Mind Tricks to Think in English Fluently

If you watch ONE video about thinking in English, it should be this one. Call them tricks, hacks, strategies, or advice, I’m going to help you to stop translating and start thinking in English right now. A lot of the reasons why you’re not becoming fluent in English, or not able to think in English, come from the way you think in general. At Go Natural English, I show you mind tricks for fluency.

Clear your mind and forget what you know about the world in your native language, and try learning vocabulary through meaning not through translation. For example, I was learning Portuguese in Brazil, and I went to a dance club. Someone asked, “Quer dancar?” so I could make an educated guess without pulling out my dictionary to translate that they were asking me to dance.
Try listening to talk radio stations in English (on the internet if you don’t live in an English-speaking country), and just listen even if you don’t understand what they’re saying. I did this for fun with a Norwegian station, and could instantly pick out that “yaah” meant “yea.” Your brain wants to pick out patterns and similarities, so let it do it’s job without thinking too hard about it!
Similarly, consuming any kind of content in English will help trick your mind into thinking more in English. Try watching programs in English (TV programs, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto etc). I prefer realistic shorter programs rather than fantasy movies, because they show more real-life conversation, and you can watch one in a shorter amount of time. See if you can identify some key phrases, their meanings, and then repeat them a few times to yourself to remember them!
When I was invited to give my TEDx talk in Portuguese in Portugal, I was so scared. Here’s what I did to prepare. Imagine with me for a moment that you are already fluent in English. Envisioning yourself in situations speaking fluently can actually build the confidence and motivation needed to improve your skills. So take a moment and see yourself doing something difficult all in English, like a presentation in front of hundreds of people!
Do LESS. Think in terms of doing or learning just ONE thing in English each day. Sometimes when we try to do too much, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and then you want to give up! It’s too stressful! So try doing the opposite. Tell yourself to do less.

Thinking in English means that you have INTERNALIZED the language. This is unlike translating, which means you are still approaching English as something outside that can only be accessed through translating your native language. If your goal is to think in English, you need to completely let go of translation and start learning through more organic, natural ways. Next week I’m going to make a video for you to test your fluency and see if you can really think in English, so be sure to subscribe to @gonaturalenglish

[zheffyn]

watching you alone doing some shadowing when I feel like improving my English communication gives me more confidence and strength

[kristelk]

Thank you Gabby for all your videos. They are much helpful for me.
Happy New Year!

[diosantavares]

I liked seeing the subtitles in your video. It helps me learn more and better. Thanks

[sandrowestlakelima]

I'm really glad about your decision of returning;you're surely, one of the BEST teachers on YouTube channel, also very friendly and doubtlessly, professional!
Gorgeous, smiling and teaches with love for what you do;God bless you, and thanks for coming back!

[morphorhetenor]

You have a knack for teaching! You rock!

[rodoxrangel]

Thanks a lot for your video with this tips. I wanna improve my English, and I feel like this.

[saulduarte]

Thank you GABBY thank you so much really I love it. Love it all of you. Appreciate it for your performance I learning also English with you.
Have a great day💎💎

[raquelgeneve]

Every day I watch yt american news, 20 minutes, I can understand near about 98%. I try to watch at least 2 or 3 different channels, the news are very the same, but each channel show up from different perspective and use different words.. After I listen Spotify news, GMA, is being very effective. I just would like to have a American friend to discuss about all those things I've been listening.

[vitaly]

Thank you for this useful lesson. You are absolutely right that we need to switch our mind from native language to English. It is not simple to do. But it works definitely. 👍🙂☀😮

[wxssxst]

Estou muito feliz com suas dicas para aprender inglês obrigado

[hermanoamor]

Go Natural English was the first program that I took on the internet and it was the starting point to stop thinking in Spanish. The module of verbal phrases were very useful in this English journey. Also the weekly topics of comments help me in the development of communication.

[lovetrees]

Thank you very much for your advice. I wish you luck, happiness and health <3

[takkintuiteru]

To think in English means to me is that I have been becoming familiar with English- English dictionary in order to immerse myself into simple grammar structure and examples.
That helps me catch your great advice. Thank you so much.

[tanjidhossain]

Your trick and techniques are really beneficial for me

[englishwithagha]

Thank you very much I got some essential information of being fluent

[Education_Mix]

you are the best teacher in the word ❤❤❤

[ceciliaromia]

Great video as always, Gabby!!! Thanks so much!

[Josel-lwmr]

Respectfully, I share a concern: One thing is to learn and understand spoken English, and another, completely different, is to comprehend written English. Reading English subtitles helps, but it comes after learning the sounds and associating them with their meanings. That's why you might spend months or even years reading English subtitles or written texts, and you might learn to read English but not to listen and understand what you hear, as evidenced by millions of people. One needs to naturally learn (similar to early childhood) the new sounds and their meanings, but within the auditory realm—using the direct pathway between the auditory cortex and Wernicke's area. This area associates the auditory or sound signal with the representation of sounds stored in memory. Once we manage to store these representations in memory, their meaning will be the same for any language. The key is to associate the new sound with that representation until becoming familiar and recognizing it automatically. So the proposal is NOT to read the English subtitle but to listen to the expression spoken in English by a native speaker, and immediately after, hear the meaning of that expression spoken orally in your own language, and then repeat that association many times. Repeat and repeat until the sound and meaning (the representation) become associated in your brain. It's like when you learn a synonym in your language: the sound code changes, but the meaning remains and applies to both the old sound and the new one. The neurological circuitry involved in reading, engaging the primary and secondary visual cortex to process the visual information of the words we see, is very different from that of listening and speaking, involving the Broca's and Wernicke's areas. This difference implies barriers, including incorrect or mispronounced subvocalization. Once you have the sound recorded in your brain, then learn to read English aided by subtitles or texts. “First the horse and then the saddle”.

[retsonmarakretsonmarak]

Hi, sister I am from India Meghalay Garo hills, I am learning English through this your channel I am very exciting to learn English from you

[desenvolvimentodev]

I liked this video, I understanding 70% this video without subtitles ! Remember that I study 6 months 😅