When you go to say something in Spanish, how often do you start with the English phrase first, then translate in your head? How often does a Spanish phrase just come to you? Btw, if you liked this video, you might enjoy my newsletter - Saturday Spanish. You get one concrete tip, exercise or idea every Saturday to help you build more confident Spanish: breakthroughspanish.com/subscribe

I often wondered about this when I hear someone "fluent" in speaking Spanish. They just seem to keep talking and giving examples of what they are trying to say. Now I understand why.....they are trying to convey the meaning not the specific words. Very helpful!!!!!

This is a really great video. Sometimes, when I get stuck with my "level," I watch this and realize it doesn't matter. Communication is about finding a way. Eventually, you find the way that works best. Perfection is the enemy of functional.

@BreakthroughSpanish

7 ай бұрын

Very true. That makes me happy to hear, thank you for sharing.

i got it!!! we don't think in english. we "think" in emotion and express that emotion with english words. tengo hambre. i'm hungry. it all starts in the same place. now i know why i'm not thinking in spanish. i'm learning the words, in my bedroom, nice dry and completely bored. those are the emotions i am associating with the spanish words. i'm just so sure you gave me a leg up. thank you.

@IAMYOURGRANDFATHER.

8 ай бұрын

Yes! That breaks it up, so thinking in Spanish doesn’t really happen. Like how thinking in English doesn’t really happen.

Soy hablante nativo de español pero tus videos me ayudan a practicar el listening en ingles😆

The ideas you share about simplifying and using less words to express and idea sounds similar to the technique used by people who struggle with stuttering. This was really useful. Thank you.

the idea of thinking in the targuet language is to stop translating in your head, just use what you have, exactly as you said :) It is helpful having hypotetical conversation with yourself, like...if you hear about something or whatched a movie, whatever, and then think how a conversation about that topic could be... just be careful where you are cuz people migth think you're a bit crazy

That’s my problem I don’t want to sound like a beginner so I always end up speaking in Spanglish to push what I want to say

@emersonlopezaguirre1654

Жыл бұрын

Let's do something Sr . I gonna teach you Spanish and you tech me English. I'm native speaker, I have the same problem with English

@flar33

7 ай бұрын

​@@emersonlopezaguirre1654hey, are you still learning English? If so I can help you with English and you can help me with spanish?

@Donna-vh5ym

2 ай бұрын

​@@emersonlopezaguirre1654// Me encantaría ayudarte a aprender inglés.

@angelr.4622

10 күн бұрын

@@emersonlopezaguirre1654too late for lessons? Would love to learn more Spanish from you if possible

Un consejo, si hay una palabra que acaba en voccal y otra comienza por otra vocal intentar pronunciarlas juntas. Esa fluidez es sinónimo de una mejora compresión posterior.

I just found your page and it’s been the most helpful advice/videos/teachings that I’ve found in my two years of learning Spanish. It’s like your videos touch on every pain point I’ve experienced. They make me not feel so alone in my language journey. 😅 mil graciasssss

I really appreciate your approach. It helps me stress less about speaking Spanish while I'm trying to learn the grammer. Thanks!

You are an incredible teacher! Your videos are really making a difference for my fluency! TY!❤

This makes a lot of sense, thanks!!

Excellent advice !

Keep it up and never stop and never give up Try to do your best

Good ideas. Thanks

Thank you!

Oh my gosh, did I ever need to hear this!! THANK YOU!! Whew... everything just got easier. 😅

Thank you again, you really understand the learning journey and communicate tips so brilliantly. Super helpful- great channel.

@BreakthroughSpanish

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Sandra!

Very helpful ❤

superb tips, thanks, ive subscribed

This is a really interesting idea and video, really helpful and useful. Thank you :)

Great video! After many years of struggling to speak Spanish effectively, I noticed six months ago exactly what you describe. I was constantly getting stuck because I was trying to translate English words and idioms that I didn't know. I've been able to make real progress by working on noticing when this happens and focusing on the simple, underlying ideas -- the same strategy that you recommend. In retrospect, this is probably just what people mean by "thinking in Spanish" but that phrase by itself isn't useful. Your description in the video on the other hand is concrete and very practical, and I think will really help many people. Thanks.

