In the prison of the mother tongue in the cage of the “linguistic ego”
- The invisible dominant structure of the mother tongue
The first stage of learning a language is the process by which the mother tongue is engraved into the cognition of an innocent infant.However, this mother tongue is not just a “tool of language.”It is thought itself, the framework of world perception, and also a component of the “ego”.
We are too accustomed to “seeing the world in Japanese” without realizing it.Landscape, emotion, theory, ethics, existence, interpersonal relationships, self, timeてall are “interpreted in Japanese.”Linguistically speaking, this is also a direct proof of the “Language relativity hypothesis (Sapir-Wolff hypothesis).”
In other words, the mother tongue is the “OS of world recognition”, and we believe that we can only think with that code.The first barrier that every person who tries to learn English faces is this “structure of mother tongue dependence.”
- Linguistic unconscious and automated translation capabilities
The reason why many Japanese English learners feel that “English is not good”.It is not just a lack of vocabulary and grammar knowledge.At its root, it is “a circuit that tries to process English through Japanese.”
This structure is extremely automatic.when we read english sentences, we subconsciously process：
See English words (e.g. “observe”)
Convert to Japanese in your head (“observe”)
To understand in Japanese (“Fumu fumu, to observe”)
Behind this three-step process is the premise of “thinking in Japanese.”However, this translation process is extremely inefficient and has a high cognitive cost.And that is also the biggest reason why “I can’t immerse myself in the world of English.”
In order to break away from this “unconscious mother tongue dependency structure”, simply language learning is not enough.What is needed is “structural rewiring of the brain” – that is, the construction of the cognitive neural English circuit.
- What is the English brain?—- Rethinking definitions
So, what exactly is the “English brain”?It is by no means “the brain of a person who is good at English.”
The true “English brain” refers to the following states：
Have a brain circuit that can understand and respond in English
Ability to think and judge things by word order and logic development in English
Internalization of the “filter of meaning” peculiar to English-speaking culture
To be able to re-recognize the world in English without translation
This “English brain” is not in conflict with the native brain.Rather, it is constructed as a “second language circuit that can coexist as a parallel structure.”The problem lies in enabling that switching as an “unconscious and automated process.”
- Target structure of “Dual Language circuit”
What I would like to propose here is “dual language circuit theory.”This does not simply mean that both English and Japanese can be used.More deeply, it means the reconstruction of neurocognitive structures.
Primary cognitive structure in the native language of Japanese
Parallel cognitive structure in the second language, English
“Language selective attention mechanism” to switch between the two
Automated semantic mapping circuit (untranslated)
To build this structure in the brain, a very strategic and gradual process is required.
This “English Brain Development Program” is nothing more than this “step-by-step withdrawal strategy from mother tongue dependence.”
Cognitive Phase for English Brain Building: Precise design of step-by-step withdrawal Strategies
Phase 1: Visualization of the translation brain and Understanding “Critical Point of mother Tongue dependence”
● Start by knowing the structure of the “translation brain”
The brain that processes English in Japanese– that is, the translation brain.This is our standard equipment.However, this structure is too automated and therefore not visualized.This is the problem.
The first thing to do is to self-observe “how the translation brain works.”
When I am reading English, when do I convert it to “Japanese”?
Is it “word level”?phrase level?Or “context level”?
Where is the line between vocabulary that needs translation and vocabulary that can be understood directly?
Observation, recording, and thinking of these are the starting points of English brain development.
● Identify the “critical point” of mother tongue dependence
The influence of the mother tongue permeates not only vocabulary and grammar, but also the way of thinking.For example：
Not familiar with English word order (SVO structure is not intuitive)
It “supplements” English abstractions in the Japanese sense
Subject-driven expressions such as ”I thinkな” feel unnatural
All such incongruity is the influence of the cognitive framework of the mother tongue.This is called the “critical point of mother tongue dependence.”To overcome this critical point, it is necessary to move to the next phase.
Phase 2: “Original Verbalization of Meaning” – An experiment to stop inner translation
● Removing the “preprocessing of meaning” from the Japanese language
At the core of this phase is ** “Training to think meaning in English”**.This means that before translating English into Japanese, the meaning is interpreted in an English context.
what we need here is：
Training to understand the meaning of example sentences without interpreting them in Japanese, and to grasp them sensuously as “English word order and structure”
To that end, we are conscious of “gradient of meaning” (word → collocation → sentence → scene)
For example：
“She gave him a look.”
Instead of translating it as “she gave him a look,” she treats it as an image, visually and emotionally, as a group called “give him a look.”
Translation “fixes the meaning”, while image processing “expands the meaning”.
What is important here is not to extract the “core of meaning” by translation.The meaning of English is that you can rewire the brain circuits only if you stay in English.
