What does it mean?

Making the leap

Welcome, aspiring polyglot! Something I try to drive home with my students from the very beginning is that you need to get to a point where you are conveying meaning rather than translating words. Everyone starts by directly translating because there is simply no other way to start. If you can’t approximate what something means you can never get to the core of what it really means. That said, after a while it is important to fight against this inclination. These strategies should help you in that battle.

Using direct translation

Direct translation is a useful tool. I have never attempted to keep that secret. However, many tools, this one included, can be used as crutches which can hinder your language acquisition in the long term. When you are first learning, everything is going to be direct translation. Even into your first attempts at speaking, you will likely be direct translation, especially if you are not listening to or speaking with native speakers.

There are many ways to use direct translation to your advantage many of which I have already discussed. For some more insights into that, be sure to check out this article:

After a certain amount of time, however, the propensity to lean on direct translation does begin to hinder further advancement towards fluency. For that reason, you should do it until you no longer need to do it. That means defining, for you, what moment will be the trigger for you to stop direct translating. This should be a general goal, because the truth is that it will likely happen naturally.

So long as you have contact with native speakers, you will learn how to start using words for what they mean in your target language rather than using the words that correlate in your native language. This jump will require several steps, but the first is ensuring you are hearing native speakers speak often. If you don’t know how native speakers express different things then you will not know the correct way to express those things yourself.

Getting there

You have to translate in your head one thousand times before you understand how to truly say what you mean. Being around and listening to native speakers will make this process easier. It is impossible to know what some things mean if you never speak to someone who uses words for what they mean instead of what they are translated as.

For example, if you speak Spanish, you know that “vamos” means “let’s go”, but it also means “we go” and it can mean “we are going” so the context is vital. You can learn how to read that context in several ways, but talking to native speakers is by far the fastest ways to learn the differences. The same goes in French. “Allons-y”, for example, means “let’s go” but native speakers almost always say “on y va” instead. Without exposure to native speakers, this concept can be difficult to grasp.

Try to focus on phrases that cannot translate directly. This will accelerate the process of understanding exactly what it means to translate the meaning of a word rather than its direct correlative in another language. Expressions are a good window into this concept that exists for every language, but they are not the only examples of this problem arising.

Translate the meaning

At the end of the day, you are not speaking English anymore, you are speaking your target language. What it means in English is entirely irrelevant. You must learn to ask yourself, “what does this mean in my target language?” Knowing what the words in your target language mean to the people who speak your target language is all that matters as you get towards the end of your language acquisition.

Practice replacing expressions and phrases you use with those of your target language so you can get used to using them appropriately. Many native speakers will replace some common phrases with English. There is absolutely no reason you can’t do the same with common phrases and expressions in your target language. One of the most common phrases my brother always uses in German is “____ ist nicht das gelb vom Ei” which means “_____(whatever ‘it’ is, is not the yellow from the egg” which does not make sense in English.

Learning and using the common expressions of your target language can make it easy to speak when the time comes because you can make an instant connection with people by speaking the way they speak, even if you aren’t yet perfectly fluent. Not only that, but when you speak, however little, you will build your confidence which is crucial. Doing this time and again will train you to use words for what they mean in the language you are speaking rather than how they translate into your native language.

Conclusion

Direct translation is a powerful tool, but you have to do everything necessary in order to overcome the need for it. Over dependence can indefinitely delay your language acquisition. What the phrase means in your native language does not matter. All that matter is what it means to the people who speak your target language natively. It will take time, so be patient with yourself. There is little that you cannot do with a combination of time and consistency.

Learning foreign languages is no easy feat, it will be difficult irrespective of how you approach it. Using the strategies listed here can and will enhance and accelerate your language learning experience, it will not be easy. But you can do difficult things and be great, so continue to do difficult things and be great. I will be here by your side endeavoring to do the same.

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