How to THINK in English | No More Translating in Your Head!

In just a few minutes I can teach you the powerful technique I use with my students so that they can stop translating in their head and THINK in English.

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Video Text:

It’s flashcard time. We’re training our mind to think in English, maybe we’re learning some new vocabulary by doing flash card training. You’re going to see a picture and different objects are highlighted, think the word in English. We’ll go over everything so if there’s an object that you don’t know, you are going to learn it in this video. An object will be highlighted, name it. If you don’t know it, don’t worry, we’ll go over everything so you can learn new vocabulary and memorize it, then watch the video again. You’re going to see the object, recall the word in English. You can do this anytime, anywhere because you’re not speaking out loud. You can always practice thinking so you can work on this skill every day based on your surroundings. I love this kind of versatile exercise. Here’s the first one we’ll look at.  

Now we’ll give you ten seconds to come up with as many adjectives as you can. If your mind goes to your own native language first, that’s okay but try right now to set the intention for your mind to think in English. Ready? Adjectives.  

You could have gone with colors like red, green or brown.  

Dirty. An adjective we use for soil that’s good for planting is rich or fertile.  

Maybe you said metal or plastic. Blurry.  

Now ten seconds for verbs.  

What did you think of?   

I thought of planting, gardening, nurturing, shoveling, digging, transplanting. You could say grasping or holding.  

Now, let’s go over our objects.  

Soil or maybe you said Earth.  

Plant or starter or maybe seedling.  

Cup. 

Water. 

Gardening gloves. 

Pale or bucket. 

Trowel or spade. 

Handle. 

Sleeve.  

Wrist.  

Logo or branding.  

Cuff.  

Greenhouse.  

Vein.  

Here’s our next photo.  

Let’s give ten seconds to think of verbs.  

I thought play, enjoy, I thought sit. I also thought of build and design thinking of the process that created this structure.  

Run.  

Climb.  

Enjoy.  

Pretend.  

Now, ten seconds for adjectives.  

I thought warm, sunny shady, tall, hot. I imagine this metal gets pretty hot in the sun. My son burned himself in the playground once this way.  

I also thought of dappled. This is adjective that means marked with spots or rounded patches. And when light is being blocked by a tree like this, we call that dappled light.  

Now let’s check out those flash cards.  

Grass or maybe you thought lawn.  

Trash can.  

Bench.  

Play structure or play equipment.  

Roof.  

Slide or maybe you thought metal or aluminum.  

Panel or maybe you thought wood.  

Bars.  

Sand. Or maybe it’s gravel.  

Tree.  

Limb or branch.  

Platforms.  

Slats.  

Let’s do another one. Here’s the photo.  

 Now, ten seconds for verbs. Nothing is moving but think of actions that could take place in this space or with these objects.  

I thought cook, bake, prepare.  

Set as in set the table.  

Serve. Clean because there are always dishes to clean.  

Plate. Yes that’s a noun and a verb.  

Plating food refers to putting food on the plate, the art of arranging the food on the plate or platter to get the aesthetic you want.  

Actually, several of these nouns are also verbs. Whisk. Both the object and what you do with it.  

Spoon. Both the object and what you do with it. Spoon the sauce over the meat. Ladle. Also a verb. Ladle the soup and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. And now ten seconds for adjectives.  

I thought clean, ready, metal, white, black. Now, for the nouns.  

Utensil holder.  

Spatulas.  

Ladle.  

Whisk.  

Rice scooper.  

Bulls or stack or dishes.  

Backsplash. This is the tile behind a stove or sink.  

Countertop.  

Cooktop or stove.  

Spoon.  

Burner.  

We have two more photos. When you have a sequence of things and you’re on the second to last one, that’s called the penultimate one. Here’s is our penultimate photo.  

And now, ten seconds for adjectives. 

I thought inviting, tasty, delicious, ready, hungry. Now verbs.  

You could have said eat, drink, prepare, lay out. We use this when putting out lots of foods. We can call that laying out a spread. I thought of wash and clean and pick for the strawberries. And I thought picnic which is both a verb and a noun. Let’s go over our nouns now.  

Straw.  

Lid.  

Glass or maybe you thought mason jar or jug.  

Bottle.  

Glass.  

Bottle cap.  

Labels.  

Cup.  

Saucer.   

Strawberries.  

Lemon.  

Croissant.  

Cheese.  

Flowers or bouquet. Notice the silent T, bouquet.  

Stems.  

Buds.  

Leaves.  

Blankets.  

Grass or lawn.  

Picnic or spread.  

Smoothie.  

Book.  

Okay, now our very last photo.  

Now, ten seconds for verbs.  

Page Break 

The first thing I thought when I saw this is focused. Maybe you thought working, making, creating, building, crafting or fixing.  

Now, ten seconds for adjectives.  

Maybe you said bright or dark, shadowy, dim. I also thought heavy because I imagine these tools are. Maybe you thought antique, old, crowded. Now, let’s go over the objects.  

Artisan, maybe you said craftsman.  

Tools.  

Handsaw.  

Clamp or vise grip.  

Anvil.  

Apron.  

Glasses.  

Oil can.  

Panes.  

Window.  

Board or wood.  

Work table or work bench.  

If I knew much about blacksmithing, I would probably know a lot more of these objects. If you know some that I don’t, put them in the comments.  

Now, look around you and take ten seconds to think in English describing your environment, adjectives, verbs or nouns.  

This is a great way to not only start thinking more in English but also to build your vocabulary. Keep on learning going now with this video and be sure to subscribe with notifications on. Also, check out my online courses that focus on listening comprehension and spoken English skills at RachelsEnglishAcademy.com. That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.  

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