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/lit/ - Literature

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21054070 No.21054070 [Reply] [Original]

When you read books in your second language, do you translate it sentence by sentence in your head or do you just read it normally as you would a book in your native language and understand what's going on? I used to do the former, but recently, I realized that I've been doing the latter for quite some time now. My target language is French and I've been studying for 6 years, if that's relevant.

>> No.21054078

>>21054070
I just read it normally. Translating sentence by sentence is okay for beginners, but to actually speak the language it's essential it becomes almost as natural as your native one.

>> No.21054136

>>21054070
I almost never translate in my head, only when I encounter new words and such.
I used to translate like that when I was learning my second language. Now studying my 4th, I sort of internalize the meaning automatically when I learn new words and phrases.

>> No.21054271

>>21054070
I read it normally.
>>21054136
>only when I encounter new words and such.
I never look up the translation of new words, I focus on the meaning.

>> No.21054378

If I start translating it back it won't make sense for a good amount of literature.
If you take the example of English first language books, most books in English aren't written in the version of English spoken here, but in British or American English, so you can tell when an author is English first language and from my country because of the dialect words and native language impact on grammar, as you can tell whether an author is British or American EFL by their spelling or grammar. That happens a lot of places because the English really liked invading other countries and you can tell when the English left some colonies because the words from English stopped being imported, and there's a weird gap between when the English left and internet arrived.

>> No.21054782

You don't know a language well enough if you have to do any sort of "translating in your head". Hell, i've been studying German for only a month and even then i don't mentally translate the small writings the textbook has you read for training. You're doing something wrong, OP

>> No.21054805

You do translate, you just do it instantaneously because you are just so good at it.

>> No.21054809

>>21054070
If you translate that means you're still not thinking in that language. You need more exposure.

>> No.21054829
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21054829

>>21054070
I read it normally. Now, I have to translate sentence by sentence when I read my own native language. I will never get to speak either one flawlessly anymore. On the flip side, at least it seems that monolinguals can't speak their languages correctly either.

>> No.21054845

I read, and after half a page at most the language ceases to matter. Sometimes I don't remember whether the book was in one language or the other after some time.

>> No.21054850

Words are labels for objects, actions or abstract concepts. Native language has direct links between a word, say "carrot", and a mental image of a carrot. When I started learning English, new foreign words had to be attached to the words of the language I already knew, just like in a dictionary. The more I used English, the less reliant its words were becoming on my native lang, and the more stronger grew their direct connections with the objects and concepts themselves.
So now my native lang is never even invoked when I read English text.
I guess that's what op has experienced

>> No.21054860

God I hate monolinguals so much.

>> No.21054876

>>21054860
HATE? Not despise, not look down on, but HATE? What have ameritards done to you?