tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jun 15 16:26:17 2002

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Re: Translating vs. Thinking



> > So my advice is: Speak.  Try your hardest.  If you make a mistake, 
>someone
> > will correct it.  That's why we have a BG.
>
>You're absolutely correct.  But I'd add: try to think like a Klingon while
>doing so!

maj.  I think I have a narrower definition of 'thinking in the language' 
than you or Qov.  For example, for French, Finnish, and Portuguese, I've 
lived with native speakers, and I find that when I'm speaking one of those 
languages with another fluent speaker, I switch into thinking in that 
language, to the point where my brain will actually translate English into 
the other language.  I've actually had experiences where someone will tell a 
joke in English when I'm in that mode, and I won't get it because it's based 
on a pun that doesn't translate, and I'll have to switch back to English 
mode and mentally repeat the joke to myself in order to figure it out.

I'm nowhere near that point in Klingon, although I have reached the point 
where, if I'm reading Klingon, I will formulate responses in Klingon in my 
head, whereas I used to formulate responses internally in English and then 
have to translate them into Klingon.

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