When learning French, you will be told that "en" and "dans" both mean "in". They do but there is a definite difference between them. We use "dans" to refer to physical things and "en" for abstract ideas or non-tangible items.
Thus, it is impossible to say "Il faut traduire le livre dans anglais". That would be quite bizarre. Basically, such a statement would be like saying "The book should be translated into the city English". It does not make sense. Similarly, saying "Je veux le dire dans anglais" would be like saying "I want to say it inside English". Again, this does not make sense.
In the two preceding examples, we would need to use "en" rather than "dans" as a language cannot be seen or touched. It is an abstract concept.
Conversely, we would be wrong if we were to say "Je suis en la salle de classe". It sounds very weird and confusing to a French speaker. As a classroom ("salle de classe") is a physical thing, we would need to say "Je suis dans la salle de classe".
Remember: "en" is used for abstract nouns or situations, which is why it also occurs in phrases such as "en route" and "en chemin". At no time do you mean to say you are in a specific spot on the road or a path or similar. You are simply saying you are on your way. Even if you were driving along a road on your way somewhere, "en route" would still refer to something abstract. When you say "en route", your intention is not to give your exact geographical co-ordinates for a specific spot you are in on the road at the very second you utter that phrase.
As I said, "en" refers to a general or abstract situation, which is why it is also used in phrases like "en général".
Enough about "en". This post is becoming tedious now :-).
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