Phase 3: Suppression of Inter-language transition and “Cognitive Cutting Training”
● Forced stop of automatic translation function
Many learners are unconsciously driven by the “urge to translate into Japanese” when reading English.Training is needed to curb this.This is also training in cognitive control.
the effective method is：
Sound reading Shadowing: Focus on reproduction of speech, rhythm, and structure rather than understanding content
Image memorization: Memorizing English phrases in a scene without translating them into Japanese
One sentence Thought training: Think briefly about feelings and opinions “in English” for each sentence in English
At this stage, the brain is confused.But this confusion is “a sign of rewiring.”
● Design a switching switch for the brain language circuit
What is required here is an automatic switching function from the Japanese brain to the English brain.For example：
“What do you think?The moment you are asked, it switches to “English thinking mode” in your brain
“It depends.When you hear a phrase like “What’s going on?”, you’re more conscious of the situation and the reaction, not the grammar
Such a state can be constructed by conscious training.The switching switch is able to make in training.However, a switch is not formed even if it is packed with only words and syntax.It is important to experience the continuity of “situation, meaning and reaction” in English.
Phase 4: Infiltrating the English World – Going Outside of your Native Language
● Language is a “mirror of the world”
Using English also means accepting the “English world image.”This means not just cultural understanding, but acceptance of differences in ways of generating meaning.
For example：
Japanese: “Read the air”, “Match the opponent”, “Blur the subject”
English: “Express your position” “Logic of causation” “Subject becomes the thought subject”
It is necessary not to learn this difference simply as “knowledge”, but to grasp it practically.
● Thought experiment: “What if I do not know Japanese?”」
In this phase, I would like you to ask this question once：
“If I didn’t know Japanese, how would I understand this English?”」
This is an extremely fundamental and dangerous question.But in this question, there is a key to “going out of the mother tongue.”Understand English as it is, feel it as it is, and respond as it is in English.For the first time, the “English brain” is awakened.
Collapse and Reconstruction of the Linguistic Ego – English Brain Formation as a Deconstruction of Thought
- The Disintegration of the mother Tongue – the disintegration of the linguistic identity Language-dependent structure of ego
“I am, I am.”
This simple proposition is, in fact, “language is making me speak.”Our self-consciousness is organized through the mother tongue.
We speak of ourselves with the words “I am〜
That 〜- is” is defined by the Japanese language
In other words, the ego is composed by the mother tongue
The only way to dismantle this structure is to “go out of the language” or “rebuild the ego by another language.”
The formation of the English brain is the latter.That is, the creation of a second ego by a second language.
● Detachment of the mother tongue circuit – “xenophobic self-denial” as pain
This process is accompanied by extremely psychological pain.
When I try to think in English, the “I-like” that I have nurtured in my mother tongue fades
A “sense of linguistic insufficiency” that cannot fully express the nuances of Japanese in English is born
I feel “incongruity” and “fiction” in self-expression in English
These are the sensations of “falling apart.”
However, that collapse is the cleft to open up a new thinking space.
- The connection to speechless recognition – the “Root of thought” beneath the language circuit
● English brain is not an English problem
What I would like to emphasize here is that the English brain is not a problem of English itself.
Rather, it is a question of “how to overcome the filter of language”.The formation of the English brain means the limit of linguistic thinking and its breakthrough.
Acquire a way of thinking that can only be understood in English
But at the same time, it is also a staircase for “thinking without using language
English is just a “passage” to escape from the mother tongue
Language is essentially just a “temporary surface layer of meaning.”We originally have the ability to sense the “meaning itself” outside the language.
● Intuitive semantic cognition and pre-linguistic intelligence
For example, let’s look at the following English：
“Her silence was louder than words.”
Is it necessary to translate this meaning as “silence was more eloquent than words”?
Before that, can we “physically feel” the feeling of why “her silence” is “louder”?
Such cognition is the pre-linguistic semantic perception.
“Understanding the meaning without words”
“The body reacts as a meaning” without waiting for verbalization
This intelligence is a region that can only be reached beyond the language brain and is an “essential byproduct” of English brain construction.
- Reaching the Dual-language Personality and “separation thinking”
● Self of “different personality” by English thinking
When you come to this point, a clear sense is born in the learner.
“When I think in English, I become ‘another me'”
This is by no means an illusion.Language changes the structure of cognition and emotion.That is, by performing English thinking, another kind of personality is generated.
Japanese Personality: Harmony, Silence, Interpretation of air, Emphasis on relationships
English Personality: Assertiveness, logic・ causality・ and self-responsibility
The existence of this dual personality initially causes anxiety and confusion, but eventually begins to function as a “cognitive compound eye.”
