+- kanji koohii FORUM (http://forum.koohii.com)
+-- Forum: Learning Japanese (http://forum.koohii.com/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: General discussion (http://forum.koohii.com/forum-8.html)
+--- Thread: Thinking in Japanese (/thread-2969.html)
Thinking in Japanese - danieldesu - 2009-04-29
How much emphasis do you guys put on thinking in Japanese as part of your studies?
Thinking in Japanese - mattyjaddy - 2009-04-29
I'd say, if you're doing it right, thinking in Japanese is a by-product of having acquired Japanese.
You don't really need to emphasize it or practice it. I'm not sure what the purpose would be to focus on thinking in Japanese. Generally the goal is to get to the point where Japanese falls out of your mouth without concentrating on it. Which in essence means there was no translation or use of the monitor (Krashen). This means the idea was formed in Japanese. But I don't think it means you need to practice thinking in Japanese in order to speak it.
For me, I can sometimes consciously feel myself going through a learning stage. Different words and bits of grammar start becoming familiar because I've been hearing them so much. Then while I'm away from studying, maybe on my way home from work and just thinking about the day or my plans for the evening and my mind tries to express what I'm thinking in Japanese using those bits of language that I've recently become more aware of. I guess you could say it's practicing thinking. But I don't consciously set aside time to practice. It just sort of happens because I've been hearing/reading so much Japanese that it just wants to come out.
So that being said, perhaps I'll revise my opinion. Sure, practice thinking in Japanese (ie forming how you would say something). Just don't make it a chore. And don't force it for Japanese that is still out of reach. The thoughts should just come together. If you have to think too hard, then you probably aren't there yet with that bit of the language.
Thinking in Japanese - Tobberoth - 2009-04-29
I don't practice thinking in Japanese, I do it automatically. I do train conversation, which is more or less the same thing though.
Thinking in Japanese - Machine_Gun_Cat - 2009-04-29
Sometimes I have dreams in Japanese. I also embarrassingly speak Japanese when drunk even though I know that the people I'm talking to don't understand, The Idea sort of happens in English and then a whole lot of Japanese words and Ideas flood in and I just blurt them out in really crappy grammar.
Thinking in Japanese - danieldesu - 2009-04-29
Tobberoth Wrote:I don't practice thinking in Japanese, I do it automatically. I do train conversation, which is more or less the same thing though.What exactly do you mean by train conversation? Talking to people? Blegh, no thanks. J/k, talking to people is ok. I've also thought about memorizing passages from books or an entire scene from a drama. Just recently I memorized a page out of a book that I enjoy, which definitely made me realize that there are many words that I am just not exactly sure how to put them into a sentence, but that I can understand when reading. In that sense it was helpful, but I don't think I've done enough of it at this point for it to really help in any regard.
Thinking in Japanese - danieldesu - 2009-04-29
mattyjaddy Wrote:I'd say, if you're doing it right, thinking in Japanese is a by-product of having acquired Japanese.I've thought this for a long time, but I noticed that even when watching dramas or reading books and understanding to a high degree, I still think about them in English as I am watching.
Thinking in Japanese - Codexus - 2009-04-29
danieldesu Wrote:How much emphasis do you guys put on thinking in Japanese as part of your studies?Unfortunately, I don't have the level to have very complicated thoughts in Japanese. It's something that will come naturally when I'm ready.
What I'm doing sometimes is think about how things are called in Japanese and how I would describe what I'm currently doing. Little things like that.
Thinking in Japanese - mentat_kgs - 2009-04-29
I put total focus. I try to kill mental processes that begin translating stuff.
Thinking in Japanese - Machine_Gun_Cat - 2009-04-29
^this, I try to avoid any association a Japanese word may have with an English one.
Thinking in Japanese - Brokenvai - 2009-04-29
Yeah, I totally agree with the acquired part.
But, I think you have to do a LOT of listening. And, I mean listening for long periods of time. Even with out Japanese subs on. But, with or without Japanese subs, I believe if you watch something you really like(anime, j-dorama, whatever), for long periods of time, it is really beneficial. The reason why, is maybe that your not pausing it to see/play over what they said, and so it causes you to try and infer the current situation with what they said.
In Japanese.
Thinking in Japanese - yukamina - 2009-04-29
My thoughts have become quite bilingual. I don't "practice" thinking in Japanese, I just think to myself through out the day in Japanese. Sometimes a word from one language will come to my mind quicker and interrupt the opposite language ^_^;
When I get more input and study more, it becomes more automatic to think in Japanese, and random words and phrases start popping up in my head.
Thinking in Japanese - Brokenvai - 2009-05-13
Have any of you felt that vibe from hearing Japanese?
I mean...you're listening intently, and it's almost like your mind is speaking along with the words of the song, t.v. show, etc. I love that feeling. I wonder if it means that we're internalizing the sounds.
Thinking in Japanese - Nuriko - 2009-05-13
For me, I started out thinking in Japanese by saying the simplest things, like "もう！” or "なにそれ？！” Small little exclamations like that would have came out as "Aw shit" in English anyway.
And sooner or later, I would start to follow up those small phrases with things like "まったくもう、ほんとうに。。。” or "何もしてないのに。。。” if someone blamed me for something at work, etc. And sometimes I would start a sentence and not know how to finish it (which I still do often since sentences are getting longer and I'll find myself at a "run-on"), but the fact that at least something comes out is what counts.
All my thoughts are wanting to be Japanese/Janglish even as I type this. And sometimes I let them come out when I'm typing around here. But I refrain from doing it because I don't think anyone wants to see gaijin sentence of mixed English and Japanese, or risk exposure to incorrect Japanese for that matter :B
Thinking in Japanese - sethg - 2009-05-13
Nuriko Wrote:For me, I started out thinking in Japanese by saying the simplest things, like "もう！” or "なにそれ？！” Small little exclamations like that would have came out as "Aw shit" in English anyway.I'm the exact same way. I remember it was similar when I did French. But I find that I think much more in Japanese if I fall asleep listening to it (I love falling asleep to Shinchan... falling asleep laughing) or if I wake up and hear it pretty immediately. I've really started to try and have ANY sort of Japanese audio playing during my day (VLC playlists are great).
Can't wait to have my first Japanese dream.
Thinking in Japanese - Wally - 2009-05-13
Nuriko Wrote:Can't wait to have my first Japanese dream.If it's like mine was, it will be bilingual, and you will never forget it.
Thinking in Japanese - nac_est - 2009-05-14
Exactly like Nuriko. I got into the bad habit of saying クソ！ and チクショウ! quite often lately.
Thinking in Japanese - thermal - 2009-05-17
Don't force it. Just be careful not to mix your Japanese and English together, get a lot of Japanese input and it will come naturally. It literally hurts my brain if I think in English when I am Japanese mode.