Luyện nói tiếng Anh bằng Shadowing qua video: How to Start Thinking in English (Stop Translating!)

Hello beautiful people, I'm Nicole and welcome back to my channel.

In today's video we are going to be looking at how to think in English.

If you understand English and you can also speak it

but you feel like it sounds a little bit awkward or it's stressful

or even maybe you are translating everything in your head before you speak, today's video is going to be perfect for you.

We're going to be looking at a few things that you can either change or incorporate,

which means to add, into your daily routine to help you start thinking in English.

Let's get started.

Number one, start naming things around you.

Begin with simple things.

You don't need to do all these big and difficult words.

Start with the simple things like your phone, your laptop, the wall, window, TV, pencil, whatever it is.

Look around you right now.

Try name a few of the simple things around you.

Now I want you to expand on this.

So again, start simple, not too complicated.

Let's say one of the items or objects that you named was phone.

Make a short sentence.

This is my phone.

The window is open.

This pencil is blue.

Many learners say this is where everything started because it creates that connection between object and English.

No translation.

Number two.

Think in simple sentences.

You do not need to go big and bold with this one.

Again, I want you to start simple.

So instead of saying, I want to consume nourishment shortly, just say, I want to eat soon.

But remember, it's about thinking.

You don't need to physically speak to someone, but just force yourself to think in English.

Number two, think in simple sentences, not advanced ones.

Don't try and sound advanced.

This is only going to slow you down.

Instead of trying to think, for example, I want to consume nourishment shortly.

Make it simple.

I want to eat soon.

You can try simple sentences in your head like I am hungry.

I want to work or I need to go to work.

I feel sad.

I feel excited.

All of these little things, because you're forcing yourself to think in English, when you want to start speaking,

you won't have to actively do the translation in your head because you've started to think in English.

Just remember, fluency comes from speed and clarity, not complexity.

Keep it simple.

Number three, have small conversations with yourself.

Yes, talk to yourself.

It works.

You can try small little things.

You don't need to stand in front of a mirror.

You can if you'd like to, but this can create an awkward setting because we don't always stand in front of a mirror when we're thinking to ourselves.

A lot of the time we suggest standing in front of a mirror

so that you can see the movement of your mouth and your tongue, and this is practicing the mouth movement when we speak.

But when we're thinking, this isn't important.

We're just thinking.

So you don't need to prepare anything.

Do it on the spot.

For example, you're busy cooking dinner.

Think to yourself, what am I cooking.

I am cooking pasta.

Then I'm going to relax.

Have these conversations.

Maybe again, ask yourself, when I relax, what am I going to do?

I am going to watch a movie.

These small little things can help you again to stop the translation in your head.

Because you're having these conversations, it can also make you feel more prepared when you have real conversations with people.

Because perhaps someone asks you, what do you like to do when you're relaxed?

I've had this conversation with myself many times.

And you can feel more prepared and say, I like to watch TV.

You don't have to do that translation because you've already had this conversation with yourself.

You don't need to tell people that though.

Number four, change one daily habit to English.

Don't change everything.

This is going to lead to burnout.

Choose one thing at a time.

Once you've chosen one thing and you've gotten comfortable, then you can add another.

But if you do everything at one go, it's going to feel overwhelming and not at all going to be helping you.

It's just going to be stressful.

So for example, what you could change is your phone language.

You could start making your shopping lists in English.

You could start doing your daily planning in English or even a morning routine that you do.

Change it to English.

For example, I always recommend something like a shopping list is a good place to start because let's be honest,

your phone settings can be very difficult to work through and navigate if it is not in your native language.

So I think things like your shopping list or maybe even your daily routine, your schedule, these are good places to start.

Once you're comfortable with this, I want you to add on.

Once the shopping list is done, add in your schedule.

Once you've got comfortable with schedule, you can try.

Give it a attempt.

Change your phone settings to English.

And if it becomes overwhelming and very difficult, don't give up.

Keep pushing yourself because it will work.

Number five, stop translating word for word.

Translation is the biggest problem for obvious reasons, but mainly to understand it that for most languages,

sentence structure, tense usage, pronouns, all of these are different, not just with translation, but with placement in a sentence.

instead of thinking native language English I want you to train your brain to be object English directly

and this starts with the first few things

that we've already covered pen table TV whatever it is eventually your brain won't need to do

that translation and if you don't know the translation try and explain it.

For example, a thing that cuts food.

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A knife.

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In that moment you maybe forgot the word knife or had not learned it yet, but this makes a connection in your brain where you're not just translating.

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You put in the effort to explain the word, a thing that cuts food.

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Oh, knife.

