Pete asks: "I'm learning Portuguese, how can I avoid translating in my head?"
In this episode:
- Translation is inevitable
- It's a useful strategy as a beginner
- Translation stops being useful as you move to higher levels, and you're dealing with nuances in the language which often don't have translations
- Stopping translating in your head is something that happens naturally over time
Tips for moving away from translation:
- Be happy with a certain level of ambiguity in the language - fixating on understanding every word is counterproductive
- Look for patterns and phrases in the language, write them down, notice them being used in different contexts, the begin to use them yourself
- Deal in phrases and sentences, not single words
- When watching movies etc, relax and be present with the language, don't try to understand everything
- Spend time on all four skills
