,

and important discussions entirely in

English. Remember, you're trying to

train your brain to think in English. In

order for you to train yourself

properly, you have to practice.

Practice these situations. Focus on

choosing the right tone and approach.

I'm not going to be like this if I'm

giving a presentation. I'm going to be

more

poised, composed. Practice this.

Training your brain to think in English.

So, when it happens in real life, you

already have the pathways. Here's

another method. Argue both sides of

complex topics. Man, you're thinking

ahead. If you're going to discuss a

topic, you have your own opinion, but

we're thinking in English. Hey, what are

they going to say? Let me think about

the opposite position. Choose

controversial topics. It's okay. And

record yourself presenting arguments for

both sides in English. This develops

English reasoning patterns. Your brain

is amazing. We're trying to retrain your

brain to think in English. If I were to

ask you a question and told you you

could answer in your native language, no

problem at all. Why? You've spent years,

decades creating these pathways in your

brain and now you're trying to do it in

English. Here's the fifth way. Study how

native speakers actually communicate.

Watch how English speakers handle

difficult situations, give feedback, and

express disagreement. copy these

patterns. Hey, when they're having a

disagreement, I noticed that they'll

restate what the person says before they

give their opinion, before they give

their idea. Thinking in English is not

just about putting the information in.

Number one, perception. It's about

number two, step two, comprehending,

understanding, and then step three,

decision making. What am I doing with

this information in my brain? I'm

watching Americans. I'm watching native

speakers use this information in this

way. I'm deciding to use it that way as

well. Thinking in English, which leads

us to step number four. This is so

powerful. Again, training yourself to

think in English. Step number four. Step

number four is another important step.

And again, I want you to remember, in

order for you to think in English, you

have to make sure you are mastering each

step. Step one, again, real quick,

perception. Step two, comprehension.

Step three, decision- making. Now, we

have step four, language formulation.

Language formulation. This is building

English sentences. So, now we're having

this language formation formulation. So,

your brain puts together English words

and grammar to create your response.

Advanced learners like yourself build

sentences directly in English instead of

creating sentences in their native

language and then translating them.

You're perceiving your perception. Step

one. Step two, yes, comprehension. Step

three, yes, decision-m. Now, we have

step four, language formulation. taking

those parts that you've put in and

comprehended and seen how other native

English speakers have used them and now

you're formulating your own response

only using English. Why is this so

important? Reason number one, you use

English sentence patterns. Building

sentences the English way creates

automatic grammar that doesn't need

translation from your native language

structure. I love this. So, you know,

hopefully maybe you don't. I don't teach

grammar on my channel. I don't teach it

in my academy. Hopefully, you'll join my

academy. However, my students grammar

improves and it's because of this. I

tell them, listen, you're intelligent.

You've learned so many grammar rules. My

academy is for intermediate and advanced

English learners. So, they've learned

the basics. They've learned a lot of

grammar rules already prior to coming to

me. And I tell them, listen, as you're

following the 365day English study plan,

you're going to see videos of me

speaking with other English speakers.

Listen to our patterns. Mimic us, copy

us, and their grammar naturally improves

because they formulate their language,

their sentences based on what they heard

and observed. That's why this is so

important. Reason number two, you learn

natural word combination. You learn

which English words naturally go

together, creating automatic phrases

that sound natural, not translated.

Learning in chunks. I taught you that in

a few lessons prior to this one. And

number three, you use advanced English

style. Direct sentence building lets you

use advanced English features like

different levels of formality and

special expressions that can't be

translated effectively. Again, we're

going back to this idea, this important

idea that translating will limit your

fluency. But if you simply use what

you've heard, what you've observed, you

will sound like a native English

speaker. So, how can you do this? Again,

step four, how can you do this? How can

you improve your English sentence

building for this language formulation

step? Number one, practice complex

English patterns. Work on difficult

English structures like embedded clauses

and conditional sentences until they

become automatic. Focus on patterns your

native language does not have. Listen,

focus on patterns your native language

does not have. I did this when I was

studying Korean. I'm telling you, it

works. It will help you sound more

natural and it will stop you from

thinking in your native language. So

much so that you'll be surprised when

you start speaking and you're like,

"Wait a minute, I didn't translate."

Number two, here's the second way you

can apply this application. Number two,

learn English phrase combinations.

Shut study I'm leaving that in there.

Study how native speakers combine

phrasal verbs, prepositions, and idioms

naturally. Practice using these

combinations smoothly. Practice studying

in chunks the phrases that we use.

