Before I torch the thesaurus, a story: Last week, I stirred up a record amount of controversy on the daily email list by airing my (completely tame) religious beliefs. My inbox is full of messages like: “This is imprudent.” “You need to consider the consequences of saying stuff like this.”
As a non-native speaker, I won’t burn the thesaurus (aka delete my translation app of choice). I love writing and thinking in English. Many things I find easier express in English than in my native language. But naturally, mu vocabulary is not as big. So when my brain jumps to native mid-sentence for a single word, I know I have to look it up even though I might know an English expression. But there are nuances. And the translation I have in my brain is not the one most suited to that particular context. So I go and find the expression that conveys the correct nuance.
As a non-native speaker, I won’t burn the thesaurus (aka delete my translation app of choice). I love writing and thinking in English. Many things I find easier express in English than in my native language. But naturally, mu vocabulary is not as big. So when my brain jumps to native mid-sentence for a single word, I know I have to look it up even though I might know an English expression. But there are nuances. And the translation I have in my brain is not the one most suited to that particular context. So I go and find the expression that conveys the correct nuance.