How To Improve Your Reading Comprehension

Summary

In this video, Steve Kaufmann discusses strategies to improve reading comprehension, especially when learning new languages. He emphasizes the importance of consistent reading, as reading more leads to better comprehension and vocabulary growth. He suggests combining reading with listening to improve understanding, particularly when the language structure is challenging. Kaufmann also highlights the use of tools like sentence mode on LingQ and balancing reading materials by difficulty. Overall, the key to success in language learning is consistent practice, immersion, and expanding vocabulary through diverse content.

Takeaways

• 📚 The more you read, the better you read; reading comprehension improves with practice.
• 🎧 Combining listening with reading can significantly enhance reading comprehension.
• 🧠 A large vocabulary is crucial for reading fluency; unfamiliar words can slow down comprehension.
• ⏩ Reading speed is important because faster reading leads to better acquisition of information.
• 🔁 Improving reading skills is a cycle: the more you read, the more vocabulary you gain, which improves reading further.
• 📊 Balancing between challenging and easy reading material helps in building fluency and expanding vocabulary.
• 🎯 Listening to a text before reading it provides context, momentum, and improves comprehension.
• 🔤 Different language structures, such as those in German or Japanese, may pose difficulties, but more reading and listening can help overcome them.
• 📖 Tools like LingQ's sentence mode can break down reading material into manageable sections for better understanding.
• 🎙 Listening to native speakers helps with intonation and understanding complex sentence structures.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video discusses how to improve reading comprehension, especially for language learners.

Why is reading comprehension important, according to the speaker?

Reading comprehension is crucial because it helps in acquiring information more quickly and effectively. It is also linked to better vocabulary and speaking skills.

What is the first strategy mentioned for improving reading comprehension?

The first strategy is to read more. The speaker emphasizes that the more you read, the better you become at it.

What role does listening play in improving reading comprehension?

Listening helps with reading comprehension by providing a sense of intonation and momentum, which can make reading easier, especially in a foreign language.

Why does the speaker recommend using sentence mode on LingQ?

The speaker recommends using sentence mode because it helps focus on one sentence at a time, making it easier to understand and improve comprehension, especially in difficult languages.

How does vocabulary size affect reading comprehension?

A large vocabulary is essential for good reading comprehension because encountering unknown words can disrupt the flow of reading and slow down understanding.

What is the 'sweet spot' for the percentage of unknown words when reading?

According to the speaker, a sweet spot is around 15% of unknown words. This allows for learning new vocabulary while still maintaining reading fluency.

How can the structure of certain languages affect reading comprehension?

In languages with different structures, such as German or Japanese, the unfamiliar sentence patterns can make reading harder. The speaker suggests reading more and listening to native speakers to become accustomed to these structures.

What should people who struggle with understanding spoken language do?

The speaker suggests listening to audiobooks along with reading the text. This combination helps improve listening comprehension and reinforces reading skills.

What is the overall advice given to improve reading comprehension?

To improve reading comprehension, the speaker advises reading more, increasing vocabulary, using audio resources, and immersing yourself in the language.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Improving Reading Comprehension through Practice

In this paragraph, Steve Kaufmann emphasizes the importance of reading frequently to improve reading comprehension. He highlights how good reading skills, like functional literacy, can enhance learning and fluency in a language. The faster one reads, the better their comprehension, leading to a virtuous cycle of improvement. He suggests that the key to improving reading comprehension is to read a lot, and for those who struggle with reading in a new language, reading more is the solution. He also discusses strategies such as listening to audio and using tools like LingQ to break the cycle of slow reading.

05:04

🎧 The Power of Listening and Reading Together

This paragraph discusses the benefits of combining listening with reading to enhance comprehension. Steve shares how listening first can provide context and momentum for better reading. He provides examples from his own experience learning Arabic and Persian, where using LingQ in sentence mode helps him focus on one sentence at a time. He stresses that reading comprehension also requires a large vocabulary and how encountering unfamiliar words can interrupt the reading flow. The more you read and acquire words, the better your reading comprehension becomes.

🔄 The Cycle of Reading, Vocabulary, and Fluency

Steve Kaufmann continues explaining that improving reading comprehension is tied to expanding vocabulary and consistent reading practice. He notes that 15% of unknown words in a text is a balanced challenge, while 30% unknown words may slow down fluency. He encourages readers to expose themselves to a variety of materials with varying difficulty levels, as this will help them become fluent readers. He emphasizes the importance of using audio tools and immersing oneself in the language, particularly when struggling with languages that have complex structures like German or Japanese.