Number three, practice different English

styles. Learn to quickly switch between

formal, informal, academic, and casual

English in the same conversation. For

example, I can switch up to Ebonics

slang real quick as I'm speaking to you.

Or I can change my speech to use certain

vernacular that will help you understand

from a professional standpoint. You can

switch back and forth. And you need to

practice this. Focus on changing

vocabulary and sentence structure.

Again, training your brain to think in

English, forcing it, pushing it. Number

four, master English organization

patterns. Learn English ways of

organizing ideas like problem solution

or cause and effect. I am a very

organized person. I love organizing

again, which is why I organize study

plans for my students. And I'd love

again for you to follow the study plan.

I love organizing things. You have to

learn how to organize your thoughts like

a native English speaker. Also, learning

persuasion techniques that are specific

to English thinking. For example, I

teach lessons where you give your idea

and you support it with three reasons or

you give your idea and you support it

with three examples. This is thinking

and organizing your thoughts in the way

a native English speaker would. And

number five, practice fast English

speaking. Practice explaining complex

ideas in English under time pressure.

Hey, give me your thoughts, support, and

three reasons in less than 60 seconds.

Practice this. This forces your brain to

use English patterns automatically

without time to translate. This is so

important. I want you to put this into

practice. So again, we have our four

steps. Four steps to help you finally

start thinking in English. My friend, I

hope you enjoyed this lesson. Don't

forget if you want to keep studying with

me, go to

www.speenglishwithtiffany.com365

plan and I have a lesson for you each

day of the year to take you to the

advanced level. I'll talk to you in the

next lesson.

[Music]

you still there?

You know what time it is? It's story

time. Hey. Hey. Hey. I said it's story

time. All right. This is a short story

that brings so much joy whenever I think

about this story. So, uh, one of my

closest friends, uh, we met in South

Korea. Her name is Angel Funji. Hi,

Angel. I think she might be watching

this. Um, so she got married. She

married actually one of my students. So

they're married. They have two kids and

she had her kids during CO. So I wasn't

able to see her first son um until after

CO was over. So anyways, I went to go

visit them and the youngest was I think

he might have been six or eight months

and then the eldest was I think about 2

or 3 years old. So anyways, I went to

stay and visit them for about a week and

a half um in South Korea and the eldest.

So I would play with them a whole lot

and I remember one morning I had left my

room, my room at their apartment and I

had my computer out and I went to go

talk to my friend Angel. And the door

was open so the kids could go in and

out, you know, we didn't care. Um I

didn't care at all. So the eldest had

went into my room. It's fine. I'm

thinking he's playing on the bed or

whatever and I'm talking to Angel and

all of a sudden it had been at least

3 or 4 minutes and it was very quiet.

Now, if you've ever been around kids, if

you have kids, you already know when you

have a child that is two or three years

old that has been quiet for an extended

period of time, something ain't right.

And that was Ebonic. That was that was

slang. Something ain't right.

Something's wrong. So I paused. I said,

"Wait a minute, Angel. I'll be right

back." So I walked into my bedroom and

the eldest was sitting in my chair at my

computer and I was like, "O." And so I

called his name and he turned and all I

saw was lotion all over his hands.

And then I looked at the computer and

there was lotion all over my laptop. And

I said, "Oh no." But then he looked at

me and my heart was just warm. He had

the biggest smile on his face and he's

like, "Titi." It was like, he was three

years old, covered in lotion. My

computer was covered in lotion, but he

had the biggest smile on his face. And I

was like, "All right, baby." First, I

wanted to make sure he hadn't ingested

or like taken in like cuz it was all

over his face, too. So, I picked him up

and I took him to my friend and I was

like, "Hey, just to make sure he didn't,

you know, it's not like all I had lotion

on my desk, but he was fine." Then I

went back to my computer. It was covered

covered in lotion. So, I was able to

wipe my computer. The computer was fine.

But what I will never forget is him

turning around, his hands covered in

lotion and his face covered in lotion

with the biggest smile, saying, "Ti."

Kids will brighten up your day even when

a situation is serious. So I will never

forget that as even as he gets older,

I'll remind him of the time he covered

my computer in lotion and his little

face was covered in lotion, but he had

the biggest smile on his face. I hope

your kids or your nieces, nephews, and

your friends kids have brought you just

as much joy as he did that day to me.

All right, I will talk to you in the

next lesson.