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Just translate french6/30/2023 ![]() Anything with complicated construction, new vocabulary or technical topics makes me want to run and hide. He makes fun of me is “il se moque de moi.” Literally he mocks himself of me. But other times?įrench most certainly feels foreign and I have to think about how to construct a certain sentiment because it’s anything but natural for me. I’ve caught myself saying bonjour to cashiers in the US multiple times when back home visiting family. Take the greeting of bonjour, for instance. But certain aspects of the French language have become more normal to me. I don’t think French will ever roll off my tongue as easily as English, that’s for sure. ![]() Maybe it was too fast or a word(s) was said that I don’t know and couldn’t pick up from context. It’s gradual and you don’t go from 100% translating all the time to magically understanding everything in a blink of an eye.Īnd if we’re being completely honest, sometimes even now I don’t understand everything. I can’t tell you when you’ll stop translating and just learn to reply. How else are you supposed to “just get it” without translating when you’re just starting? Stick with it and I promise you’ll surprise yourself like in my restaurant example above.Īt this point, I can say confidently say I am not translating real-time conversation into English in my head before understanding and replying. You don’t have a strong foundation yet and translating is the only way to get through it. If you’re a beginner, of course you’re going to translate and that’s 100% normal. When I see a dog, it’s always a dog to me first and foremost and “chien” is the foreign word. Internalizing doesn’t mean that words sound any less foreign, though. To get to that point takes time and perseverance. It’s as if you process the knowledge into understanding right when you hear it. I don’t translate it into English and think, “I have 2 black dogs.” I just “get” what’s being said at my core. I might pass by two people talking when I hear one person say, “J’ai deux chiens noirs.” As I hear it, I simultaneously picture two black dogs in my head. It would most likely take you a few seconds to come up with a translation if someone asked you right then and there in the moment. Do you ever hear someone speaking French and you innately “get” what is going on?īut if someone stopped you in your native tongue and said, “Hey you, tell me what was said in French right now,” it would take you a few seconds to gather your thoughts? Your brain is absorbing the French and automatically processing what you’re hearing but it’s not being translated into your mother tongue first. Sometimes you understand the idea as a whole and you just “get” it and sometimes it’s just words or partial phrases here and there. You might feel a little slow when listening to others converse in French around you, but your brain isn’t translating. In everyday conversations, though, there’s no time to translate - not if you want to be an active participant in the conversation. Maybe after hearing something particularly complicated, I focus on the words and try to figure out what isn’t making sense and what is giving me trouble. It’s a process and if you try to absorb the language as a whole and not word for word, you’ll move that process along even more quickly.īut translation is a funny thing. That was the first of many experiences that confirmed I was on the right path and little by little I’d no longer translate from French into English. I couldn’t believe that I understood the question in real time and was able to reply without translating anything. My French was far from being anywhere near confident at that point, but I surprised myself when I replied like it was second nature. Take your time,” while my table mates hadn’t yet processed her question. ![]() ![]() After ordering, the waitress said to us, “OK no problem, are you in a rush?” Without missing a beat, I responded, “No, not at all. One ordered a particularly complicated dish. I surprised myself several years ago when I was out to eat with some American friends in Paris. Don’t do it! The more you don’t translate, the better you’ll become and you may even surprise yourself. Every question has to be translated from the target language into your native language before you can understand it, then you need to think of your response in your native language and mentally translate that back.” There’s no time, and translating can actually slow you down and hinder comprehension.Īs explains, “The first problem with translating everything in your head before you understand it is that it slows down your processing time. A question people ask me quite often about speaking French is, “Do you translate from French to English in your head before speaking?” And the answer is…ĭo you translate from French to English in your head?
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