Thinking in Spanish

This may sound like quite a challenge but to become completely fluent in Spanish you will eventually want to start thinking in Spanish. As with most people the tendency is to translate the words they read into their native language. Also when speaking Spanish the general habit is to think of a sentence in English and then translate it step-by-step into the equivalent Spanish sentence.

I personally promote these instinctive habits as a fast way to learn a new language and trying to think in Spanish right from the start I personally believe would be somewhat of a challenge. However to gain complete mastery of the Spanish language your end goal should be to think the way a native Spanish speaker would.

Thinking in another language as you can imagine is not a skill that is easy to explain or put into words. I mean it’s hard to imagine a world where your internal thoughts were not formed with the words of the English language let alone being able to switch between Spanish and English in your mind as and when you please.

Trying to teach someone how to think in Spanish is like trying to explain how to drive a car or ride a bike. No matter how much you told someone what the pedals in a car did and how you are supposed to use them they still wouldn’t instinctively know how to drive without actually getting in the car and giving it a go.

This is exactly the same thing when you want to teach yourself how to think in Spanish. You just have to start doing it. OK well I will give you one piece of advice. When your just out doing your daily activities; talking to friends, at work on the phone or looking at a sign try translating what you see, hear, say into Spanish. The same way every time you translate Spanish back to English for comprehension try doing the opposite and you will soon find yourself starting to build the habit of thinking in Spanish.

Image courtesy of arvindgrover