How to Stop Translating from Hindi When You Speak English

You want to say something simple. First the sentence forms in Hindi, or Tamil, or Marathi. Then you translate it word by word into English. By the time it is ready, the conversation has moved on, or the English comes out sounding a little strange.

Almost everyone learning English goes through this. It is not a sign that you are weak at English. It is a sign that you learned English mostly from books, one word at a time, instead of hearing and saying whole sentences.

पहले Hindi में सोचना, फिर translate करना, ये लगभग सबके साथ होता है। इसका इलाज है पूरे sentences सुनकर बोलना, एक-एक word नहीं।

What word-by-word translation sounds like

What you think	Word by word	What English speakers say
Mujhe bukhar hai	I am having fever.	I have a fever.
Woh phone nahi utha raha	He is not lifting the phone.	He isn't answering his phone.
Main do saal se yahan kaam kar raha hoon	I am working here since two years.	I've been working here for two years.
Ek kaam karo	Do one thing.	Here's an idea: / Why don't you...
Mera dimaag kharab ho gaya	My mind got spoiled.	I was really annoyed.
Aaj subah	Today morning	This morning

Each English version is not a translation of the Hindi words. It is a different sentence that means the same thing. That is the key idea.

Why translating is slow

When you translate, your brain does three jobs at once: it builds the Hindi sentence, finds an English word for each Hindi word, and then tries to fix the word order. Speaking needs you to do it in about a second. That is why the words come slowly.

Fluent speakers skip the middle step. They have heard "I have a fever" so many times that the whole sentence comes out at once. You can build that same store of ready sentences.

Five ways to start thinking in English

1. Learn sentences, not words

Instead of learning "fever = bukhar", learn the whole sentence "I have a fever." Next time you need it, it arrives complete.

2. Listen and repeat, out loud

Hear a natural sentence and say it back the same way, at the same speed. This builds your store of ready sentences directly, without passing through Hindi.

3. Talk to yourself in short English sentences

While making tea: "I'm making tea. The water is hot. I need sugar." Simple, short and out loud. It feels silly at first. It works because it makes English the language of everyday moments.

4. Keep sentences short

Long Hindi sentences turn into long, tangled English sentences. Say two short sentences instead: "The meeting is at three. Please bring the report."

5. When you get stuck, describe it

If you don't know a word, don't stop to translate. Describe it: "the thing you use to open a bottle" works fine, and the conversation keeps going.

कोई word याद न आए तो रुकिए मत, उसे describe कर दीजिए। बात चलती रहनी चाहिए।

How long until you stop translating?

You won't switch it off in a day. But each sentence you practise out loud is one less sentence you need to translate. After a few weeks of daily practice, you will notice that common sentences, greetings, requests, answers about yourself, come out in English straight away. Then the circle grows.

Read next: 20 common Indian English mistakes, most of which come from word-by-word translation, and a 15-minute daily plan.