Hi guys!
I really like this forum! I am very happy that I am back, because I was being away for a while!
I am very curios to know: do you think in English while you are speaking-expressing yourself in English? Majority of us are from different nationalities as well our native are different languages,!
So do you think in English or you think in your own native and at the same time you are translating yourself to English?!
The second one is: as much as I know English, sometimes I am not able to express myself with all vocabulary that I own. I am leraning regularly, reading books and magazines, listening music, watching movies and documentaries etc. But the problem is that I do not have a chance, no posibility to talk to anybody! How can I improve my speaking skill, please help me, I am ready for advices and recommendations.
Thnx
Hi, Papatyaesin.
From my experience: I learnt to convey my thoughs in many different ways (that is when I’m lost for proper vocabulary) only when I was forced to SPEAK. And English was the only language I could communicate with, if not in English I wouldn’t have said what I wanted at all. So if I don’t know a word, I try to describe it or use a synonym, or I try to say it in a different way: instead of trying to find a synonym for “I walked my dog” I’d say for example “I took my dog outside”.
Do I think in English? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It comes naturally when your language is alive, when you use it. It’s all a matter of practise, of moving your skills from passive to active.
I think in my mother tongue when I’m completely lost for words (so when I can’t find any synonym or description for it or I can’t do it fairly fast). But it’s hardly ever a good way to be understood.
I’d recommend you to speak to yourself out loud, read news/books out loud, repeat phrases you heard in films or in the radio OUT LOUD. It’s really somewhat different than doing it in your head. I’m sure that would help at least a little bit to improve your language skills.