How to think in English

I think we should only learn the English way of thinking, not how to think in English. Imagine, when ur knowledge of the English languge is good enough but ur way of thinking is still a Vietnamese one , u can never fully understand both the laguage and the culture. I remember being taught "when you learn English, be English". Thinking in Vietnamese doesn''t matter, knowing the way English people think does !

Exactly, Damark That''s what I''m trying to do. Try to think in English and understand it in English, too. You shouldn''t translate everything you hear and listen to Vietnamese, an extremely bad way to learn English I have to say. Dot is right, let?Ts discuss how people bypass the translation step.

So you learn English by thinking what you intend to say in Vietnamese and then translate it into English? It?Ts strange! I can say without hesitation that thinking in English does influence on your studying results. You''ll make faster and bigger progress once you try to think in English. Just like you said, ?oWhen you studying English, be English? so think in English, don?Tt think in Vietnamese since English never ever think in Vietnamese. You?Tre indeed betraying yourself, fantasy_reality!
As we go on, we remember all the times we had together
As our lives change, come whatever
We will still be FRIENDS FOREVER

Good question! Suppose we replace English with French or Spanish, or German or Vietnamese you will find out the answer pretty easily!
One thing can be inferred from this kind of process is that, to a certain extent, your brain is somewhat like a black box. With certain inputs it''ll produce certain outputs. Therefore, keep listening, reading and forcing yourself using only English rather than any other language(s) you might be able to fuel your brain with enough inputs and hopefully after a while doing it, you''ll find something interesting along the way.
Cheers and happy thinking,
neomentor

I feel interesting to talk about this topic. Firstly I have read many useful ideas for thinking in learning. Secondly I am looking for a document about how to teach thinking skills (ky nang tu duy) !
Really I don''t know clearly how to think . It is different from how to learn a language. Some people think that thinking in English is a way of learning English. It is not correct.
In this part I only want to mention on how to learn English as native learners learn. People call it how to aquire languages.
There are 3 ways in my opinion:
1. Learn by heart used for low levels
2. Form habits
3. Learn rules of languages
The first time I visit this page, I think it is very useful for both learners and trainers in learning and teaching.
Happy !

Hi EC!
Each one has his own way to learn everythin including E. It''''s very nice that you all can share your ways here so that everybody can groove his E!
I like this topic much. And the ideas of tinyfoxmas and britneybritney are very useful.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Arial" id=quote>Trích từ:So, come back to your question, I agree with the above ideas of replace using our mother tongue by English, and try to draw out things in English, you''''''''ll soon see the results.[/QUOTE]
Well, thaz rite! When we hear something called (or described) in E, inspite of thinking: "How do we say it in Vietnamese?" we draw it out. That means we''''re thinking in E. We also realize that we''''re learning by the way of a baby. He sees things then he calls out after hearing adults tell how to call. He remembers the figures or events and the way to call them out.
There are speacial dictionaries called: Pictorial. You learn how to call/say/tell smth in E as seeing the pictures of them, becoz there is no word by Vie in the book.
There are TV programmes in E. You can watch the events that are broacasted and listen how people call this.
Well, shorty, don''''t wonder: What does this mean?. Keep thinking of this question: How do people describe this in E?
Luck!
Được cundc sửa chữa / chuyển vào 15:00 ngày 26/06/2004

I have collected a paper about Thinking skills :
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Teaching Thinking Skills

