Stop Translating in Your Head: How to Think in a Foreign Language

[@LucaLampariello]

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[@AdamDylanMajor]

How can one not translate in his head if he improves his level through bi-directional language translation?

[@cshaffer1847]

Luca: The brain is like a recorder, it records *everything* me: yeah, I think mine is broken

[@MaricaAmbrosius]

C Shaffer On playback, perhaps.

[@olegcherkasky2755]

No one's is "broken". The problem, in my case, is that I'd remember random words and phrases sometimes but never when I actually need them. I'm studying German and I've had a lot of trouble speaking it last time I visited in Austria despite spending a lot of time studying German, I usually understood more than I could say. It's normal and you kind of have to deal with that. I speak 3 languages fluently, which really doesn't do much to change the fact that studying languages I don't speak is pretty difficult.

[@Kojitsu]

Try mnemonics. It's when you create an association with a word that links to the translation somehow because you store the information through more neural pathways and thus it is more likely to be retrieved. For example, the word for 'every day' in Japanese is 'mainichi'. It almost kind of sounds like "mine itchy", and the scenario/association is that "my knee itches every day". Mainichi = Every Day. You'll have to get pretty creative, in fact, the more ridiculous the association, the better you remember. I still remember vocabulary I learned like 10 years ago using this method and I made no effort to retain them after the fact. More than half the vocabulary I learned through rote memorization I have forgotten.

[@luishumberto2118]

@@Kojitsu Hi. Ty for the advice. I'll follow it.

[@solea59]

Are you giving up before really getting started ? Give yourself time. When you sit down to dinner , do you upend the plate and pour it into your mouth in one go ? No, you take small pieces. If your aim is to impress people by speaking then you will fail. Think of this : Most people cannot be bothered to learn anything after leaving school. Learning is life's marathon, it's not a sprint. Give yourself time ! 🙂

[@kochkochkoch]

This actually happened to me with English completely by accident. I had been watching movies and playing videogames in English, and one day I just realized I wasn't mentally translating stuff anymore.

[@SM-ge7ee]

Same happened to me. I’ve learned Japanese and when I read a manga (a Japanese styled comic) I just read it without translating. It feels so great like it just flows throughout your mind without even realizing it

[@harawibj1085]

@@SM-ge7ee that happens to avoid the routine of translating every single word and "consume" all of your content in various ways as much as you can in your target language.

[@noanimepolice84]

Same, Now i wanna learn germanish

[@tsukuyo893]

@@SM-ge7ee hey same for me, i've started reading manga in japanese and it more or less flows in my mind..but it also feels weird because deep down i feel the need to translate and so im unsure if im really understand what im reading, same for english, im french but pretty much bilangual (mentaly, cause i don't practice much lol)

[@gabrieeuluzumaki6155]

Me too, i used to watch, listen, read and write everything in english, then one day i’ve also realized that I wasn’t mentally translating anymore so it makes us fluent, I remember I saw a video saying "when you stop translating in your mind it means you’re fluent" 😎😎

[@jonathansgarden9128]

For me, thinking in Spanish (my target language) has been occuring as a result of just speaking with people in Spanish. It forces me to think quickly

[@gwillis01]

That's a good insight Jonathan

[@christinechen7711]

I can agree with this. Despite having a firm grip of the the English grammar, i can't seem to say them as quick as i wanted to. Talking to natives has improved my "speed" drastically. There really has to be balance between input and output.

[@MakaylaChildress]

i'm learning right now and i have noticed that there are some words that my mind just gravitates to in Spanish (my target language). i've only just begun, but i hope to become more fluent and conversational in the coming months and hopefully i can think in Spanish too

[@diariosdelextranjero]

¿Ya no sientes que estás traduciendo frases de inglés a español?

[@harawibj1085]

hey I am a Peruvian Spanish speaker, we can help us to improve our target languages, I am polishing American English focus mainly on writing but I like to speak a lot too.

[@daysandwords]

Thanks Luca! Your point about "massive input" is an underrated one in the language learning world. I said almost that exact thing in a video about 6 weeks ago - we tend to think that ~300 hours or something is enough to speak a language, but someone between the age of 2 and 16 will get about 300 hours of input in their native language per MONTH. Also, a lot of us should "dumb it down", watch kids' shows, read short books, listen to kids' audio books etc etc. Thanks for being so well researched Luca, you're the best!

[@Coolbaire]

Totally agree 👍

[@BrianOSheaPlus]

The massive input part of language study sometimes feels like the hardest thing to motivate myself to do, because many of the sources of that input are unidirectional, like television or books, and they use a level of language proficiency that is much higher than my level while learning. This creates a barrier that is hard to overcome until I reach that level of proficiency. I found the most effective way was to immerse myself in the culture where the language is spoken. I know it isn't always feasible to do that, but it was the fastest way for me to learn, and I was lucky to be able to do it by taking some time off and living there. I can try to say something in my limited, simplified form, and listeners will be able to understand me and respond in simple language, much the way an adult talks to a young child. The back-and-forth with steady increases in complexity really helped me learn quickly.

