I completely agree with this -- I am bilingual too, but the words seem to spring out of the flow of thought, not to "be" the flow. And when I'm learning a new language (or enough rudiments not to be impolite when visiting, say, Lisbon) I never have this "translation table" issue the OP mentions -- at least, I don't think I do. There is no transitional linguistic step between the thought-flow and the words, new or not. (Of course, that doesn't mean that language pickup is necessarily easier -- just different.)