How to start reading in a foreign language (even as a beginner)
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses strategies for reading in foreign languages, highlighting the difference between intensive and extensive reading. The speaker shares personal preferences for extensive reading, especially with digital tools, and recommends apps like Link and e-readers for language learning. The script also addresses common advice on language learning through reading, such as using graded readers and avoiding classics initially, and emphasizes the importance of finding a personalized approach to reading in target languages.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker has read over 100 books in English, 30-something in Spanish, a few in Italian and Korean, developing a personal system for language learning through reading.
- 🔍 The two main approaches to reading in foreign languages discussed are intensive reading, which involves careful study and note-taking, and extensive reading, which is more about reading for pleasure and not necessarily understanding every detail.
- 📈 Extensive reading is recommended for texts slightly above one's level to encourage learning without the pressure of understanding every word, while intensive reading is useful for beginners or when encountering specialized vocabulary.
- 🚫 The speaker personally does not adhere to strict rules about the number of words to look up per page, preferring a flexible approach based on personal interest and comfort.
- 📱 The speaker prefers using a tablet or e-reader for reading in target languages due to the convenience of built-in features like word definition and note-taking.
- 🔗 The Link app is highlighted as a useful tool for looking up words or phrases during reading, watching, or listening, and for tracking vocabulary progress.
- 👀 The importance of choosing the right device for reading is emphasized, with e-readers like Kindle being recommended for long reading sessions due to their easier-on-the-eyes technology.
- 📚 A range of reading materials is suggested, from short texts and graded readers to articles, graphic novels, children's books, non-fiction, contemporary fiction, and classics.
- 👶 The speaker does not find children's books as effective for language learning as others might, due to a lack of relevant vocabulary and interest.
- 📖 Graded readers are recommended for their structured difficulty levels and short stories that can provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation.
- 🔄 Being flexible with reading materials and not strictly following others' advice is key to finding what works best for an individual's language learning journey.
Q & A
What are the two main approaches to reading in foreign languages mentioned in the script?
-The two main approaches mentioned are intensive reading and extensive reading. Intensive reading involves reading slowly, looking up every unknown word or grammar point, and possibly taking notes for review. Extensive reading means reading widely for pleasure without necessarily understanding every single word or sentence.
What is the speaker's personal preference when it comes to reading in foreign languages?
-The speaker prefers an extensive reading approach for longer content like books, and for shorter content like song lyrics, social media posts, articles, or graded readers, they practice intensive reading but do not review the looked-up words.
What are some of the devices and apps the speaker uses to facilitate reading in foreign languages?
-The speaker uses a tablet with apps like GoodNotes for highlighting and note-taking, and Link for looking up words and phrases. They also use an e-reader like Kindle for its eye-friendly screen and features like the vocabulary builder, and an Android e-reader for its ability to install various apps.
What is the issue the speaker faces when using a tablet for long periods of reading?
-The speaker experiences eye strain, dryness, itchiness, and sometimes headaches, which makes them not recommend using a tablet or any screen-based device for extended reading sessions.
How does the speaker feel about reading children's books in foreign languages?
-The speaker finds children's books not as easy as people make them out to be and feels that the vocabulary might not be as relevant for adult learners. They suggest being very picky and choosing books with relevant topics and vocabulary.
What is the speaker's opinion on reading graded readers?
-The speaker recommends graded readers as they are written specifically for language learners, categorized by levels, and often short, which can provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation. However, they note that the stories can sometimes be of poor quality.
What is the Link app, and how does it help the speaker with language learning?
-The Link app allows users to look up words or phrases while reading, watching, or listening to content. It can import various types of content, mark unknown words, and practice them with different types of questions. The speaker uses it to learn Italian and find articles relevant to them.
What advice does the speaker give regarding reading the same book in different languages?
-The speaker suggests that while some people enjoy reading the same book in different languages, it doesn't work well for them because they prefer stories with plot twists and are not interested in re-reading once they know the outcome.
What is the speaker's view on starting with classics when learning a new language?
-The speaker advises against starting with classics like 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' when learning a new language, as they can be difficult and may not be as enjoyable if you don't already like the classics in your native language.
What is the speaker's final piece of advice for language learners regarding reading in a foreign language?
-The speaker's final advice is to be flexible and not strictly follow someone else's advice. They encourage learners to find what works best for them, try different genres, formats, and media, and not let one bad experience discourage them from reading in their target language.
