Welcome to HLS English class - the best place to learn English in Kuantan, Malaysia. English class for children and adults conducted in a fun and creative way. Learn English with Horne Learning Services. English speaking and conversation, reading, writing and listening training based in Kuantan. This is what we do . . .

Tuesday 23 April 2013

T is for Think in English

(During the month of April we are participating in an A-Z challenge hosted by Arlee)

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HLS English Classes Kuantan





Key Point #1 is "Think in English."

I have found through teaching English in Malaysia for 7 years that it is much more effective to train students to 'think in English' rather than having them thinking and speaking in another language and then translating it to English.

I demand all of my students regardless of age or English proficiency, to speak in English during our classes. It's difficult at first but it really trains them to 'think in English.'

Think in Chinese, Speak in Chinese
Think in English, Speak in English



Has anybody else come across such translation problems between languages?

4 comments:

Alternative Foodie said...

Hi Duncan, I'll be visiting more often this blog in the future. Good one. As for language - these days I'm no longer aware in what language I think, English or Malay. But if I'm writing then I know, English for English and Malay for Malay. Still that is not always true actually, when I'm writing about travel to say UK, I started in English, but when I'm writing, say about 'balik kampong' my head switches to Malay. Heh, what do you think?

Rebeccah Giltrow said...

When I was studying French at school, I trained myself to think in French. It really helped, especially as my French teacher only spoke French. I think that's the only way to learn a language; to be completely immersed in it.

STILLMAGNOLIA said...

I teach Spanish in High School and have for 20+ years. I had to get to a point in my career where I thought in Spanish and once I did I could teach it easier.

loverofwords said...

I agree. You have to tell your mind "Think in . . . ." Russian is my first language, but I "lost" it, however if I hear Russian, and the vocabulary is what I learned as a child, I can understand, but not speak. Does that make sense?