You're mid-conversation in English, and suddenly, your brain freezes. You know exactly what you want to say... in your native language. But by the time you've translated it, the moment's gone.

This is one of the most common struggles I hear from English learners. You can understand podcasts, videos, and conversations quite well — but the moment it's time to speak, your brain automatically switches back to your native language first.

The process looks like this: Idea → Native language → Translation → English

By the time the words arrive, the conversation has already moved on. It makes speaking slower, more exhausting, and frustrating.

The good news? Thinking in English is a learnable skill — not a talent you're born with. With the right kind of practice, you can retrain your brain to skip the translation step entirely.

In this episode of the Peach Teach English Podcast, I share four practical strategies to help you do exactly that.

This episode and transcript are ideal for B1–B2 learners who are ready to start thinking in English.

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📝Episode 23 Transcript:

⏱ 00:00 – Intro: Is it Possible to Think in English?

Welcome back to the Peach Teach English podcast. I'm Frankie Mesmer, your host, and today we're going to be looking at a very important topic, which is how to stop translating in your head and start to think naturally in English.

Now, you might be asking yourself, teacher, is this really possible? Can I actually think naturally in English without translating from my native language in my head?

And I want to guarantee you that yes, this is completely possible. And I'm going to give you four of my best tips today to help you stop translating so much in your head and think naturally.

⏱ 00:44 – Tip 1: Talk to Yourself in English

So tip number one: talk to yourself in English.

When you're going throughout your day, think about what activities you need to do in English. When you're looking around you, try to identify what's going on and the items that you see in English.

If you don't know the words for those actions or those objects, be curious. Look them up. Try to expand your vocabulary with this activity.

Now, you might be wondering, but teacher, if I talk to myself, won't people think I'm weird? Like, if they hear me speaking out loud to myself, they're gonna be like, "What's that strange person doing?"

I'm not saying talk to yourself out loud. If you're in a public space, you know, just think to yourself. Talk to yourself in your head. This is the idea, right? We're trying to learn how to think in English.

You have to teach and train your brain that you want to think in English, and so this is a great exercise for that.

Now, of course, if you're at your own home, in your own privacy, you can talk to yourself out loud if that's what you prefer to do.

Okay, so let me tell you a story about how this actually is possible.

So one time during the COVID pandemic, I wanted to get some fresh air, so I went up to the roof of my apartment, and I grabbed a beer, and I sat down, and I was looking at the beautiful mountains. And I realized after about five minutes that I had been thinking and talking to myself completely in Spanish.

And then I said, "Wait, hold up, Frankie. Why? Why are you thinking in Spanish right now? You don't have to. You're alone. You can be thinking in English, speaking to yourself in English."

And this is a sign to show you that with practice and as you become more fluent, it's completely possible for your brain to learn how to think in a foreign language to the point that you don't even have to tell it to do that.

So my first tip here for you is try to think and talk to yourself in English as much as possible, because this will help you to stop relying so much on your native language and think naturally in English.

⏱ 03:34 – Tip 2: Stop Translating Everything

Tip number two: stop translating everything.

Now, this tip might be a little hard to swallow, but it's a hard truth. And the reality is, if you want to stop translating in your head and thinking in English, you have to stop translating everything.

And really, this is a big step in your fluency because the reality is not everything translates beautifully, and sometimes things get lost in translation.

And when you're trying to find a perfect translation for every new concept or thing that you hear or see, you might be missing some very valuable information.

So, before you just go straight to a translator, I recommend that you use some other methods to try to understand the word first.

But you might be thinking, teacher, how do I do that? I'm not ready for that. I need my native language to understand these concepts.

But I challenge that. I agree that you're an adult, and adults learn languages a bit differently from a child. But when you learned your native language as a child, you did not need another language first to be able to become fluent in that language.

I think using our native languages can help us understand some concepts quite quickly when we translate them, but it's completely possible to learn a language without any translation.

And the sooner you stop translating and really interact with the language in its purest form, that's when you can start thinking and understanding naturally in those languages.

So I'm telling you, don't translate. But I also want to give you other alternatives to help you.

