The Language Lab

Q: Will having a part time or freelancing translation job affect my effort of thinking in second language?

Hi folks

Because it is my first commitment to a new site

I am getting confused

I am studying the help page to find out what's the problem of my question

And edit it

-1

I'm a native Persian speaker and I've been learning English since I was 11. Of course in the first years of learning, I actually had a lot of mistakes in choosing methods that I will never repeat in learning a third. One of these mistake is that I didn't start to learn English through an L2 t...

study-habits proficiency l2-acquisition listening-comprehension l2-understanding

I think edition to these early questions should be done and they shouldn't remain closed or unhold

so tell me about the specific problem to edit it

By this question I want to point out an issue

As you know the goal of learning a new language is to think and understand in that language

But translation (especially if it's not oral) involves with exact description of your English understanding in your native language

so it maybe affect your practice of thinking in L2

by describing a lot about myself in that question

I wanted to present a real situation

12:09 PM

@sepideh You're worried that translating papers from Persian to English will weaken your English skills?

Yes, I'm trying to practice and automatically think in English

and regarding the weak methods that I've used in the beginning, I'm still fairly poor in that

Maybe you can understand it from my writing if you are a native speaker or if your English is very good

Most of my teachers tell me to think in English and also my friends who live overseas

Do you think in English now?

@Hatchet in fact I don't think so. or if I do think in Persian, it doesn't affect my speed alot

because I don't notice it my self

but most of other people understand it

and I don't understand how

do they know that i'm thinking in persian?

@sepideh I wouldn't worry about your skills weakening; in fact, I think translating will help your skills, not harm them.

yes that will be a good option for vocabulary mastering of course

but we had a discussion about it in a persian forum

I will link it but probably you don't know persian to read it

12:20 PM

I can use a translator.

I am generally telling that the question is somehow an important concern among some language learners who live in countries like Iran and don't start English with good learning methods

this is still common in Iranian schools to speak persian and maybe that old teacher can't even speak with a native herself

So you see iranian high school students that just have learned in school

can't communicate with anyone speaking English let alone a native speaker

@Hatchet ok, I'll link as soon as I find it

12:42 PM

ok this is part of a thread in an iranian forum in which I had a discussion about this issue with a bunch of iranian english learners

academiacafe.com/pf/…

For me as a native persian learning English this problem is most significant when I encounter with words like would

@sepideh Translator isn't much help... I'm getting the gist of the conversation, but no more. Oh, well.

which have different roles in English but there is no structure in persian that is equal to them

@Hatchet ok do you need translation?

OK, I didn't remind Google Translate

@sepideh It looks like you're discussing how it is difficult to convert Persian into English because of the radical differences between the two (Persian has more abstract ideas/words). Also, there's a problem with thinking in Persian unconsciously. Correct?

yes

@sepideh Ah. Google translate isn't so bad after all.

12:56 PM

as you see I have said that when watching Reign series despite of the effort to think in English, sometimes I noticed that I'm still thinking in persian inadvertantly

@Hatchet no, it's good. for german, french, english, etc

it's precise

but not for persian

@sepideh Agreed. How long have you known English well?

in fact I've been learning for 14 years

but not in an active way

It can be 5 years or alittle more that I have indulged myself in english

By active learning, I mean that I was never a regular learner

Stuff like Anki don't attract me

Now, during a normal day, do you speak English more, or Persian?

I speak Persian more but I read nd write in English

because I'm studying in front of my laptop

you know there are not a lot of options to find good people to chat with

most of the natives don't need learning and so they're just wasting time during chat

and so not more options to speak but I watch movies a lot but not daily. I can say that in a normal day most of the times I am practicing reading and writing in advertantly

Speaking a language is one of the best ways to attain a higher level of fluency. Speaking in English can especially help your "thinking in English" skills.

@sepideh I added an answer to your question: languagelearning.stackexchange.com/a/417/85

1:09 PM

@Hatchet yes, i'm studying it

@Hatchet do you know of any particular way for someone like me?

@sepideh A particular way to do what?

@Hatchet In a normal day, I don't meet an English speaker and the people around me don't know english alot to be interested in speaking

so with whom should I speak?

With whom do yourself speak to learn a new language?

@sepideh In this other answer of mine, I kinda addressed that: languagelearning.stackexchange.com/a/135/85 Basically, speak to yourself!

ok, something as repeating the thoughts aloud

thanks for your consideration

goodbye:)

have a nice time

@sepideh Okay, have a great day! Good luck with your endeavors in English. :)

1:35 PM

just one more question. how much time will the site remain in private beta? I want to see if I have enough time to fulfill my commitment? You know I don't want to ask multiple languages in a day because they may get down-voted and I may get blocked of asking

@sepideh According to @Gilles, private beta usually lasts 3 weeks. chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/29051572#29051572

3:23 PM

@SMSvonderTann Please do not promote your proposals or anything from Area 51

11:06 PM

@Hatchet Wow... one rep lead... lol

fi12

@Hatchet is @Gilles really the most reliable source of information? Generally, private beta lasts for about two weeks before we enter public beta.

A: How long does it take to open public beta?

11:26 PM

@fi12 it was one week by default for years, but now it's three weeks

9

We've extended the private betas to last about three weeks total. In actuality, if you call the initial launch "week one", the evaluations and discussion happen near the end of week three. We extended the private beta another week because the logistics of launching a private beta and getting ever...

@fi12 Well Giles is a very trustworthy user... he has tons of rep and is a moderator. Not the most reliable, but very reliable

A: Concern over the effects of 3-week private betas

11

My concern is that at the end of week 3, there will be even less activity. This could potentially lead to the SE team seeing this and saying "oh, this beta isn't very active - better close it". Usually new communities are concerned that we didn't give them enough time. Either way, there's r...

@PythonMaster I can make mistakes, but I usually know when I know and when I'm not sure

Quill

The site is slowing down a bit from the opening of the private beta

Hopefully it's okay to pass into public beta :)

By the time someone gets mod tools (1k rep), hopefully some of the stats are posted to see our progress

Just 42 more rep...

@PythonMaster those stats aren't interesting over the course of a few weeks

and the reason the stats require rep is so people don't obsess over them, so obsessing over them even before you can see them isn't a good thing

11:32 PM

I suppose so... :(