[@slappy8941]

I'm studying French, and I find that children's content is the best way to get started, because the concepts and grammar are simple, and the pace is usually slow.

[@daysandwords]

@@slappy8941 - YEP! Also, particularly with French, adults audio books can work fine (I say this about French because so much vocab is shared with English), as long as you listen to them LOTS and not just once. I have a video about this (how to learn languages 'like a child').

[@sub2pewdeadpie]

I watch masha and the bear and peppa pig in French for input with French subtitles for reading

[@lalegende2746]

I’m starting to have more and more dreams in French nowadays, and I’m really excited!

[@Io.shyy1]

That’s so cool,I’m happy for you 😊

[@fuchsia02]

What I just started having dreams in Spanish (sometimes I don’t even understand them lol) so is that a good sign?

[@paulaguevara3870]

@@fuchsia02 Really? I'm a native Spanish speaker and sometimes I have the same in English...

[@itsrx870]

@@fuchsia02 I have the same in chinese sometimes it’s words I don’t understand but I recognize the audio from series I have watched. The brain is amazing it records everything.

[@theprodigalson4003]

Est ce que ton ou aujourd’hui mon ami

[@gghdkkliam3390]

The reason why I love Luca is because he does summaries at the end of videos.sometimes for me as a language learner, it’s a little bit hard to remember every tips when the video ends because I concentrated too much on the language instead of the content. And the summaries make his videos so well organized. I appreciate what u been doing here.

[@AniishAu]

When I learned Spanish (living in Argentina), once I reached a point of relative competency, I made a determination to translate every single thought I had into Spanish. After some time Spanish thoughts came directly, without translation.

[@michavandam]

The summary starts at 7:19.

[@crystalrobins1378]

Thank you so much

[@doodoofungus8206]

THANK YOU

[@technic1285]

God bless

[@michavandam]

@Jack L But does Luca Lampariello too?

[@MarsellaFyngold]

Ah bless. Thank you!

[@ouino]

Awesome video Luca! Translating in your head is almost inevitable in the beginning. The words in your native language are so strong in your mind and will be your obvious “go to”. The more you learn, the stronger the new words will become and the less translation will happen in your mind. Like you said, with lots of exposure and practice, the words will move to your subconscious mind and will start coming out naturally without translation.

[@LucaLampariello]

Thanks for the great comment! And I see that you yourself have a nice channel dedicated to languages, great stuff =)

[@Sldp90]

Listening and reading everyday in your target language does actually work! I did that for a while with portuguese and after a few days of doing this I ended up thinking in portuguese directly instead of filtering it through my spanish. It's the best way! And also trying to learn new words by context and not by translating. Use the translator only when necessary, but if you want to remember that word, it is best to do by context.

[@limaceaae]

The sound of Luca's voice is very friendly and calm. I think it helps a lot to transmit his message. His speaking voice kind of capture my attention. If I'm to become an youtuber, I'd like to speak like this.

[@idonthaveanygoodnametouse1704]

* thinks in Spanish * Duolingo owl: NO! IT'S ALL WRONG! 🔫🦆

[@matthewpunk2012]

*🦉

[@sashimi879]

That's a duck

[@goawayplease6456]

Family gone furniture covered in blood

[@lukesmith8896]

mon amie le chouette est *un chouette!*

[@thestuff1014]

When I learn languages, I initially translate everything in my head. Over time, however, I get used to new words and forget about their literal meaning. After a while I start to understand a foreign language without translating. I am a Pole. I permanently live in the UK. I know Italian, Spanish, French and German at a medium level. The longer I spend time with these languages, the less I translate it into Polish or English. I think it's a natural process.

[@eloquentlyemma]

Thank you. I am a native English speaker and I am currently learning Scottish Gaelic. The techniques are really helping me.

[@spuditgang]

And I thought me learning Mongolian was useless

[@EnglishCoach3Ts]

I love thinking of my native language as a companion. What a great way to make it positive. Great video! Great tips! I love your laid back, welcoming, positive vibe!

[@Kianglekable]

You're absolutely right I speak six languages and have a working knowledge in another four What I actually delve into each unique culture associated with the language, and it has worked so far Languages, to me, are intellectual vessels or media of particular, unique cultures

[@jacobtb1]

This is the most sensible approach I've heard regarding language learning.

[@shaungordon9737]

I'm a native English-speaker, and I've learnt French. But when I listen to them speak, I can't help but have to translate in my head what they're saying and then if they speak too fast I can't keep up and can't understand them. It's frustrating. I try to just 'listen', but I can't understand them at all if I do that.

[@thiagoaugusto9262]

I'm a native portuguese speaker as well as I'm learning your native language. It happens with me as well. When you speak faster I end up being lost and I have to think in my native language. That's horrible

[@maybethisismarq]

Ouais, moi aussi. Mon premier langue est langlais mais je constamment traductrice le francais dans ma tête.

