For me thinking in a foreign language came through immersion and doing a lot of talking to myself.
The following helped a lot also
1)Watch films dubbed into your target language. Turn on English subs if you find it difficult. choose films you actually want to see.
2)Watch infomericials. Seriously. they repeat the same phrases over and over again in a clear accent. The downside is you will randomly find yourself talking about the plus points of the world greatest mop.
3)Read comics before books: the pictures and context will help you figure you meanings
4) Forget fast and relearn by using srs like anki/mnemosyne
5)study mnemonics - roman room is very useful
talk to everyone
Skritter for chinese literacy; pimsleur for beginners
someone please develop some language learning software that isn't glorified flashcards, matching games. The stuff I've come across out there is lazy and unimaginative.
my dream is language software developed by Nintendo.
Fun and intuitive.
I had great luck with the "opposite" of #1. I happened to watch some English language movies subtitled in French and it was a great way to slam a lot of written vocabulary into my head very quickly in an engaging way. That and some other techniques (living with three French girls helps ;>) had me thinking and dreaming in French at the end of a month.
I had a horrible accent, but I could get through basic conversations. A year later I was fluent, with a much better Parisian accent.
After gaining fluency in an additional language, I "disengaged" English as my translation layer and have been able to think in a foreign language much more quickly. At this point when speaking, whatever language I'm using sort of scrolls past the back of my eyes, including English.
The following helped a lot also
1)Watch films dubbed into your target language. Turn on English subs if you find it difficult. choose films you actually want to see.
2)Watch infomericials. Seriously. they repeat the same phrases over and over again in a clear accent. The downside is you will randomly find yourself talking about the plus points of the world greatest mop.
3)Read comics before books: the pictures and context will help you figure you meanings
4) Forget fast and relearn by using srs like anki/mnemosyne
5)study mnemonics - roman room is very useful
talk to everyone
Skritter for chinese literacy; pimsleur for beginners
someone please develop some language learning software that isn't glorified flashcards, matching games. The stuff I've come across out there is lazy and unimaginative.
my dream is language software developed by Nintendo. Fun and intuitive.