Outlines
📚 Why I Love Reading in Multiple Languages
The author discusses their extensive experience with reading in multiple languages, detailing the number of books read in various languages and the development of a personal reading system. The video aims to share different approaches to reading in foreign languages, the author's preferred method, and the tools and advice for effective reading.
📖 Intensive vs. Extensive Reading
This section explains the concepts of intensive and extensive reading. Intensive reading involves careful reading with frequent look-ups of unknown words, recommended for beginners or unfamiliar topics. Extensive reading is for pleasure and broader learning without constant look-ups, usually with texts slightly above the reader's level. The author prefers extensive reading and finds arbitrary rules about look-ups unhelpful.
📱 Tools for Language Learning: Tablets and E-readers
The author describes their preference for using tablets and e-readers over physical books for language learning. Tablets offer features like dictionary look-up and note-taking, while e-readers like Kindle are easier on the eyes and also offer useful features such as vocabulary builders. The author also highlights the app LingQ, which supports importing and learning from various content types.
📚 Choosing Reading Material for Language Learning
This section provides a guideline for selecting reading materials based on difficulty, starting from short texts and graded readers to articles, graphic novels, children's books, non-fiction, contemporary fiction, and classics. The author emphasizes adjusting reading choices based on availability, language similarity, and personal interest.
🔍 Evaluating Common Reading Advice
The author evaluates common advice for reading in foreign languages. They find children's books less relevant and interesting, preferring graded readers for structured learning. Re-reading familiar books doesn't work for the author, who prefers new content. They advise against starting with difficult classics unless personally motivated, suggesting flexibility and trying different formats and genres to find what works best.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Reading
💡Intensive Reading
💡Extensive Reading
💡Language Learning
💡Apps and Devices
💡Vocabulary
💡Repetition
💡Graded Readers
💡Non-fiction
💡Classics
💡Personal Interests
Highlights
The speaker has read over 100 books in English, 30-something in Spanish, a few in Italian and Korean, developing a personal system for language learning.
Different approaches to reading in foreign languages are discussed: intensive reading (slow and careful) and extensive reading (reading widely for pleasure).
Intensive reading is recommended for beginners or when tackling unfamiliar topics, while extensive reading is for texts slightly above one's level.
The speaker prefers not to follow strict rules about looking up words and instead reads as many things as desired without review.
Physical books are less preferred for language learning due to the inconvenience of looking up words repeatedly.
The speaker's approach to language learning involves extensive reading and not reviewing, focusing on exposure to more content for natural repetition.
For shorter content like song lyrics and articles, the speaker practices intensive reading but does not review.
The use of tablets and e-readers for reading in target languages is discussed, with a preference for apps that facilitate easy lookup of words.
The app 'GoodNotes' is used for note-taking and highlighting on the iPad during intensive reading sessions.
Link, co-founded by polyglot Steve Kaufman, is highlighted as an app that helps in looking up words or phrases during reading, with a 35% discount offer mentioned.
Kindle and e-readers are recommended for long reading sessions due to their non-strain on the eyes compared to tablet screens.
The vocabulary builder feature on Kindle helps in reviewing looked-up words within a book.
Android e-readers offer additional functionality through app installations, such as Link, Libby, and others.
A guideline for choosing reading materials based on difficulty, from short texts to graded readers and then to more complex literature, is provided.
The speaker's personal preference for reading materials and the importance of adjusting to one's interests and language proficiency is emphasized.
Common advice on reading in foreign languages, such as starting with children's books or classics, is critiqued based on the speaker's experience.
The importance of being flexible and adapting reading strategies to personal preferences and language learning goals is stressed.
A call to action for viewers to share their own advice and experiences with reading in different languages in the comments is made.