[@sub2pewdeadpie]

I am learning French listen to kids cartoons like masha and the bear and peppa pig in French to get used to the speed

[@Rinabow]

For me, I don't have difficulty with this, because I treat new words in other languages like an extended vocabulary rather than defining them entirely by what they mean in English. I don't have to mentally translate when reading or listening, because the words feel like synonyms to me, in the same way I'd think of "funny" and "amusing" as being other words for the same thing. In fact, listening really helps cement that connection, because the context of the conversation or situation really helps me connect that word to the actual concept. Like playing a video game and knowing that 攻撃 means attack, because it's the thing I always do to my enemy, or that "fiets" means bicycle because you can't live in the Netherlands and not own one.

[@nathanlaoshi8074]

I'm anglophone as well, and presently a French teacher. My advice: don't give up. Simple as that. The stage you're at is as normal as it is frustrating. I spent the first three months in France (more than 30 years ago) going through exactly what you've described, and thought I must be a moron. Eventually, I could understand most of what was being said, but didn't have the time for reflection in order to respond before the conversation went on. By the end of my stay I had achieved conversational fluency; it took more time (years, in fact) to build levels of sophistication. You could say I gained proficiency through stubbornness, although there was a decent amount of desire to succeed as well. Allez-y, vous gagnerez!

[@robertosoto1370]

I'm a native spanish speaker so my parents inmigrated from Mexico to the u.s in 1940 i was supposed to learn English as a second language, but when they moved from El Paso tx to Los Angeles i was 14 yrs old & happened to moved in the area of montebello Calif. around East los Angeles area we moved to an old house & our neighbors happened to be Italians the Armenti family i have never been good in mathematics , but i picked up English & Italian real quick because the armenti's daughter happened to be my age at first i was very confused because i was picking italian faster than english because both languages come from the same family of languages romance,then as the weeks & months went by started getting confused & i thought, i was going bananas! When the history teacher was asking me what was the year of the declaration of independence i would answer rigth, but i would mix spanish e italian instead of answering only in english "en el ano di mille setecento setanta e sei,fue declarada la independencia de los estados unidos."she would looked at me with a puzzled look & say ; excuse what did you say??? It took me over a year to get used to have 3 language swimming around my brain, but finally started to answer in english, the official language in ln los angeles calif u.s.a.kids in school would make fun of me calling me "Al Pacino from chihuahua , mexico" but when i realized who Al Pacino was & Juliana told me he was a huge Star in hollywood from Italian descendancy i wasn't mad i was very flattered!! It took me quite a while to get acostumed my brain to three languages that i actually can say i was very lucky to have Juliana as my neighbor for over 4 yrs in the long run she became fluent in spanish!! & i became fluent in italian!!

[@msjennifer0864]

Yes, we do indeed learn a new language subconsciously as well as deliberately. When I listen to podcasts in my target language I find it much easier to think in that language.

[@parthapdebnath]

My target language is Spanish and I dedicate myself doing all these immersion techniques to get hold of my input strategy.. 1. Music and movies 2. Podcasts 3. Listening to native via call, videos etc. 4. Maintaining a journal, where I write my thoughts in Spanish. 5. Reading Easy (Children) Books.

[@jeanettekeegan471]

Thank you again. I’m learning Czech. I find your information, always, helpful.

[@ma.eugenialujan5454]

I've just discovered your channel and I love it! Im an English teacher, my mother language is Spanish, and actually what you say is 100 per cent true!!!

[@kmparadice6254]

I'm not sure what your background is other than language, but you use techniques in your videos that mirror techniques I learned training as an educator. For example, in this video you used one of those techniques: "Tell them what you are going to teach them; teach them; then tell them what you taught them." May sound trite but it is effective. Thanks for the content.

[@luiszelaya7767]

I've been using the "break down method" I gotta say that it worked a lot such as Luca says. it's pretty important to use your native language like a back-up in order to enhance your own learning method so I'm totally agree with Luca about "massive input" it worked so well cause you're breaking things down at doing it. Thanks Luca your advices are absolutely priceless. Bless you!

[@nazzarenogavini2649]

You're great Luca. I have been studying english and french for at least many years and I've boosted a good fluency after studying day by day following british youtubers, reading books, surrounding me with the language even thinking for few minutes in that target language. Trying to translate speech from TV, radio, friends etc is definitely helping me. Personally I think to have reached a good fluency level, almost next to the advanced one. The school helped me a lot with grammar first of all but, the passion for learning foreign languages and constancy boosted my learning. Thank you so much, for your pieces of advices.

[@Emile.gorgonZola]

Nazzareno Gavini Honey you've made so many mistakes in English in this comment

[@anthony9356]

Cut it out with the “boosted”

[@maybethisismarq]

@@Emile.gorgonZola calm down hes trying

[@gotterdammerung6088]

@@Emile.gorgonZola Lmfao Be supportive of him.

[@crazymadstriker766]

@@Emile.gorgonZola hes pretty understandable though so he is doing well

[@LucaLampariello]

Do you think directly in your target language or you translate from your mother tongue? Eager to know your methods and techniques!

[@hikaronoronha2375]

Sometimes I think in my target language, sometimes I think in my mother tongue, how to enhance this?

