So I started studying japasnese by myself, and I’m having troubles trying to make sentences, my native language is Spanish.
I’ve been studying english for a long time, and I know that at some point, I stopped thinking in spanish when speaking english, but I don’t know how.
Now I’m having serious trouble learning japanese, because I’m always thinking in Spanish, and sometimes even in english. On the exercises and when I’m reading, I understand it perfectly, but then problems start building up
I want to ask fory your help… When learning japanese, or another language, how do you stop thinking in your main language? I feel that’s a barrier in my road to learn Japanese. I would appreciate any kind of tip you are able to give me, even if it sounds stupid.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much honestly, it’ll come naturally.
English is very similar to spanish relatively speaking, so that probably helped a lot with making it possible to think in english. Japanese, however, is an entirely different language. I would expect for it to take a lot more time to reach that same level. I would just focus on comprehension and eventually you’ll make the transition.
Start by talking to yourself. I’m finding that little internalised conversations, roles plays and trying to organise my Japanese thought about really helps.
Its actually an advantage for all of the Japanese pronunciations, we don’t have some troubles the English-speakers may have initially pronouncing words and sentences.
I’m still translating a lot of stuff in my head…I’m not really thinking in Japanese yet. I would assume that by levels 30-40 and once we are more mature in grammar things will start coming more naturally.
No te preocupes. Esto no es una competencia, al final lo que importa es aprender BIEN para poder entender y hablar fluido.
as i fellow bilingual i know what you mean.
when learning English i very quickly switched off my native language (italian) and i knew things just sounded right without translating in my head. I think it came from learning trough immersion (watching tv, listening to music etc) rather than studying on books as they tend to rely more on direct translations.
i am trying to replicate this learning process with Japanese, i have downloaded a couple of audio books (actual novels, not study books) and just let them play in the background and whatch japanese tv shows and movies.
however I know it will take longer as the language is so vastly different.
Immersion is the key here. I know that the majority of us may not have the luxury of actually living in Japan. Thankfully, though, there’s plenty of resources these days and I find that reading and listening to a lot of Japanese can really help ease you into thinking in Japanese. My level is far from advanced but I had a dream in Japanese once just because I’d been binge watching Terrace House
Bilingual here too ^.^ I don’t really remember how I got to this point but my native language is Dutch, and I just learned English by wanting to watch subtitled movies. I wasn’t a fast enough reader yet to read all the subtitles in time, so I kinda just… learned by listening.
Same with video games. My mom got so tired, having to translate every single thing in the games I was playing xD So I learned to read, speak and English through these medias ^.^
It comes with enough exposure. I have also dreamed in Japanese after about six months of study. One night I actually understood something on TV Japan and it took me a couple of minutes to realize that I had done that. Wow, was I excited!
Speaking with yourself is the best approach that worked for me. It’s how I learned English as well. Even if you have Japanese speaking friend, he/she might not be always available when it’s convenient to you. The main issue is that you could get accustomed to making a certain mistake due to general lack of knowledge of the language, so it’s important to check if what you’re speaking is correct.
I’m finding it happen more and more as I’m forced into Japanese-or-die situations. (Not really…)
But likw, every morning and night, the construction workers give me a quick run down of what they will be doing the next day and what to prepare and…I don’t know how but I’m just like “Huh, yeah, yeah, okay. I’ll take care of it.” and then I stop and wonder if I really understood it all because it happened too easily, too fast!! xD
I guess it just kind of happens with time. xD:
Wish it would happen when I really needed it though.
Agreed. After living around Japanese people and being forced to have basic daily interactions it just starts to happen slowly. The more immersed you are the better. Pretty much my whole life I was never into watching TV but now I have it on daily in the background just so I can here Japanese sentences even if I don’t understand 90% of it. After awhile you may start dreaming in Japanese or at the very least have random thoughts pop into your head in Japanese over your native language.
Yeah, I’m glad my native language is spanish for that exact reason, the pronunciation is really easy for me. I’ll just keep with it and wait for the same thing that happened to me with english
Jajajaja, si, se que no es una competencia, cada uno aprende a su ritmo, algunos mas rapido, otros mas lento… Te puede tomar 2 años o 20 años, pero en algun momento todos lo van a aprender, si le ponen garra
Your mother did that? Wow, she’s an MVP, still I get why she got tired. But yeah, I’ll try listening more stuff in japanese, and reading more manga as well. I normally only listen voice actors radio programs xD
Now that I think of it… I used to do that with english, I’ll try to do it more with japanese, but as you said, when I’m speaking to myself, I get the feeling that I’m saying it wrong and sometimes I don’t check it, I’ll try to pay more attention to that, thanks
I said that everyone lears to their own pace, some faster, others slower, some take 2 years, others 20, but no matter how much time it takes, you’ll learn it at some point