Perhaps most importantly in today''s information age, thinking skills are viewed as crucial for educated persons to cope with a rapidly changing world. Many educators believe that specific knowledge will not be as important to tomorrow''s workers and citizens as the ability to learn and make sense of new information. --D. Gough, 1991
INTRODUCTION
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Throughout history, philosophers, politicians, educators and many others have been concerned with the art and science of astute thinking. Some identify the spirit of inquiry and dialogue that characterized the golden age of ancient Greece as the beginning of this interest. Others point to the Age of Enlightenment, with its emphasis on rationality and progress (Presseisen 1986, p. 6).
In the twentieth century, the ability to engage in careful, reflective thought has been viewed in various ways: as a fundamental characteristic of an educated person, as a requirement for responsible citizenship in a democratic society, and, more recently, as an employability skill for an increasingly wide range of jobs.
Deborah Gough''s words quoted at the beginning of this report typify the current viewpoint in education about the importance of teaching today''s students to think critically and creatively. Virtually all writers on this subject discuss thinking skills in connection with the two related phenomena of modern technology and fast-paced change. Robinson, for example, states in her 1987 practicum report:
Teaching children to become effective thinkers is increasingly recognized as an immediate goal of education....If students are to function successfully in a highly technical society, then they must be equipped with lifelong learning and thinking skills necessary to acquire and process information in an ever-changing world (p. 16).
Beyth-Marom, et al. (1987) underscore this point, characterizing thinking skills as means to making good choices:
Thinking skills are necessary tools in a society characterized by rapid change, many alternatives of actions, and numerous individual and collective choices and decisions (p. 216).
The societal factors that create a need for welldeveloped thinking skills are only part of the story, however. Another reason that educators, employers, and others call for more and better thinking skills instruction in schools is that American young people, in general, do not exhibit an impressive level of skill in critical or creative thinking. The following observation from Norris''s 1985 review is typical:
Critical thinking ability is not widespread. Most students do not score well on tests that measure ability to recognize assumptions, evaluate arguments, and appraise inferences (p. 44).
Likewise, Robinson notes that:
While the importance of cognitive development has become widespread, students'' performance on measures of higher-order thinking ability has displayed a critical need for students to develop the skills and attitudes of effective thinking (p. 13).
There is yet another major force behind the call for improved thinking skills instruction. Educators are now generally agreed that it is in fact possible to increase students'' creative and critical thinking capacities through instruction and practice. Ristow (1988) notes that, in the past, these capacities have often been regarded as:
a fluke of nature, a genetic
predisposition....qualities [that] are either possessed or not possessed by their owner and that education can do very little to develop these qualities (p. 44).
Ristow then goes on to say:
However, a great deal of the research currently being reported indicates that the direct teaching of creative skills can produce better, more creative thinkers.
Presseisen makes this point even more forcefully, asserting that:
The most basic premise in the current thinking skills movement is the notion that students CAN learn to think better if schools concentrate on teaching them HOW to do so (p. 17).

I''m reading 7 habits written by Stephan Convey. An i''m trying to thinking in English for understanding all what he said.
Well i think for pratising thinking in English,you should use E-E dictionary, and when you catch a new word, you shouldn''t ask yourself what''s it mean in V, you should guest in English, in the sentence you read.

thinking in english is a long process of socializing, experiencing, perceiving and adapting. For me the best way to do it is socializing in E as much as possible. Af first it may be tough, but you know when u do it a hell lot of times, it will come to the point when u don''t really have to think in vnmese anymore. Just a self-reflection

Ở đây mọi người cũng nói nhiều rồi nhưng theo tieungocngoc là bạn cứ phải nói chuyện thật nhiều. Dần dần do thói quen bạn sẽ nói chuyện và nghĩ trong tiếng Anh mà thôi. Thực sự nó ko có khó nhưng nó đòi bạn thời gian luyện tập. Hãy vui vẻ đi chơi với những người bạn nước ngoài. Theo thời gian , bạn sẽ tập được thói quen này cho mình .........

having an E-speaking environment is ideal. But for those who can''t have one, seeing movies that you like, or listening to favorite E songs can help. That''s in fact what I did. I did not intentionally learn to think in E, but just after long enough praticing, that came naturally. It''s very good if you can see news, reports, read newspaper in E. I mean we should have wide variety of subjects in E to listen to, in order to be able to think in E evrytime and in evry situation. Though i live in an E-speaking environment now, my problem is that I cannot think in E while playing sport!! Never experienced that before. Kinda funny isn''t it?