🎙️ Audio's Role in Reading Comprehension and Language Mastery

In this paragraph, Steve highlights the importance of audio when learning languages with difficult structures. He mentions that audio helps create momentum and a better understanding of the language's flow, which can be challenging when just reading without audio support. He advises using audio materials, especially when learning languages with different structures, like German or Japanese. Steve also touches on the interconnected nature of listening and reading comprehension. He advises that listening comprehension can improve reading skills and overall language proficiency.

Keywords

💡Reading comprehension

Reading comprehension refers to the ability to understand and interpret written text. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that improving reading comprehension is crucial for language learning. It enables a person to quickly grasp the meaning of what they are reading, which in turn facilitates better language acquisition. The speaker suggests that reading more frequently and expanding vocabulary are key ways to enhance this skill.

💡Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the set of words known and used by a person in a particular language. The speaker highlights that having a large vocabulary is essential for improving reading comprehension. Every unknown word encountered during reading disrupts the flow, so the more words one knows, the better and faster they can read. Building vocabulary is a central theme, as it leads to more fluid reading and better language use overall.

💡Listening

Listening is the act of paying attention to spoken language. The speaker discusses how listening to audio, such as audiobooks, in combination with reading can improve reading comprehension. Hearing the correct intonation and rhythm from a native speaker can make it easier to understand complex sentence structures, especially in languages with different grammatical patterns. Listening helps create momentum and enhances the reading experience.

💡Momentum

Momentum refers to the sense of flow and forward motion when reading or listening to a language. The speaker notes that building momentum is key to better comprehension. Momentum can be disrupted by unfamiliar words or challenging sentence structures, so tools like listening to audio or reading easier texts help maintain it. This concept is central to developing fluency in reading and understanding a new language.

💡Functional literacy

Functional literacy is the ability to read and write in a way that allows one to function effectively in daily life. In the video, the speaker suggests that improving functional literacy, such as reading faster and understanding more, leads to a cycle of continuous improvement. The better one's functional literacy, the more information they can process and retain, which accelerates overall language learning.

💡Fluency

Fluency refers to the ability to read, write, speak, and understand a language smoothly and easily. The speaker’s goal is to become a fluent reader in any language, emphasizing that fluency comes from continuous practice in reading, listening, and vocabulary building. Fluency is described as a state where comprehension and expression become effortless and intuitive.

💡Challenging material

Challenging material refers to reading content that includes a significant number of unfamiliar words or complex structures. The speaker encourages learners to balance their reading between challenging material and easier content. Challenging material helps expand vocabulary, but if it's too difficult (e.g., with 25-30% unknown words), it can slow down progress and hinder fluency development.

💡Sentence mode

Sentence mode is a feature the speaker uses in the LingQ platform, where text is broken down into individual sentences for focused reading practice. This method helps learners concentrate on smaller portions of the text, making it easier to absorb meaning and vocabulary. The speaker mentions using sentence mode when reading difficult languages like Arabic or Persian to improve comprehension.

💡Separation of verbs (in German)

In German, verbs are often separated in complex sentence structures, with parts of the verb placed at different points in a sentence. This can make reading comprehension challenging for learners. The speaker acknowledges this difficulty but suggests that reading more and using audio to listen to native speakers can help overcome these challenges by making the sentence structures more familiar and understandable.

💡Cadence and intonation

Cadence refers to the rhythm and flow of spoken language, while intonation refers to the rise and fall of pitch. The speaker stresses that hearing the natural cadence and intonation of a language through audio helps improve reading comprehension, especially in languages with complex sentence structures. By listening to native speakers, learners can better grasp the meaning of sentences and phrases, making reading easier.

Highlights

The more you read, the better you read.

To improve reading comprehension, you have to read a lot.

Combining listening with reading is very powerful for comprehension.

Building a large vocabulary is essential for improving reading comprehension.

Every time you come across a word you don't know, it disrupts your reading flow.

The faster you read, the more quickly you acquire information.

Vary the difficulty level of reading materials to challenge yourself and improve fluency.

15% unknown words in a text is an ideal balance for learning new words without being overwhelmed.

Listening to audio in the target language can help overcome difficulties with sentence structures.

In languages like German and Japanese, where the structure is different, audio aids in comprehension.

Using tools like sentence view in LingQ helps focus on one sentence at a time.

Audio narration helps by giving proper intonation and rhythm, making it easier to understand the text.

People who have trouble understanding spoken language should listen to audio books of what they read.

Good listening comprehension leads to better reading comprehension and improves overall language ability.

To improve both reading and listening comprehension, immerse yourself in both forms frequently.

Transcripts

The more you read, the better you read.

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here, and today I want to talk about how

to improve reading comprehension.

Uh, it's a subject, a question that I get asked quite often, uh, but first, if

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Reading comprehension is crucial.

Now, a lot of people actually feel that they have good reading comprehension,

but they have trouble speaking.