So my advice here is only translate as a last resort. Try to use these methods first.

So number one, use the context, okay?

Are you able to listen, see, read, and understand what this new word or these collections of words mean using the context?

You'll be amazed that in many situations this is possible.

Second, use facial expressions, body language, images.

You could even go to Google Images and see what comes up, and you might be able to understand what the word means without translating it at all.

For example, you could put "clown" there in Google. If you don't know what a clown is, go Google it now. See if there's a picture.

Now you should be able to understand what a clown is without any translation.

Another thing you can do is stop trying to have the other person, for example, like your teacher, give you that perfect translation.

This is certainly easier, but it's not helping you build your fluency, and it's not helping you create the skills that you need when you talk to someone that doesn't speak your native language.

So let's look at a better alternative for this.

So here I have an item. Let's imagine I don't know the word for this item.

And so I could say, "Hey, teacher, how do you say blah blah word in your native language?" And I give you that word.

Or you could say this: "You know, teacher, I don't know the word, but what do you call the portable box thing that you can take with you anywhere to charge your phone?"

And I go, "Do you mean a power bank?"

You say, "What? It sounds possible."

Okay, let's look at a picture. "This is a power bank. Is that what you were talking about?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about."

And you see, you got to this new word without using your native language at all.

And you should really challenge yourself to do that before you take the shortcut to translations.

Another way to do this is instead of looking for the translation of new words, be sure to look up the dictionary definition in English or synonyms of the words.

So, for example, you could read that definition, and perhaps you have enough English to understand the definition, and you add this new word to your vocabulary without translation at all.

This is what you did when you were a little kid, when you read a new word. You didn't need that word translated.

You looked it up in the dictionary, and perhaps you looked at other examples and contexts.

You can do the same with synonyms.

Imagine you see the word "gorgeous," and you say, "Hmm, what does gorgeous mean?"

And you go look at synonyms and you see "beautiful," "pretty," "lovely," and you go, "Ah, I understand."

You didn't need a translation at all.

So it's very tempting to want to just get that easy translation, but it's holding you back from thinking in English.

So, really start to try to limit this, especially once you've reached an intermediate level of English.

⏱ 09:49 – Tip 3: Use Stream of Consciousness Writing

So let's look at tip number three: use stream of consciousness writing.

This is something I have practiced in my own language studies when I've learned Portuguese and French.

So let me explain what I mean by stream of consciousness writing.

This actually comes from another idea called morning pages. And the concept is that in the morning, you should write three pages of stream of consciousness writing.

This is especially helpful for people that have creative jobs to get their juices going in the head.

But I started to use this to teach my brain how to think in the language while also improving my writing skills.

So what is stream of consciousness writing?

The idea is that whatever you're thinking, you write down on the paper.

It doesn't have to be good writing. You shouldn't be thinking about it very hard.

Basically, if you feel tired, you would say, "Hey, it's Monday. I feel tired. I have work today. I need to do this, this, this. Ooh, I'm thankful for this, this, this."

You're just writing down whatever comes into your head.

But the reason why this is so good to help you think in English or a foreign language is because you're not overthinking it.

The more that you do this, the faster you'll be able to think and the more natural you will be able to think in English.

It doesn't have to be three pages. It can be if you want.

You could just do one page of stream of consciousness writing to really start to teach your brain to think in English.

When I did this, I actually would do a page in English, a page in Spanish, a page in Portuguese, a page in French, and maybe sometimes I would try Turkish, but I still need to develop my skills there.

But it can be really helpful to practice this exercise to start thinking more in English.

⏱ 12:11 – Tip 4: Practice with a Tutor or Language Partner

And our final tip, number four: practice speaking with a tutor or a language partner.

The reason this is so important is because now you're having to naturally interact with someone in the language.

If you're trying to constantly translate every idea that comes to your mind, if you're trying to translate everything that the other person is saying, you're going to get lost. It's not going to be very efficient.

And when you're first starting out, you might do some translating. But the more you do it, the less you will need to translate.

And my advice is, once you reach B1 level, eliminate translation as much as possible. It's only your last resort.

