I always think in the language I am speaking, Rikki. This is something I've trained myself to do from the very onset in order not to get confused with grammar, vocabulary and idioms. It also makes you a more fluent speaker as your mind is not constantly translating. A major mistake most language learners make, and sadly educators as well, is to have beginning students translate vocabulary, phrases, and sentences. This often leads to students getting stuck when hearing or reading expressions as they tend to translate word by word. That's why it's so important to learn and use as many expressions as possible. Thus having someone tell you that "there's a snake in the grass" won't make you jump up like a jack-in-a-box as you know that he's referring to a treacherous person. Only advanced learners should do translations as they've learned idioms and other subleties of the language.

As a matter or fact, even my dreams tend to be multi-lingual. Then again, I use at least three to four languages (Chinese, English, Lao and Thai) a day so I don't think it's unique.

Taike

[This message has been edited by Taike (edited 08-12-2009).]