Any other Spanish readers experience this?
I read a lot in Spanish and I've built a pretty good vocabulary by doing so (for those looking for a good book, I'm currently reading La Sombra Del Templario by Núria Masot). But try as I might to actually "read" in Spanish, I still find that I am actually reading in English in the sense that as I read Spanish words, I translate the words in my head into English. It seems by now that I should see and recognize a word in Spanish, attaching the Spanish concept to the word, without needing to translate it into English in my head.
At present, I'm trying to break through this by listening to the audio book while simultaneously reading along in the book in print.
Does everyone else experience this? Does it ever go away? Am I just too old and my brain is too hard wired in English to ever think outside English? I dated a woman many years ago who spoke French and English fluently and she told me that she did not "translate" either language in her head into the other. She just new two ways of saying the same thing, one in English and one in French. She seamlessly switched between the two.
As always, understanding spoken Spanish remains the most difficult thing for me and I'm guessing that they are related shortcomings. I am really hoping that reading along in print while listening to the audio book will help on both fronts but I guess I'm frustrated because I've never in my life put so much sustained effort (2 years at least) into learning anything that I hadn't mastered by this point in the process. In fact, I'm surprised at myself that I haven't given up by now.
9 Answers
This is a purely personal view:
Speak to yourself, the dog, cat or wife in Spanish! Without thinking too much. Just say it's a lovely day, or you're bored... Whatever.
Then aquire a Spanish speaker to talk with, even if you have to pay them.
If you're serious about the Spanish, stick to Spanish and drop the others for the moment , until the Spanish is established ( I guess 4-6 years..)
The other languages will help your vocabulary immensly but confuses your grammar.. Unless you're superbly gifted.
I'm not and I dropped my Italian studies because there were just too many endings flying around in my head.
I'm sorry to tell you that they are still flying around like homeless bats. Anyway, find your own method and good luck!
It's fun to learn .
I think this is something extremely common that almost every adult that learns a second, third, etc. language goes through. One thing I would definitely recommend to combat this problem is speaking more. When you are involved in spontaneous conversation you have to think on the spot, and you don't have time to translate. This helps you develop the ability to think on the fly and eliminate translating. I'm of the mindset that this type of thinking can only be achieved through speaking. When we read or listen to something we can consult resources, re-read, re-listen, etc. After you develop this ability to think entirely in another language you will actually find it to be much more difficult and time consuming to translate things. Since my goal is to be a translator, sometimes now I actually have to go backwards and try to translate things back into English that make perfect sense to me in Spanish.
Nice entry, Ocbizlaw, and lots to think about there.
I'm also deep in to the learning process, and have wondered some of the same things. The best advice I've heard about this type of predicament (as I have often though about the "translation" issue) is: learning a language is a massive undertaking and, unlike many things in life that we try to "master", hardly has a finite boundary or an "end point". You and I will probably never master it no matter how long we sustain our studying or interest. The best we can do is learn as much as we can, use it and apply it as much as we can, and eventually we will turn a corner (probably without even realizing it) and be "fluent," like your old lady friend.
There will come a time sooner than later when you can listen and read without even thinking about it... I'm willing to bet that actually already happens more than you realize. For instance, I had a dream all in Spanish the other night (and I understood everything as much as one can understand in a dream) and I woke up and thought, "hmmm, was that is Spanish? yeah i think it was!"
What I'm saying is: value the learning process, and the great people you're bound to meet along the way. Everyone learns at their own pace in their own way, and all scrutinizing yourself will do is harm. It's a race without a finish line, so enjoy the ride!
keep trying and do not give up hope . I'm going through the same ordeal . But remember , if you are understanding all you read and you have a good vocabulary , you're already past the first stage . Next will be understanding spoken spanish . I find reading out loud a good training for pronounciation and understanding.
p.s. try some of Luis Sepúlveda's books - saludos
By all means, do not give up. The process you are describing of moving fluently from one language to another and back again is the final step and the most difficult one in learning a new language. This step is called unconscious mastery and will eventually come, just like RedLine 55 is saying. It truly is a lifelong process.
By experience, I can tell you that you have to make the conscious choice to force your brain NOT to translate. You can end up being super fast at translating in your brain and never get to that point where you read and understand directly without translating.
- I forced my brain to think in English at about 1 month from arriving to the U.S. I would wake up in the morning and have my dictionary at hand. Everything that I normally thought from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed.
- ¿Ya son las 5:00 de la mañana? = I mean, it is 5:00 a.m.... How do I say "ya" (Dictionary search...Oh "already"... Etc.
- This gave me a headache that lasted for about 15 days and I hated English! It wasn't a pretty language anymore and sounded silly, lame and absurd, but after my brain kicked into English, things went well and here I am, Still not perfect, but good enough to speak, read books, news paper, and watch T.V. movies without translating.
I'm starting to read Portuguese, Italian and French too. Do other learners think that is a mistake? Should I stick with just one until I come closer to fluency or does working on more than one language help learning them all?
One thing I have started doing, since Spanish is my primary effort, is to use Spanish-French, Spanish-Italian and Spanish-Portuguese translation aides and learning materials. But I'm only reading the additional languages, not trying to speak or understand native speakers.
What i would do is read a fairly easy book with common vocabulary. As you read try to picture whats happening just like you would with an english book. Eventually youll start bystepping the english part and getting the essence of the words