[@jonathansousajr8349]

I translate when a word from a different language comes to my mind first as I'm speaking, but as I progress these are more often just the "academic language" words (precise words of lower frequency). The high-frequency words and sentence structures become automatic. As you say, there's no reason to worry about it, it's natural for the mind to use the tools closest to hand. You pick up the wrench out of habit but notice you need the pliers instead, so you set down the wrench and pick up the pliers.

[@EnglishCoach3Ts]

I do some of both. I am noticing that bit by bit I am thinking more in my target language. One thing that helped me was to learn some phrases I use to think - in my target language. For example, when I think in my native language I say to myself, "let me think." I have learned how to say this in my target language and it helps keep me in the flow of that language.

[@Tehui1974]

I've been learning my target language for nearly 4 months now. I'm somewhere between an elementary - intermediate level of fluency. I'm not thinking in my target language yet, but I know that I will have to in order to improve.

[@EnglishCoach3Ts]

@@Tehui1974 I get what you are saying. It is tricky to think in our target language and it is necessary. I think it is a process and as we work on it, it happens bit by bit. At least that is my experience.

[@jamesmccloud7535]

Thank you Luca for this! I've learned lots of Spanish by taking advantage of my native language which is Tagalog. It has lots of similarities to Spanish but I always doubt if I should really be translating. This video cleared some things for me so thank you as always!

[@fawaz-qo1mq]

man, i hope that whatever you are wishing right now comes true, and just want to let you know that i see a wonderful spirit.

[@шибкоумнаяоднако]

You mean, I'm not just hanging in English-speaking KZbin and sometimes readin' comments for fun, but I do improve my English? Well, next time if someone will ask me what I'm doing after work, I'll say "I'm learning English by using comprehensible input method". Darn, such a great idea, I'm not just a lazy bum anymore!

[@patfromamboy]

I’ve been studying Portuguese for 9 years now but I still have to translate everything into English to understand. I’ve visited Brasil 18 times but I still can’t understand what people are saying. I practice every day with my girlfriend who only speaks Portuguese but I still can’t understand her after practicing for 6 years now with her. It’s frustrating because I haven’t been able to converse yet after studying for 9 years, I thought I would be able to read and converse.

[@elizabeths50]

What I think is awesome, is someone explaining to me, whose native language is Italian, about how to translate Japanese, while explaining it to me in English. It shows more about how well you have learned to speak, understand and translate a language, by using other languages to explain the technicalities of learning other languages. As a native English speaker, I discovered, myself, how to remember words in, say Irish, by memorizing it in Hebrew. And I found that out by accident. I didn't realize at first that I had read the Irish, and automatically went to Hebrew to translate the Irish words. Kinda hard to explain, since I am not fluent in Hebrew (not false modesty, I have never even had a conversation, for the most part, in Hebrew, just studied the heck out of it), but have been learning it a lot longer than any other language, spending more time learning it, than any other.

[@serenity0367]

Elizabeth Salvatore That actually makes a lot of sense! That way your eficiantly learning two or three languages at once since yoy would need to know the first one to be able to translate through the others!

[@AnjolaoluwaAwe]

I really need this- I can think in my first 4 languages which I’ve been speaking since childhood but not at all in the last 3 which I’ve learnt mostly in a school environment 🤦🏿‍♀️

[@ariawhyte9205]

Are you Belgian?

[@testedalexthegreat1759]

Is that why your name is an incoherent mess?

[@kmradosevich]

@@testedalexthegreat1759 you know not everyone has a english name lol

[@testedalexthegreat1759]

@@kmradosevich A name is a name no matter the language, names transcend language, my name isn't English, what I made was mainly a joke that looking back on, was rude.

[@shapiro9640]

Your video has really helped me with learning French. Thank you Luca! 😊

[@gyurimirk9534]

Köszönöm Luca, nagyon hasznos tanácsok, javaslatok. Szép napot!!

[@realenglishconversations]

I completely agree and share your views on translation and leveraging it. My students are also scared to translate and have been told it's a bad thing to translate. For me, it feels like my native language is my support and is available to suggest some ideas when I'm missing something in my target language (Spanish). Probably 95% of the time, I'm not thinking in English, I'm just speaking in Spanish until I hit a phrase or a word I'm completely missing and my thoughts have to jump over to my native language to find a synonym or an alternative way to finish the idea. It certainly didn't start out this way (there was A LOT more translation going on at a lower level), but in the advanced stage, translation reduced significantly. Great advice! I'll be sharing this video with my students that are concerned about it. Sometimes hearing the same advice from multiple sources is more influential to start undoing the belief of the 'translation problem'.

[@m.t.vandersmookie1150]

When I had a dream in Italian a little over a month ago I woke up and nearly cried of joy because it was the first time I subconsciously thought in Italian

[@qasimansari7540]

Very handy advice Luca! I have been living in Italy for more than 3 years now and learning Italian has always been a struggle. However, I have realized that my attitude is the biggest obstalce in my way. Onwards and upwards!