Transcripts
reading is a major reason why I learn
languages at this point I think I've
read over 100 books in English which is
not my mother ton as you can tell by my
accent 30-something books in Spanish a
couple of books in Italian though I will
admit those were mostly books written
for children and a couple in Korean and
in the meantime I have developed a
system that I think works really well
for me and that I wanted to share with
all of you today so basically in this
video I will talk about different
approaches that people use when it comes
to reading in foreign languages I will
also talk about the approach that I
myself prefer as well as devices and
apps that I use to make reading in my
target languages easier and then I will
also discuss the advice that you often
hear and I will tell you whether it has
worked for me or not so let's begin
if you're not new to the topic of
reading in different languages you have
probably heard about intensive and
extensive reading let me briefly explain
what these two approaches mean intensive
reading involves reading slowly and
carefully and looking up everything that
you do not know whether it's grammar or
vocabulary also possibly taking notes
and then reviewing those notes later and
it's usually recommended for beginners
or for reading shorter texts because
looking up every single thing you do not
know can be and in fact is exhausting it
can also be used if you are not a
beginner but you are not really
knowledgeable about a certain topic
right let's say you're reading an
article on how to take care of a
houseplant and even though you are
somewhere at a good level with your
language you might not know words that
are related to this topic specifically
and this is where you might find that
it's actually useful for you to write
things down and then try to review them
later extensive reading on the other
hand means reading widely and mostly for
pleasure without looking up every single
thing that you do not know and it's
usually recommended for reading texts
that are slightly above your level so
that you are able to learn new things
but at the same time you are also able
to grasp the meaning without necessarily
understanding every single sentence that
you read now people have all kinds of
rules about that some people say you
shouldn't look up more than three words
per page or five words per page other
people say that you should only look
things up when you can no longer
understand what is going on and to be
completely honest with you I look up as
many things per page as I want and I
could never understand why people come
up with all these rules and then I
realize the people that talk about all
those restrictions are people that read
printed books of course it will get
annoying disruptive time consuming
regardless of whether you are using your
phone or paper dictionary to look up
things trust me I love of physical books
too I love buying books I love looking
at my books sniffing them whatever weird
things people do with their books I do
it too but if you watched my bookshelf
tour you might have noticed that I
barely have any language books that are
not textbooks and now you know why if
anything I think I also talk in that
video about how I have four books in
Korean and those probably are the only
fiction books I have in any of my
languages and those four books are still
unread exactly because it is so much
harder to read above your level when you
read things on paper
so what is my Approach then as you might
have guessed it is almost always
extensive at least when it comes to loan
form content like books and to be
completely honest with you I feel like I
practice this extensive approach for
pretty much all of my language learning
I rarely review stuff I almost never
listen to the same podcast or watch the
same video twice unless I'm actually
doing it for the content and not for the
purpose of language learning I also
don't really take notes because I never
go back to review them that's just kind
of the person I am so my Approach is
just to always read more watch more
listen to more stuff and hope that by
doing that I will get the repetition
that I need but when it comes to Shorter
content like song lyrics social media
posts articles or graded readers yeah I
do practice intensive reading too but
only in the sense that I look up
everything that I do not know but I
never go back to review it again I I
would rather prefer for example to read
five different graded readers then read
one and learn every single word that I
didn't know in that one book
so we have established that I'm not
really a fan of physical books when it
comes to reading in my target languages
what do I use then let's break it down
by devices and applications that I use
so when it comes to devices I personally
prefer reading things on either a tablet
which I have an iPad or on e-readers
like the Kindle tablets are cool because
you can install apps that make creating
easier and I'll talk about apps in a
second however it's not always necessary
to download a bunch of stuff for example
back when I was just starting to read in
Spanish I didn't even download anything
I just used the default books app and
some of the built-in iPads features so
here's a book I have and if there's a
word I don't know I click on it choose
look up and my tablet shows me the
definition if your tablet has a stylus
support you can also highlight things
and write your own notes on the margins
I use this mostly when I work with short
articles or stories so basically when I
do intensive reading and by the way the
app that I'm using here is called good
notes it's an iPad only app but I'm sure
there are alternatives for Android
tablets and again to translate words I
just use the define feature that is
inbuilt I do not need to download
anything else besides my good notes app
so the method that I have just described
to you works really well until you
decide you want to also review the words
from a book you just finished reading
what I would do before is I would
manually add all of the words to either
Anki or Quizlet and that itself will
take so much time that after creating
those vocabulary sets I would just never
go back to them that was until I learned
about link which is this app co-founded
by the famous polyglot Steve Kaufman or
to be even more precise until I learned