And so this will really help you to start becoming more comfortable searching for words, phrases, understanding ideas.

Be curious when you don't understand. Ask questions. Try to get the person to explain with stories before they just translate.

Really interact with the language.

You could also do this through messaging on WhatsApp, for example. But try to do this regularly to teach your brain how to think in English.

And if you're looking for a tutor who you can practice speaking with weekly so that you can improve your English speaking skills, stop translating in your head, and think naturally in English, I recommend that you check out my class options at peachteachenglish.com.

You can book one free class, and we can get started right away to make you a more fluent English speaker.

⏱ 14:24 – Recap and final thoughts

And those are my four best tips for you guys.

Let's just recap them real quick.

So number one: talk to yourself in English.

Number two: stop translating everything.

Number three: practice stream of consciousness writing.

And number four: practice with a tutor or language partner.

I guarantee you that if you start putting these tips into practice, you will start translating less in your head, and over time, you will start thinking naturally in English.

I've done it in other foreign languages, and I believe you can do it too.

If you have any more questions about this topic, please ask about them in the comments.

And if you'd like more information about my courses, please send me a message, and I'd be happy to share that with you.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Peach Teach English podcast.

See you in the next one.

🔁 Think in English: Step-by-Step Practice Plan

If you want to stop translating in your head, you need to practice thinking in English intentionally. Here’s a simple plan to help you do that this week.

1. Talk to yourself in English every day.

Choose one part of your day and describe it in English in your head. You can do this while getting ready, commuting to work, cooking, walking, or cleaning.

Think about what you're doing, what you need to do, and what's happening around you. It's the same way you would think to yourself in your native language—just do it in English.

2. Stop translating every new word.

When you don’t know a word, try to understand it through context, images, synonyms, or an English definition before translating it.

Use translation only as a last resort.

If you're speaking and don't have the perfect word, try using a synonym or describing the idea. You'll be surprised at how well you can still communicate—or how quickly someone can help you find the word you're looking for.

3. Do stream-of-consciousness writing.

Take 5–15 minutes to sit down and write 1–3 pages in English without stopping.

Write whatever comes to your mind and don’t worry too much about style or mistakes. You're training your brain to think in English—not to be perfect.

4. Practice speaking with someone.

Have a conversation in English with a tutor or language partner each week. Focus on communicating your ideas instead of saying everything perfectly.

When you get stuck, don’t look for a translation. Try describing what you mean and ask the person to help you.

Example:

“Yesterday I bought… um… how do you say the thing that women put on their lips to make them red?”

“Oh, that’s lipstick.”

“Ah, thanks! I bought some new lipstick yesterday.”

5. Repeat the process consistently.

Thinking in English is a skill. The more often you practice these habits, the more natural English will start to feel.

Try to implement these strategies daily or weekly, and you’ll begin to notice real progress in your ability to think directly in English.

🔁 Final Reflection

If you want to stop translating in your head, thinking in English needs to become a regular part of your English learning routine.

Ask yourself:

• How many moments each day can I practice thinking in English?

• When do I translate the most? Is it when I'm speaking? writing? listening? reading?

The goal is not to eliminate translation immediately, but to gradually create more opportunities to think directly in English.

🔗 Resource Mentioned in This Lesson

The Artist’s Way (Morning Pages) → https://amzn.to/3NkKfFA

This book by Julia Cameron popularized the morning pages exercise—a form of stream-of-consciousness writing that can help train your brain to think more freely in English. This book is written specifically for artists, but it's also a great resource for language learning.

🎯 Want to Practice Speaking English With Me?

English classes at Peach Teach English focus on real conversation, vocabulary expansion, and corrections, so you can speak confidently and accurately in everyday situations.

You can join group classes or 1-on-1 coaching to start improving your English fluency today.

Want to learn more?👉Book your FREE consultation now

🚀 Want More English Speaking Tips?

Many English learners understand conversations, podcasts, and videos quite well—but when it’s time to speak, they freeze up and feel stuck.

In the episode below, I explain why your listening comprehension is better than your speaking, and what you can start doing so you can speak English more confidently.

👉 Episode Transcript + Study Guide