[@elvispresly2802]

Hi, Luca! You are right as always. I would like to share my technic to think in a foreign language: I tell my brain that it doesn't have its native language. Forget about it. Which difference is on which language to think? No difference. So, think in a target language if you want to think. You don't have words? Use a dictionary. Do you need grammar? What is the problem? I give you everything you needs. And you are right, Luca, it tries to build very simple sentences, at first. It is hard, but it gets used to it. When it is completely tired and exhausted I let it think in a native language and do things which it likes some time to relax and recover. Then I repeat that again and again. After a while, it gets used to it and a foreign language is not already that one. P.S. I know it sounds a little crazy but it works for me, at least :) My best teachers are Google and KZbin.

[@rubylimey7614]

I like this idea...it forces u to find the words...will try it!

[@elvispresly2802]

@@rubylimey7614 Hi! Notice, we all think by usual phrases and constructions. What we need it just changes words in them.

[@freibylogos]

These Lampariello videos are my comprehensive Input to learn English. Thank you very much. I'll be grateful with anyone that corrects my english errors, thanks to you too.

[@aprendiendoaaprenderingles]

That's great! All that is working for me. 6 months since I started this process of learning English, and it has been amazing. I can see myself learning more languages!!! I like it!

[@Markussiemens658]

I cant help but be amazed every time i listen to someone speaking english and not beeing forced to translate what they are saying, just understanding. Maybe it would be better if you know defenitions of words in your target language, instead of knowing the defenition of the translation in your native language. (Not a nativ english speaker)

[@Ronxer12]

I am currently fluent in German (Spanish being my mother language) and I rarely use the dictionary, it's always translations. I, however, focus on getting my translations in context. So if I'm reading a book, I'll focus on the context of the word, and using the closest thing I have to translate. So if it works better in English, I'll translate it to that, if Spanish works better, I'll use that. It works well for me, and gives me a really abstract definition of the word, instead of something too exact... That works better for me. For example: Ich lese das Buch. I would translate this to: Ich: I Lese: Leo (spanish for read) Das: The Buch: Book Hope that helps you. :)

[@sam_ram]

Everyone's talking about massive input and how it is a great point, and I agree. But I was really amazed by how good your English is! You sound like a native speaker

[@luxikuisesti231]

Obviously, thumbs up Luca. No words for your pieces of advice!

[@kierascrafts]

My first 2 languages are irish and English and since the age of about 5, I’ve been learning them simultaneously. When I’m speaking one of those languages, I can think in the other. It’s just something I’m able to do

[@delph1906]

Amazing! Absolutely great advice! You actually describe language learning in the way it's supposed to be viewed as. A journey from your native tongue into a new one. Very few polyglots seem to be as helpful and realistic about language learning as you

[@denirocastle132]

This is a lot of great advice, I am teaching my self Spanish and Russian, my Spanish friend said I know a lot of Spanish but I need to practice more listening and I am doing just as he said and u, I was learning Russian on and off but now I am really serious, u want to be a polygot it’s so cool to switch tongues

[@bobbybrown2023]

Great advice as always, Lucca! I think in the beginning of your language journey, it may almost be required to translate in your head into your native language when the language you're trying to learn is so foreign to you. As a native English speaker, languages like French and Portuguese were much easier to learn without having to translate. With so many cognates and similar words, it was never that vital. I'm currently learning Japanese, however, which makes speaking without translating far more difficult. I've learned to imagine the word I'm speaking. It helps when it's a noun because objects, people, places, etc. are more vivid in your head than a verb which can be more abstract. With verbs, I always associate it with an accompanying noun and from there, I imagine the action taking place whenever I say or hear that verb until I master it. Input, as Lucca mentioned, is also so key, especially for distant languages like Japanese. As for similar languages like Romance languages, I've found that little input is required if you already speak one or two of them. The key in this case is to simply speak immediately. Input is always necessary as you'll need to be able to understand native speakers speaking at a rapid pace with all of their colloquialisms, verbal ticks, and less than clear pronunciation. In terms of retaining and internalizing vocabulary, however, I think input is far more input for languages like Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, etc. than Spanish, French, and Portuguese when you already speak some of those languages.

[@mr88cet]

Great topic! Native-English (American) speaker here. I took 5 years of Spanish way back in junior and senior high school. But far more interestingly, I took up Mandarin Chinese at age 45, and my wife and I mostly speak Mandarin at home in Austin TX. My high-school Spanish curriculum went to great pains to never use even a single word of English in class. Rosetta Stone Mandarin Chinese does the same. However, my first exposure to Mandarin was through Pimsleur, which is entirely translation-based. Having done both translating and not, I’ve decided that whether you *learn* through translation or not is not super-important. The only thing that matters is how you *practice* the language! For me in Mandarin, my wife sometimes criticizes me, when I stumble for lack of vocabulary, for not just saying the English word instead. Curiously, I usually find that hard to do! My brain is usually so firmly in Mandarin mode, that it’s harder to switch mode and back out the sentence to conjure up the English word! So, in short, it’s all about practicing in the target language, far more so than transition or not within the teaching method, and I’d say ditch your native language ASAP.