to use Link for my needs so what link
who's sponsoring today's video by the
way allows you to do is to look up words
or phrases while you're reading watching
or listening to content there's a
website version as well as apps for
Androids and iOS I as I've already said
prefer reading things on my iPad and you
can literally find thousands of hours of
content here but I think my biggest
misconception when it comes to link was
thinking that you could only use the
content that already exists on the
website in reality you can import pretty
much anything you want to link articles
podcast episodes books videos and even
Netflix shows and once I realized that
was an option link became one of my
favorite apps for language learning I am
now mostly using it to learn Italian and
my favorite thing to do is to find
articles that I like and that are
relevant to me elsewhere and then import
them to link okay so let me show you how
this works after installing the browser
extension I find an article I'm
interested in imported to link and then
I can either open it right away or go
and Link later and find it under
imported lessons here I see the number
and percentage of unknown words and also
the number of words I have already
studied from other content I have read
on link so let's open the article and
you will see that all of the words I do
not know yet are marked in blue if I
click on them to see their meaning they
will become yellow these words are now
called links and you can later practice
them with different types of questions
so one thing to remember though is that
if you're just starting to use Link you
might actually know some of those blue
words you just haven't come across them
on link yet so what do you do in that
case when you turn the page just tell
link that you already know the words and
they will be added to your known words
also if you are still a beginner in your
language you can choose to see the
sentences one by one instead of seeing
the whole text I do that with Greek a
lot because otherwise it just gets too
overwhelming another thing that I really
really like is that you can also track
your statistics on link how many words
you know how many links you have created
how much time you spent reading or
listening so it's not just about streaks
but also about measuring your actual
progress if you would like to try link
there's going to be a link in the
description that will give you a 35
discount I definitely definitely
recommend it if you want to read in your
target language but going back to
tablets one thing about them is that
they're not really great for your eyes
and I feel like when I just got an iPad
and I started reading in Spanish in the
beginning when I didn't really read for
more than 30 to 40 minutes a day it was
fine but as I was getting better at
Spanish and I started reading sometimes
for three to four hours a day that's
when it got really bad my eyes were dry
they would get itchy like my head would
hurt sometimes so I definitely do not
recommend using your tablet or any other
device that has a screen that is similar
to your tablet for such a long period of
time especially because we already spent
so much time working or studying in
front of those screens that I guess add
in even more time on top of that would
not be the best decision which is why I
personally decided to get a Kindle back
in 2020. Kindle or any other e-reader is
great because it doesn't hurt your eyes
like normal screens do features Wise
It's really similar to what I just
showed on my iPad you can press on a
word and either see a translation or a
definition you can also look things up
on Wikipedia or you can use the
translation option but Kindle uses Bing
which I feel like is not the best
another cool feature it has is the
vocabulary builder basically what it
does is it shows you all the words that
you looked up in a book so you can test
yourself and see whether you remember
the Minion or not a step up from the
Kindle would be an Android e-reader
which has the same screen technology so
it doesn't hurt your eyes but since it's
powered by Android you can install apps
on it just like you would on your
Android phone or tablet the one that I
have is by this Chinese I think brand
called Onyx books so here you can
install such apps as link for example
that I just talked about Libby which is
an app that lets you read ebooks through
your library membership apps like pocket
or read wise that allow you to save
articles and read them later apps for
reading webtoons and even the Kindle app
so you can have the Kindle experience
without having the Kindle itself
okay now that your tools are all set up
we need to determine what exactly you
will be reading and here are some
options for you from easy to hard but of
course it always depends on the
particular piece of content that you're
reading this is however how I would
normally rate different types of text
you can read so the first one is short
text like the ones you can find in a
textbook if you have one um the second
one my favorite is graded readers then
articles or social media posts usually
written for native speakers than
something like graphic novels just
because they tend to have less text
children's books I feel like are not as
easy as people make them out to be so I
would put them as the next step and when
I say children's books I don't just make
books for like children who are five
years old I also mean chapter books
middle grade literature and so on the
next level I would say is non-fiction
especially books like popular psychology
or self-help those tend to be relatively
easy if you can read those with no
problems you can start reading
contemporary fiction and only after that
I would personally start trying to
tackle the classics but of course I
don't follow the structure for every
language that I learn there's a lot of
different factors that you have to take
into consideration for example what
materials are available for that
language how similar is that language to
a language that you already speak or
your native language and also your
personal interests of course if you have
no interest in self-help why would you
read that right so this is just a
general guideline feel free to adjust it
to your needs and wants
now let's talk about some advice that
you can hear pretty often when it comes
to reading in foreign languages and I