● Loss of internal interpretation and “non-centralization of thought language”
The ultimate goal is “the disappearance of interpreters.”Stop Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese conversion completely.in other words：
you don’t have to think in japanese.
you don’t have to translate it in english.
Thoughts rise to the top of the language
In this state, there are “multiple language circuits” in the brain, each operating independently and functioning in an integrated manner.
At this time, thinking acquires “the freedom to choose a language” for the first time.
- Out of Language脳 The English brain to regain “freedom of thought”
● Language is both a prison and a tool
To be free from the mother tongue means to break out of the “prison of language.”
English is the key.But English can also be a prison.That is why we have to evolve into self-proficient in language.
Learning English is about rebuilding yourself.
Rewriting the schema of thinking
Redefining the way we interact with the world
Redesigning the structure of self-awareness
In this process, we generate new recognition devices in the brain that are neither Japanese nor English.
That is the “true English brain” and the entrance to “intelligence that is not bound by language.”
Intelligence Beyond Language – to the completion of the English brain and the expansion of human cognition
- What is the complete form of the English Brain
● Not “speak English”, “live in English” state
In the world, “speaking English” is said to be the ultimate goal.But it is the surface layer.The “completion of the English brain” that we have described in this paper refers to the following fundamental transformation states：
It becomes natural to see the world through English
Think in English rhythm and assemble emotions in English syntax
English gives rise to a self-image that is different from the self in Japanese
”Thinking in English“ overlaps with ”thinking itself”
This is not just language proficiency.This is a refactoring of self-awareness and world awareness.
● To “selectable intelligence“, not ”double operation” of mother tongue and English
What is important is that “depending on the situation, you can choose which cognitive mode to activate” rather than “you can use both English and Japanese.”
For example：
Activate Japanese thinking mode when performing emotional, poetic, or lyrical expressions in Japanese
In situations where logical, negotiated, and scientifically organized expressions are required, the English brain is activated
In this way, the ability to “choose thoughts between languages” increases the degree of freedom in cognition itself.
- The revolution of going out of language
● English brain building is a jumping board to language evolution
Here, I would like to introduce a cognitive evolutionary perspective.
Human beings have acquired thinking through language, but the next stage of evolution is to acquire thinking beyond language.The training of the English brain is only the entrance.
The Japanese brain puts cultural context at the foundation of thinking
The English brain puts logical structure and assertiveness at the foundation of thinking
So, what is the basis of the “nonverbal brain”?
It is a pre・linguistic intelligence structure, such as cognitive intuition, structured silence, and physical semantic perception.
In order to reach this area, it is necessary to jump in three stages: “mother tongue → English → out of language”.
● Pre-linguistic structure– “Understand before understanding”
For example:：
“He said nothing, but everything was understood.”
To understand this meaning, one must read the “English margin”.Learners who thought English was a linear language would be surprised here.”What you don’t put into words has meaning even in English.”
In other words, silence and margins can also be embedded in the English brain.
Here we notice– that “thinking is made up of language”, but “language is not all of thought”.
This awareness is a breakthrough that goes beyond the English brain and leads to a “renewal of recognition itself.”
- Design Concept of Brain language apparatus: Multilingualization as a Self-building strategy of the future
● “Brain language circuit” can be designed
The mother tongue was given by chance.But English is a language that you choose to acquire.
The selected language is also the selected cognitive mode.
At this point we change from passive existence to active designer.In other words, it evolves as “the subject that designs the language apparatus in the brain by itself.”
This is no longer “English learning”.
This is “self-building engineering.”
● Multilingualism is not a division.it’s an integrated intelligence.
Using multiple languages means not a split of personality, but an extension of integrated intelligence.
For example：
Construct a theory in English, supplement the emotional depth in Japanese, and express the subtleties of human relations in Spanish
Change the pattern of thinking for each language and choose the optimal “thinking engine” according to the purpose
Such self-designed intelligence will be at the core of future educational models.
- finallyれ are you the master of language or a servant?
● English brain development is a journey that questions the whole structure of the self
If you are learning English, it is not just learning a language.
What have you been thinking?
How have you understood others and the world?
And in what language do you speak of the “future self”?
The development of the English brain is a strategic withdrawal action to free oneself from the fate of the mother tongue, and at the same time, it is a design idea to reconstruct oneself beyond the language.
If you re-perceive English as an “inner revolution” rather than as an “outer technology”——
From there, everything starts.
Summary: English Brain Development Program – From Gradual Withdrawal to Linguistic Awakening
What is the English Brain and Why It is necessary to Break away from Mother Tongue Dependence
Translation Brain to English Brain Rewiring Program and Training Phase
The deep process of disintegrating the native self and rebuilding the English self
Expansion of thinking and recognition beyond the limits of language, and creation of “free intelligence”
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