[@davidwise1302]

Inputs in the target language are very important. We're basically learned three skills: reading, listening, and speaking. Speaking can be problematic, but reading and listening tie much more directly with thinking in the language. You read something (a constant habit for me, even while watching movies and TV) and you might not understand every single word that you see, but you understand the meaning that it conveys. In some cases, you recognize the meaning conveyed by component parts of a word you don't know, so you understand what it's telling you without resorting to translating it. For that matter, when I'm asked to translate it into English for a companion, I often find that very difficult to do -- I know what it says, but I don't quite know how to put it into English. That indicates to me that I'm thinking in the language. That is more the case with listening to spoken language. You can't catch all the words, but you can get a feeling for what is being said. If you have to translate everything, then you simply will not be able to keep up. Unfortunately, some words can be very important. In one trattoria the waitress asked if we had already ordered. I did not catch the word "gia" and thought that she asked if we were ready to order, so I answered in the affirmative and she left.

[@beargrylls7399]

Very nice..immerse yourself in the language.

[@Cubanbearnyc]

Great videos, not just this one, but all of them. Very insightful comments.....

[@atverde]

Really useful analysis, thanks! I am an improving Spanish speaker. Your point about trying to sound as articulate in your acquired language as you are in your native language stood out to me. I sometimes struggle in conversation because I try to say things in a way that I would normally do in English. It is a really hard habit to break.

[@marcobaluardo196]

Noway ! Ho aperto il video senza leggere il nome del canale e quando hai detto che sei italiano mi sono shockato. Hai una pronuncia perfetta complimenti!!

[@julialianjosecarrera5649]

Please do more multilingual videos

[@LucaLampariello]

Will be done =) Next one is in English, then French. Preparing one in Russian and a multilingual one too. Stay tuned =)

[@KiralearnsNorwegian]

This is great information, Luca, thank you! I've been learning Norwegian for a while now, but I'd like to accelerate my progress!

[@slowlearner4341]

I definitely like your videos, Luca. It's hard to believe that English is not your native language. Thank you very much.

[@Aritul]

Thank you for taking the time to make these videos and providing us with these tips.

[@wchu5518]

I am fluent in both English and Cantonese. I learned French while I was in school but never used it outside of the classroom. However, the grammar and ideas behind French have helped me with learning Brazilian Portuguese. I can translate simple phrases from Brazilian Portuguese into Cantonese and vice versa. I agree with your idea of massive input - books, music videos, movies and lessons.

[@darlenefarmer5921]

One of the best things that I can do for my brain as I get older is learn another language. I am currently learning Spanish (Mexican). I think your channel will help me in my learning process. Thank you.

[@soymilka9875]

I'm currently studying Italian. Today I overheard two Spanish professors speak to eachother, and amazingly I could understand their conversation so easily.

[@AquesticYT]

mikayla | Watch “LangFocus” here on KZbin. He explains the similarities between Spanish and italian. I believe around 89% of the language have cognates in the other. But he said there are also fake friends. Like a word in Spanish and Italian that sound very similar but mean different things. Anyhow, you probably did understand them word for word because the false friends words are quite rare to come across.

[@LithiumDarklight]

As a native Romanian, except Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, I've studied all my languages through English. With Japanese, because is not an Indo-European language, the English meaning often is flat and I try to think only in Japanese. Same in Chinese, because you have to learn Kanji, the meaning of a word is much more rich in nuances. Serbian, Hindi/Urdu, Sanskrit or Bengali, even if use different writing systems I didn't thought that are complicated as Japanese. Japanese seams to be like Asiro-Babylonian language ( Semitic language using Sumerian (non-semitic) having a sign with different readings/meanings) or Hittite Language ( Indo-european using Asiro-babylonian and Sumerian Cuneiform). Japanese is beautiful because is hard

[@Emile.gorgonZola]

ジョン dude improve your English lmao

[@Wazkaty]

@@Emile.gorgonZola How many languages can you speak? Correctly? If you're so gifted, my English is a caricature of English so I need help to improve myself. Can you?

[@cjames8876]

Luca, I love your language learning tips. I have been studying/learning Spanish for close to 2 years now. I will definitely start using the episodic method when I encounter a new word or sentence. By the way, you speak languages beautifully.

[@EduBarbosa08]

I’m a native Portuguese speaker, from Brazil and I’m fluent in English. I am now living in Germany and I have taken years of German before, although at the moment I don’t feel like I’ll be able to be as fluent as I am in English. I know it takes time, but it’s just very frustrating when you’re in that stage where you can understand some things but you feel like you can’t talk. I will follow your tips and I’ll let you know when I become fluent 😊

[@Buttercup697]

Muy útil... gracias!

[@tydalm.9665]

Vera F. Birkenbihl, who was a German expert on brain friendly learning, developed a great method to learn languages back in the days. It works without learning vocabulary and specifically targets the connecting and simplifying aspects of learning a language. The method has four steps and the first and important steps work like this. 1. step. "Decoding" of the foreign language: Given that you have some audio and its transcription, you are going to translate the text in your mother language. However you don't translate to get perfect sentences in your mother tongue, but you translate word by word and keep the syntax (and maybe grammar) of the target language, this is called "decoding" I will give you an example in Chinese. The sentence 到中国饭馆怎么走？ translates to "How do I get to the Chinese restaurant?", but would be decoded to: "To Middle-Land Rice-Shop how-what to-go?" Because Chinese has a lot of composite words, you can throw in another step to make the meaning more clear: "To China restaurant how to-go?" Those decoded sentences are very important as they teach you the syntax, grammar, etc. of the language and give you a feeling for it. 2. step. Active listening: You now listen to the audio while word for word reading your decoded text. That way your brain will start creating connections between the target language and your mother tongue. In the third step you will passively listen to the audio, while doing something totally unrelated. In the fourth step you will start to read and/or speak the sentences of your text. Rinse and repeat with more complicated texts. I find this method really works well to get to know a language and to learn it without digging directly into vocabulary. It is a way to learn a language really quickly, however at the beginning it won't feel that way, because you don't have the (wrong) feeling that you learned something, which you get from learning vocabulary.

