Experts share some mental exercises to train our brains (大脑) to think in English. They tell us that it’s best to start small, little by little.
Look around you. What do you see? In your head, try to name each thing near you. Charles Thomas, an English teacher tells his students to name the things that they see around them, wherever they are. Another teacher Andrew Hinshaw also finds this exercise helpful.
Thomas says, “If you’re looking at your house and you see your garage, but you can’t think of the name in English.” You can describe it like this, “The place inside where I put my car” or you can say, “It’s next to my house. I keep things there.”
For example, if you are sitting in a park, you can tell yourself by using simple sentences like, “It’s such a beautiful day” and “People are playing sports with their friends.”
Thomas asks his beginning-level students to describe their everyday activities using the simple present verb form. So, they would think to themselves activities like, “I put on my shirt” and “He drives the bus.”
This would need other verb tenses (时态). For example, you might tell yourself, “When I leave the house, I’m going to get an iced coffee. Then, I’ll take the train to class. I’m studying with Jenny today. She said she booked a study room at the library for 2 p.m.”
| A．Think in simple sentences. |
| B．Think you speak to someone else. |
| C．Describe daily activities in the mind. |
| D．Describe things you don’t know the words for in your mind. |
| E．Name things around you in English in your head. |
| F．Make plans in your mind when you wake up in the morning. |