However, there are also a lot of people who don't have great reading

comprehension, who read slowly, and this of course is an obstacle

to improving in the language, even in our own native language.

The faster we can read, the more quickly we understand what we're reading, the

faster we can acquire information through reading and that ability to read, the

speed with which we read, that sort of functional literacy, that that, uh,

those skills they build on themselves.

It's, it's a bit like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

If you have uh, better reading skills, you read faster.

As you read faster, you learn more, you get better at reading and just

get better and better and better.

So how do we, for people who have trouble reading in the language they're

learning, is there a way to break that, um, kind of vicious circle?

Well, first thing is to read, as I just indicated, to be a good

reader, to improve your comp...

reading comprehension, you have to read a lot.

Okay?

But let's say you have trouble reading.

It could be for any number of reasons.

First of all, if you're reading in a foreign language, you're not

used to reading in that language.

You may not be used to reading in the, um, the script, you know, but there again,

the only solution is to do more of it.

You just have to do more of it.

But the other things that I find helpful are listening.

Okay.

Listening combined with reading is very powerful.

I find that if I read something, you know, without, like, without preparation,

I have more difficulty reading it.

If I can listen to it first, I have an idea of what's there.

I have some momentum.

Momentum even in so far as the intonation is concerned.

Then I do better when I go to read.

Also, in languages where I have trouble reading, like Arabic and

Persian, I use LingQ and I go in sentence mode so that I might go

through the lesson once in sentence mode and then again in in lesson mode.

But it, it just helps me to focus in on one sentence at a time.

And then of course, in order to be able to have good reading comprehension,

you need a large vocabulary because every time you come across a word that

you don't know, it's, it disturbs you.

You're, you've got a certain flow and you've got meaning.

And ideally, you want the meaning to flow into your brain without you

having to translate in your own lang...

into your own language.

And every time you hit a word you don't know, it slows you down.

You gotta look up the word you've lost that, uh, momentum.

So building up vocabulary is extremely important, but in a way it sort

of gets back to the same thing.

In other words, the more you read, the better you read.

The more you read, the more words you acquire.

The more words you acquire, the better you read.

So it's all a virtuous.

You have to continuously sort of put yourself in front of reading material,

and also I would suggest you vary the difficulty level between challenging

material, which might have a lot of new words and easy material that has

very little in the way of new words.

I have found that since my goal is to become a fluent reader in whatever

language I'm learning, but at the same time to acquire more words, I have

found that 15% unknown words as we count them at LingQ is kind of a sweet spot.

I'm acquiring enough new words.

I'm not just reading material that has all known words.

However, if that sort of unknown words total is 30%, 25%, it's too difficult.

It slows me down.

I don't develop any genuine fluency in, uh, in the language.

So to improve your reading comprehension, read more, increase your vocabulary.

Use audio use tools like, you know, the sentence view at LingQ.

Immerse yourself more in the language.

If there are structures that give you trouble, like some people complain

that, you know, in German you've got the separated verbs, uh, you know, long

sentences with a verb comes at the end.

Or people reading in Japanese that find that because that those languages

are structured little diff...

differently, it's difficult to read.

True.

But that's all the more reason why you have to read more.

And that's all the more reason why you have to listen more, because very

often when you hear those sentences spoken by the native speaker with a

normal cadence, the normal intonation, the normal rhythm, it's easier to

understand because the voice of the narrator of the speaker, putting the

emphasis in the right place makes those sentences easier to understand.

When you don't have the benefit of that audio and you're just reading very often

you, you're pushing uphill here, you don't have that momentum that, that, that

sense of, of, of what the meaning is, which the narrator will often impart.

So I definitely recommend, particularly in languages where you find it difficult

to read, because the structure is so different that you use audio.

By the same token, there are people who say, I can read, I have no trouble reading

but I don't understand what I hear.

So I think if those people would also put more emphasis on listening,

like I, I had a good friend who, who enjoyed reading French literature but

couldn't understand an audio book.

And I said, you should listen to an audio book that you're reading

so that you get the two working together to make you a better reader.

Not only better able to understand spoken, the spoken language, this

happened to be French, but also that you become a better reader.

So those are some of the things...

I had made some notes, but I can't remember uh, what I had written down here.

But, uh, you know, it all comes down to the same, uh, in other words, to

become good at a language, and of course, the good listening comprehension

leads to good reading comprehension.

Good reading comprehension means you have a large vocabulary, with

that, you're also going to be able to speak better, use words better.

It's all tied, it's all interconnected.

So, uh, I hope that's, And, uh, to improve your reading comprehension.

Read more and use audio to help you get that momentum

going to improve your reading.

Thank you for listening.

Bye for now.