You can talk about directly wanting something with the word 要 (yào). This word is also used to talk about the future, as in “I’m going to do” something.

要 is quite versatile and can be used with nouns or verbs:

[subject] 要 [noun]
or
[subject] 要 [action]
Have a look at some examples:

我要一个三明治。
Wǒ yào yīgè sānmíngzhì.
I want a sandwich.
我要吃三明治。
Wǒ yào chī sānmíngzhì.
I'm going to eat a sandwich / I want to eat a sandwich.
她要去北京。
Tā yào qù Běijīng.
She's going to go to Beijing.
我们要走了。
Wǒmen yào zǒu le.
We're going to leave.
Be careful when using 要 to mean “to want”, as it could be quite abrupt, just as in English.