[@NathanSkates]

Japanese and Russian are so difficult 😅 I’ve learned German and Spanish for 6 years. I think these tips will help me take them to the next level. Thank you for your invaluable advice!

[@LucaLampariello]

Thanks for swinging by Nathan! =)

[@BosniannMuslim]

Damn im learning german..you say it took you 6 years? That scares me

[@vipinprasaduniyal9336]

thanks for brother gave Me most information

[@Rajmanov]

thank you Luca! I love your content, it's really helpful!

[@nikolavanzettiteslasacco4991]

Yes! 💯

[@LucaLampariello]

Thanks for the nice words Rajmanov! =)

[@timotius7774]

Muchas gracias

[@sofiadelrio315]

Tu inglés es súper claro! Me encanta !

[@pattmahiney]

3 succinct points with a good summary at the end. This was very insightful. Thank you (:

[@Marcelo-m6f]

this video just opened my eyes ..I`m portuguese native speaker, and I speak english and spanish...I was thinking about start German, but why not go for Italy and French? as they are closer to my mother language...thank you great video

[@patrickengel4114]

I really like your videos. Thank you so much for your great tips as they are very useful!

[@lluviadeidiomas4199]

This is AMAZING advice! Thanks a lot!

[@davidwise1302]

My brother-in-law grew up bilingual English/Spanish and studied German in high school. He would routinely translate everything going from German to Spanish to English and then from English to Spanish to German. After graduation he went with a group of other graduates to Germany for two weeks and after the first week the constant internal translation left him so mentally exhausted that he finally gave up and just thought in German. In the early 70's I was a German major plus I studied other languages (eg, French for two years). After a few years of German, I worked in Germany for the summer. I started out doing everything in German, but after a couple weeks even all my memories of conversations with English-only speakers were all in German. I then married into a bilingual Mexican family and learned Spanish on-the-job. I've gotten to the point of not really being able to remember having to rely entirely on translating instead of thinking in those languages -- much like very few of us can remember how we had learned to read, because that activity has now become a natural part of us. A couple years ago I started learning Italian in preparation for a trip to Italy with a friend. Part of that involved attending the first semester of a class in beginning Italian. Knowing French and Spanish did help, though Spanish also was a great hindrance when I'd try to say something in Italian and Spanish would come out (a lot of students in the class had the same problem). Still, my main approach to Italian was to think in it, not trying to translate from English but rather thinking of what I was wanting to say and then expressing it in Italian. With only a single semester of Italian (plus other study on the side), I feel that I functioned fairly well in our three weeks in Italy.

[@tuinglessinmiedo4732]

Welcome back! La traduzione bidirezionale è molto sottovalutata purtroppo ma è utilissima sia da principiante che da specialista. I romani usavano questo metodo per imparare una lingua non latina! Sarebbe interessante un video su come guadagnare o lavorare come poliglotta. Thanks for the video!

[@LucaLampariello]

Sì, la traduzione bidirezionale è fantastica =) E grazie mille anche per il suggerimento per un prossimo video =)

[@coolbrotherf127]

When I started learning Japanese, I was glad that I had Latin in school as it too is a SOV language so I had practice thinking like that.

[@guerahernandez5566]

Thank for this vídeo make More.

[@davidmachado5892]

Man input e really the key, i learning english and this mindset help me a lot, thanks from brazil.

[@adnanmohamad217]

thank you

[@KuldeepKumar-tm1jd]

Pienso que aprender lengua nueva es divertido y si tienes los buenos consejos puedes aprender pronto..

[@skeptigal8899]

Spanish is my second language and now I’m learning Italian. Many words are the same and at least 50% are cognates so I made it a point to learn the “false friends” between Spanish and Italian.

[@jairorincon3358]

Gracias.

