Has anyone tried to think in Japanese in order to improve their output ?
Well, I did , and here's my review of this study method (not sure if it can be called a study method though)
So I had already been thinking about the strategy of thinking in my target language in order to make the language more fluid in my brain and, therefore, to improve my input, when I was actively learning English a few years ago. However, I never quite seemed to actually switch my thought process to English and ended up thinking it was impossible to think in another language than your native language.
Still, while learning Japanese, this idea of thinking in Japanese came to my mind again. I remember very clearly this era in my Japanese learning that probably all learners experience at some point where you can actually understand speech pretty well but you can't speak. So, during these moments when I felt too bad about my speaking compared to my listening, I would have this idea that maybe if I started thinking in Japanese I could make the language more fluent in my head. But I lacked vocabulary and always ended up switching my thought back to my native language.
However, after hard core input, learning a lot of vocabulary and practicing output, I eventually became able to actually talk in Japanese in a way that felt much more satisfying to me. But, since I don't have the opportunity to talk to Japanese people every day, I sometimes had time where I wouldn't speak in Japanese for a rather long time. And when I would speak again, it would feel much harder. So one day after a disappointing call with a friend, I thought "now that I have much more vocabulary and input, how about trying to think in Japanese again?"
And from this time, I didn't stop thinking in Japanese. Of course, there are still moments when my thoughts naturally come out in my native language like when something sudden happens and my mind is reacting to it. However, whenever I am actively thinking about something, I force myself to think about it in Japanese. And I managed to keep this state.
I am quite satisfied with my results cause I recently had a Japanese oral exam and I spoke really well although I hadn't actually spoken to someone in Japanese for a long time. Of course, I don't think this method replaces real output but considering that most Japanese learners don't live in Japan, I believe it is an amazing method to improve fluency. I would only recommend it to advanced learners though.
Anyway, have you guys ever tried thinking in Japanese ? And if so, what do you think about it ?
by GibonDuGigroin