Very helpful.

As always i have learned a lot thank you so much ,,,,,,,,gracias a ti 😍😍

@BreakthroughSpanish

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chele!

Good stuff Connor, I am pretty comfortable, and can talk seamlessly most of the time, but always looking to improve. I will sign up for the news letter. Thanks, Jim

@BreakthroughSpanish

7 ай бұрын

thanks Jim! hope you enjoy the newsletter

THANK YOU

I struggle with this. Great tips! Thanks!

@BreakthroughSpanish

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

I love your videos

Very good video and a useful concept. I ask friends to ask me yo say something in spanish and i hardly ever say what theyve asked. Instead i say something that means the same thing, using the spanish that i do know, and they cant speak soanish anyhow, so i cant be wrong.

0:25 i just said hola 😂😂

I call that bypassing words you don't know by using other simpler words you know to express something. It is better to say something not precisely what you mean rather than to get totally stuck. We should strive to think in another language to be more spontaneous and have constant practice in our heads. It also exposes our gaps in vocabulary so we know what we need to learn. And I think that you cannot automatically express ideas streight away. You need to train that process first so it becomes automatic later.

These are good points and really get to the essence of what is otherwise quite vague advice! To add my personal angle, I found that repeating the same conversation in taxis, about where I come from and what I study, with some room for improvisation and responses, was pretty much what flipped the switch for me. In covering familiar territory, I was able to keep my ideas simple and cement my knowledge. I'm curious about your opinion of using spanglish to maintain flow in conversation. Would you say it's detrimental/beneficial to learning?

@BreakthroughSpanish

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I had a similar experience - repetitive conversations helped me build confidence in certain areas and have the feeling of words coming out more fluently, even if I didn’t speak all that well yet. Re: Spanglish, I would try to avoid it as a Spanish learner. Otherwise I think it’d be too easy to reach for the English word/idiom anytime is convenient, which doesn’t help you communicate in most of the Spanish speaking world outside the US. To me a better solution to keeping conversations going is to just explain your way around things. Not always easy, but better in the long run in my opinion

Lo dejiste bien.

We do the same thing in English when we have trouble expressing ourselves. Not sure why this isn’t so natural when learning a new language

thinking first in your mother tongue is something every learner does. eventually, when you have reached a determinate level of the language you are learning, translating in your head all the time is something you stop doing. however it takes time, but I think it's something which all of us have gone through. Btw, my first language is Spanish.

Summary 1. 7:02 Focus on the overarching idea or gist, not the individual words. 2. 7:14 Immerse and surround yourself with Spanish content. This way it becomes naturally ingrained. 3. 7:36 Focus less on grammar in conversations. Don’t second guess or over analyze what is being said and allow conversations to flow naturally.

I agree that trying to translate phrases on the spot isn't productive. That's a multi step process, you have to conjure up all the right words, determine the structure/grammar of the sentence and then finally speak it. Focus on learning the language as a whole and don't focus so much on just memorizing words and phrases. Pay attention and practice the rhythm in which they speak. Keep it simple to start, learn to say as much as you can with the smallest vocabulary possible. The rest will come as you learn. You could memorize every word and still not be able to speak spanish!

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Palabras individuales tienen menos importancia que pensamientos completos.

Funny, i said Hola

It took forever to create a account

He’s cute 😍🤤

Please say something to me

Language games Babadum Lingo play

Thinking in Spanish will come naturally when you will be talking to them and than when you will think about the situation with them you will talking to Spanish with them in your mind.

Converting spanish to perfect English, does not help be learn spanish grammar.

Ya .. doesn't sound polite to me.. at all So Can I have , Is a no no Bring me.. really ? For me ..? I'm francophone and you cannot say those phrases How about May I have ? Or Could I have ?

@Sandra3 please talk to me