[@TheCulturedCapy]

I know this sounds weird, but it works: if you know the vocabulary of a language very well, to the point that you don’t even have to think about it, it makes it much easier to read and speak and understand it. Think about it - you don’t think of the definition of every word in this sentence, do you? If someone is speaking to you, your brain would explode. So, learn your vocab well enough to the point where you don’t even have to think about the words. For example if I write, “Tengo hambre. ¿Hay algún restaurantes buenos en este pueblo?” The hardest part of the sentence was to think of what to say. As long as I don’t have to translate every little word inside of my head, I don’t get lost. Even now, I can just read Spanish almost like it’s English (as long as I know what the context is about). Also, just expose yourself to native speakers as much as possible. I went from struggling to understand half of the sentences that my teacher was saying, to being able to pick up really small words that could basically alter the meaning of the whole sentence. Same with friends that speak Spanish too. (I recommend watching narcos for Spanish exposure). Last thing, LEARN SLANG AND STREET TALK. Most people in languages have a formal speak and a casual speak. Formal is more like, “How are you doing today? The weather is very nice,” and street talk is more like, “Ay, man, wassup? It’s a nice day today.” Same thing with Spanish, except that in Spanish, you refer to any person who you respect with “usted,” and friends and people you know with, “tú.” This is long, but I hope it helped

[@michaelstark2382]

Estoy aprendiendo Español y va muy fantastico! Mi lengua Madre es Ingles, probalamente, puedes ver eso jaja. Yo quiero aprender mas de Español y esto me ha ayudado. Muchos Gracias!

[@marcoaurelioa.4394]

Precious suggestions!

[@StarDance1313]

Hi, Luca! In my case it actually depends on the situation, the people I'm talking to, the place, the language that is being spoken and so on. When I feel familiar with the people I'm talking to I tend to think in Portuguese (my mother tongue). It actually happened to me a lot in France, especially when watching movies (that is to say when I was distracted) - although the movies were in French and we were speaking French, I was always tempted to comment in Portuguese, which has happened a few times, naturally, spontaneously and unconsciously. However, when I had no emotional connection with people and was, so to speak, forced to speak French it was clear to my brain that I had to do everything in French (even counting or swearing for instance). So for me, it's rather about the environment, the context, and specifically, the emotional connection. Mike

[@Matt-uu9lz]

I'm working on my 3rd and 4th language now (my first two are English and Filipino in that order). I find myself thinking in Filipino when I'm trying to speak in my 3rd language (french), especially when I'm speaking.. working on it..😅 thanks for the tips Luca!

[@gamzeugur5355]

Grazie mille Luca!!🙏🍀

[@samxdxsoza]

The language learning process has been very hectic for me I'm going to tell you the methods I tried, Please tell me which ones should i modify or stop doing and some extra tips also 1. Reading I read short stories in my target language first I skim read and record myself while I'm at it, then I mark new vocab/sentences and study them 2. Speaking I don't have anyone to talk to in my target language So I pick up simple topics from the internet and try to talk about it. (but, I always translate in English & think too much of sentence structure and false grammar) 3.watching tv shows I watch Netflix shows in my target language with both subtitles (English + target language) The chrome extension "Language reactor" helps me with this This extension automatically pauses the video on one scene which in turn helps me to read & listen to my target language But this is a very slow process. It took me two weeks to finish 1episode 4. pictures I try not to use English instead I use pictures ex: for cat -> I would use a picture of a cat but for words like so, also, but.... -> how will i find pictures for that 5. grammar I just mug it up I have a grammar book which is both in my target language and in English I don't wanna learn a language by translating or thinking in English. I want it to be natural. thank you for your tips and suggestions xxx

[@Triberrb]

Though i dont even think i think, i think the way my brain works is that it doesnt necessarily think in any language, it just kinda works in its own, and it only makes me think of my language when i specifically want to remember some word from the target language or my language. For an example, even though i am writing this now, i am not exactly "thinking", i am mostly just typing things that my brain has defined to be the right one on the situation. and i think this type of imagination/thinking is quite interesting to learn languages with, because, most of the time, i dont even know which language i am using on my brain, because from my perspective, i may not be thinking at all, an example would be, i was learning the japanese alphabet, and i was thinking how to write arigatou, although i thought that, i didnt notice at first but i was using english to think(which is not my native language), and also, after sometime, i started reading stuff and auto-translating, and i didnt even notice i reached that level(same thing happened to english, i had just beaten COD II and the credits were rolling and i just understood, didnt even need to translate). Point is, someone like me, who really doesnt even know what he is thinking(in the literal sense) learned a new language, i am pretty sure anyone can learn anything.

[@joaquimferreira395]

So cool! These are 3 basic and great suggestions!! Thanks! Gracias! Obrigado! Grazie! Domo aragato!

[@Branziman]

Arigatou - ありがとう, in Japanese it's very helpful to learn hiragana stay away from Romaji gl 😁

[@ilovemykidsemyandjimenita1802]

THANK YOUUUU YOUR AWASOMENES ARE HELPINGME ALOT 😁

[@BAme-cl1nv]

I BEEN DOING THIS SUBCONCIOUSLY THANK YOU FOR VALIDATING ME

[@realgamer6966]

Good luck👍👍👍

[@ElisaSiciliano1]

Hi Luca, I was waiting for your new video, as always inspirational and full of enlightening suggestions. It is true that in language learning we are afraid to think and translate from our mother tongue and we think it is a terrible mistake but thanks to your examples, we can use it as a strength.

[@LucaLampariello]

Thanks a bunch for the nice and insightful comment Elisa =) L

[@polarsquad7748]

This was the video I watched that made me discover the legend Luca.

[@AlinefromToulouse]

A particularly interesting video for me as I use translation to learn a language, and also input.