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For some reason, our brain loves this, and you seem to also remember a lot quicker.

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This is how fluency develops.

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Number six, practice speaking with a real person.

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Yes, self-practice is good, but it's just not enough.

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I want you to try and find a tutor, or a language partner, or even a friend.

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With tutors, I do understand, maybe not everyone can afford to do this, not necessarily financially, but sometimes with time.

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What always helps is maybe getting someone who is going to practice with you, someone who's on the same journey of learning English,

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practice together, or even just a friend who's willing to sit and laugh with you.

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I don't want you to focus on speaking perfectly, but I want you to try and focus on practicing natural speech.

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And like I said, it does not have to be perfect.

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Just focus on speaking in English.

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Learners improve a lot faster when they speak regularly with people.

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Number seven, use micro practice.

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This is five to 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes a day.

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What you can focus on is five minutes of thinking in English, five minutes of speaking, and five minutes of listening.

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This would be a total of 15 minutes.

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Again, if this is too much for you, break it down into three minutes.

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Three minutes speaking, thinking, listening, and so forth.

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You need to understand that long hours is not necessary, but it is important to do frequent practice.

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And that's why micro practice comes in, because for people who cannot put aside an hour or two hours a day,

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15 minutes is at least something.

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Research shows, and even students' experience,

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have proven that short practice daily is a lot more effective than long, irregular study.

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So keep practicing, even if it's only for 10 minutes a day.

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Number eight, listen actively, not just passively.

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Listening helps thinking, but not just listening to hear it.

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I want you to engage.

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So when watching a short video or YouTube or a movie,

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listening to a podcast, what I want you to start doing is repeating what you hear.

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Pause the video or podcast, whatever it is, and repeat what they say.

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Practice the sentence structure, maybe even the pronunciation if you're focusing on certain or specific accents.

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Pause, repeat.

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Number nine, watch content you actually enjoy.

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Don't force boring content.

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Watch series that you love or movies that you enjoy.

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You can start off with subtitles and slowly remove them.

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And even what you can do, if it is available, find a movie from your native language that you have maybe watched already and enjoyed.

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The emphasis is on enjoyment.

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Find one and see if it is dubbed into English.

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This is essentially movies where they've taken the original language

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and replaced it with voiceover actors who now speak in a different language, and in this case, an English dubbed movie.

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Learners who enjoy content stay consistent, and consistency builds fluency.

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And number 10, accept mistakes.

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This is non-negotiable.

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If you are afraid to make mistakes, you are not going to improve.

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I want you to change your mindset from mistakes are bad to mistakes mean I'm learning.

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Just remember, every fluent speaker has made thousands, if not millions of mistakes.

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You do not need to be perfect, but understanding where you're going wrong means that you are making improvements.

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The key takeaway.

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If you remember one thing, remember this.

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Thinking in English is not about being perfect.

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It's about being fast, simple, and consistent.

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Just keep doing it.

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Just keep trying.

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Be cool, not a fool.

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Subscribe for more English tips and hit that notification bell so you never miss a future video.

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And if you would like one-on-one classes with me,

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you can scan the QR code on the screen or click the link down in the description to book a class.

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Comment down below, what is the hardest part about thinking in English.

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I really want to know from your perspective what really is the hardest part, and maybe I can help guide you through the comments.

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I'll see you next time.

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Be cool, not a fool.

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Subscribe for more English tips.

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Chips!

Phương Pháp Shadowing Là Gì?

Shadowing là kỹ thuật học ngôn ngữ có cơ sở khoa học, ban đầu được phát triển cho chương trình đào tạo phiên dịch viên chuyên nghiệp và được phổ biến rộng rãi bởi nhà đa ngôn ngữ học Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Nguyên lý cốt lõi đơn giản nhưng cực kỳ hiệu quả: bạn nghe tiếng Anh của người bản xứ và lặp lại to ngay lập tức — như một "cái bóng" (shadow) đuổi theo người nói với độ trễ chỉ 1–2 giây. Khác với luyện ngữ pháp hay học từ vựng bị động, Shadowing buộc não bộ và cơ miệng phải đồng thời xử lý và tái tạo ngôn ngữ thực tế. Các nghiên cứu khoa học xác nhận phương pháp này cải thiện đáng kể phát âm, ngữ điệu, nhịp điệu, nối âm, kỹ năng nghe và độ lưu loát khi nói — đặc biệt hiệu quả cho người luyện IELTS Speaking và muốn giao tiếp tiếng Anh tự nhiên như người bản ngữ.

Luyện nói tiếng Anh bằng Shadowing qua video: How to Start Thinking in English (Stop Translating!)

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