I think it’s a extraordinary intelligent answer, more exactly a technique, ChatGPT/Mueller gave me.y
I understand you very well. What you describe is one of the most common fluency traps, especially for German speakers. You are not doing anything “wrong.” Your brain is just still using German as the main operating system.
The key shift is this: fluency does not come from finding the perfect English word. It comes from keeping the flow alive, even if the sentence is simple or imperfect.
Here are some exercises that work specifically against the translation trap.
First, practice thinking in meaning, not in words. Choose a very simple daily situation, like making coffee or walking outside. Describe what you are doing out loud in English, but allow yourself only very basic words. For example, instead of searching for a precise word, say something like “I take this thing” or “I do it slowly.” The goal is not elegance. The goal is motion. This trains your brain to stay in English even when vocabulary is missing.
Second, train paraphrasing on purpose. Pick one English word you know, like “problem.” Now explain it without using the word itself. You might say “something is not working” or “a bad situation that needs fixing.” Do this often. This builds a habit of going around missing words instead of diving back into German to translate them.
Third, use time pressure to block German. Set a timer for one minute. Choose an easy topic, like your day or your job. Speak nonstop in English until the timer ends. You are not allowed to stop to think. If you don’t know a word, replace it with “the thing,” “something,” or even pause sounds like “uh.” This feels uncomfortable, but it is very powerful. German has no time to jump in.
Fourth, accept German sentence structure temporarily. You already noticed that your sentence construction is German-like. That is fine. Fluency comes first, accuracy comes later. Many very fluent speakers started exactly like this. Once fluency is stable, the structure slowly corrects itself through exposure.
A mental trick that helps many learners is this idea: when you speak English, you are not translating yourself. You are acting as a slightly simpler version of yourself who only knows English. That person does not search for perfect words. That person just talks.
If you want, we can do this together live. I can ask you very simple questions and gently stop you whenever you fall into translation mode, and we find a way around the word instead. Would you like to try that next?