Thinking In A Foreign Language
By jaishankar
@Shivram59 (50131)
India
December 14, 2019 6:06am CST
My mother tongue is Hindi.While commenting back on responses I think in Hindi and then translate it into English.My teacher used to say that while learning a foreign language I should try to think in that particular language.I tried to do so,but failed.
Can you think in a foreign language??
6 people like this
6 responses
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
14 Dec 19
My English teacher told me the same. In the beginning I wasn't able to think in English, but when I had been living in Scotland for a while I suddenly noticed that I was in thinking English instead of Danish. I didn't try to change it, it just happened.
Today I also think in English when I am using English websites or reading English books. I actually have the oppposite problem sometimes. When I am writing emails in Danish I often have to remove English words that I added by mistake 
2 people like this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
14 Dec 19
@Porcospino I don't know if thinking in a foreign language helps you learn it.I love my mother tongue and use it everywhere .I learned English at school and then in college,but could not become to use it confidently.I tried to improve my spoken English,but failed.I don't have a conducive atmosphere in this small town to practice speaking in English.Only a few people know this language a little.Most speak and write in Hindi or the regional language Oriya.Even my teacher who had advised me to think in English used to think in Hindi or Oriya.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
16 Dec 19
@Shivram59 It is hard to practice speaking when you don't have anyone to talk to. I experienced the same thing when I returned from Italy. Back in Denmark I didn't know anyone who spoke Italian, and I wasn't able to practice. In the beginning I wrote letters to my Italian friends, but I am not able to practice my spoken Italian.
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
16 Dec 19
@Porcospino That's the reason why I can't speak in English fluently.Here nobody speaks English.Not even my friends.I find it difficult to practice.Sometimes I try talking to myself in English,but can't concentrate on it.Don't know what to do.
I console myself thinking that I am not going to spend my life in England or America and that I have to live here in India till my last breath.Why should I be restless about it !!
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
5 Jan 20
First for me its English but that does not mean to say that I do not feel or think in Spanish.
I find reading some spanish books very heavy going depending on the translation.
I often sing in french but do not have a clue where I got it from as I have never really got into the language itself.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36847)
• Pamplona, Spain
6 Jan 20
@Shivram59
I can understand that as I have tried to write poems in Spanish and I can´t do that without a lot of effort I have no idea why.
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@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
6 Jan 20
@lovinangelsinstead21 It is because Spanish is not your first language.
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
5 Jan 20
@loveinangelsinstead21 My mother tongue is Hindi. I learned English in school and improved my knowledge of English in college.Still I can't think in English.I sometimes read English newspapers and books,but thinking in English is almost impossible for me.
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
14 Dec 19
@anil02 Thanks.Glad to meet you again after a long time.I fully agree with you.We can think better in our mother tongue.
1 person likes this
@renicemae (4883)
• Philippines
14 Dec 19
I have all the thoughts in my head but sometimes, I am having trouble expressing it in a foreign language like English. So, I just keep my english simple at all times
1 person likes this
@happylife1 (13403)
• Karachi, Pakistan
14 Dec 19
I think in the same in which i have to express
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
14 Dec 19
@happylife1 But what if you have to express yourself in a language that is not yours??
1 person likes this
@happylife1 (13403)
• Karachi, Pakistan
14 Dec 19
@Shivram59
My native is Urdu but i can think in engli
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
14 Dec 19
@happylife1 My native language is Hindi.I can read and write in English,but can't think in English.
1 person likes this
@Treborika (18194)
• Mombasa, Kenya
27 Jan 23
I too agree with you. I can't think in foreign in language
1 person likes this
@Shivram59 (50131)
• India
27 Jan 23
@Treborika That's what I say.We can think in our mother tongue.Thinking in our own language is natural.