will just tell you whether it has worked
for me or not the first one is reading
children's books I personally haven't
had the best experience with this maybe
that's because I'm not a child anymore
so things that are relevant or
interesting for children are not really
things that are relevant and interesting
for me but I also feel like a lot of the
times those books have vocabulary that
is not really relevant to us adults who
are trying to learn languages I also
feel like they're not really as easy and
so if I have to make an effort to read
something I would rather read something
that I enjoy a bit more than books for
an audience that I'm not a part of and
whenever I do read books for kids which
I've just told you in the beginning of
this video that the books that I've read
in Italian so far have all been written
for children
I am extremely extremely picky with what
I choose right first of all it's books
for children who are at least eight if
not 10 years old and older second of all
I try to make sure that the topic or the
vocabulary that the book uses are
relevant to me for example one book that
I have read in Italian again that was
written for kids is this book about
cyber bullying and just kind of navigate
in social media I had a ton of useful
vocabulary and wasn't the most
interesting book but I wasn't really
dying inside reading it so yeah if I
were to give you advice I would say be
extremely pick it with those and then my
next advice would be try graded readers
instead created readers are books that
are written specifically for people who
are trying to learn a language and for
this you will typically have two options
either books that have been written for
native speakers but then adapted to sue
people who are learning the language and
then the other category is books that
were written specifically for people who
are learning the language choose which
whichever you prefer or if you're
learning language that doesn't have a
lot of resources whichever you can find
I guess a great thing about these
readers is that they're often
categorized by levels depending on how
many words you're expected to know so
you can kind of have an idea of what
level of difficulty to expect also these
stories tend to be quite short which I
find gives me a sense of accomplishment
and a boost of motivation and then the
more books I can Mark is read in the
beginning when the process is painfully
slow the more motivation I get to read
more and the more motivation I have the
better at reading I become and the
better at reading they become the more
skill I have to start tackling actual
native content because this is the
ultimate goal right
one big downside of graded readers
though is that a lot of the times the
stories are just bad I find that in the
beginning stages when I'm still riding
that high from being able to read
something in my target language and
understand what's actually going on in
the story it kind of compensates for the
bad storytelling but obviously as you
progress you will have to start looking
for something else
another strategy that many people
recommend is just reading something that
you have already read in another
language and I know a lot of people who
love this strategy and they read Harry
Potter in like every single language
that they learn but to be honest for me
it doesn't really work that well because
I really like reading Mysteries crime
novels things that have a plot twist and
once I know what happens who killed who
who's the bad guy I don't really care to
read the story again but I guess that
depends on the kind of literature you
read and also on what kind of person you
are because I know people who watch the
same movies or read the same books I'm
not someone who does that so I guess
that strategy doesn't really work that
well for me
okay so this one might be a little
controversial but I swear if I got a
penny every time a person that is
learning Spanish asks a native speaker
what book they should read and the
native speaker says something like that
I would have a lot of pennies of course
Tiana news de Soledad and so many other
Classics that were written in Spanish
are great but this should probably not
be the first or even the second or the
third book that you read in Spanish also
if you're someone who doesn't really
enjoy the classics in your native
language I think it might be a little
naive to think that you will enjoy those
in a language that you do not speak as
well as you speak your mother a ton but
of course I'm not trying to tell you
that you shouldn't read the classics at
all and if anything I know some people
who start learning languages precisely
because there are certain works of
literature that they want to be able to
read so yeah feel free to adjust this
advice to your case but I feel like a
lot of the times language Learners get
those super difficult books just because
they don't really know better foreign
and then finally I think what has worked
for me the most is just being flexible
and not really trying to follow somebody
else's advice to a t yes you can get
certain ideas you can kind of see what
things work for different people but at
the end of the day see what works for
you and don't be afraid to do that even
if that goes against whatever advice you
heard on the internet also if you tried
a book and it seemed too hard do not
just give up on reading try reading
something else on Amazon for example if
you pick the Kindle version you can go
through a preview of the book and kind
of try to gauge the level and see
whether it's the right one for you or
not if you find that the format is not
good for you yet for example you're
trying to read a novel and you think
it's just way too hard try graphic
novels or maybe short stories or maybe
try non-fiction or fan fiction you know
if you have only been trying to read
printed books try an ebook with the tips
that I gave and see if that works better
for you different genres different
formats different media do not let one
bad experience discourage you from
reading in your target language and that
I guess is everything I wanted to talk
to you about today I will be happy to
see your advice and your experience with
reading in different languages in the
comments below and as always thank you
so much for watching and I'll see you in
my next video bye bye
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