Learn How to Read English Books for Beginners

Summary

In this video, Lea shares her top five tips for non-native English speakers to improve their language skills through reading. She emphasizes choosing the right book, understanding context over individual words, and not getting frustrated by complex language. Lea advises against looking up every new word but recommends focusing on frequently appearing or crucial words for understanding. She also suggests using translators to learn pronunciation and alternative words, and encourages active use of new vocabulary in different contexts to enhance learning.

Takeaways

• 📚 Choose the right book: Start with simple language and less complex stories to build confidence.
• 🚫 Avoid frustration: Don't select overly complex books that might hinder your learning progress.
• 👶 Start simple: Consider children's or youth books, comic books, or short stories for beginners.
• 📈 Progress with purpose: As you advance, select books based on interest rather than just simplicity.
• 🙅‍♀️ Don't stress over details: Focus on understanding the overall context instead of every single word.
• 🔍 Highlight new words: Mark unfamiliar words to become aware of new vocabulary without interrupting your reading flow.
• 🔁 Look up words strategically: Only search for words that are crucial or appear frequently after getting the general idea of the story.
• 🗣️ Listen to pronunciation: Use online tools to hear how new words are pronounced to improve your listening and speaking skills.
• 💡 Learn synonyms: Explore alternative words when looking up new vocabulary to expand your language range.
• 👨‍🏫 Practice usage: Actively use new words in different contexts to reinforce learning and application.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is discussing the top five beginner tips on how to read English books effectively to improve English language skills.

Who is the speaker of the video?

The speaker of the video is Lea, a non-native English speaker who shares her personal experiences and tips on learning English through reading.

Why did Lea start learning English at nine or ten years old?

Lea started learning English at nine or ten years old because that was when she began to learn it in school, which she considers a bit late.

What is the first principle Lea suggests for choosing the right book to read in English?

The first principle Lea suggests is to choose easily written books with simple language and less complex stories, such as children's or youth books, comic books, or collections of short stories.

What should one avoid while reading English books according to Lea?

According to Lea, one should avoid trying to understand every single word and instead focus on understanding the overall context and bigger picture of the story.

How does Lea recommend dealing with new words encountered while reading?

Lea recommends highlighting or underlining new words, but not looking them up immediately. Instead, one should try to understand their meaning from the context and look up words that appear frequently or are crucial to understanding the paragraph.

What is the importance of looking up new words collectively rather than individually?

Looking up new words collectively after each chapter, for example, can save time compared to looking up each word individually and allows for a more focused reading experience.

Why is it important to hear new words read aloud when learning English?

Hearing new words read aloud is important because it helps with learning not only the spelling but also the pronunciation of the words, which is crucial for language acquisition.

What are the two additional steps Lea suggests when looking up new words?

The two additional steps Lea suggests are to have the words read out loud to learn their pronunciation and to explore alternatives or synonyms provided by translators to enrich vocabulary.

How does Lea recommend practicing new vocabulary?

Lea recommends practicing new vocabulary by repeating the word, using it in a sentence, and trying to retell the story in one's own words to apply the new word in a different context.

What does Lea encourage viewers to do after watching the video?

Lea encourages viewers to share their own English book reading tips in the comments, give the video a thumbs up, and subscribe to her channel for more learning experiences and best practices.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Choosing the Right Book for English Learning

Lea, a non-native English speaker, shares her top beginner tips on reading English books to improve language skills. She emphasizes the importance of selecting the right book for one's English proficiency level. Beginners should start with simple language books like children's or youth books, comic books, or short stories to maintain motivation and understand context. As proficiency improves, readers can choose books by topic rather than simplicity. Lea also advises against trying to understand every word and instead focuses on grasping the overall context of the story. She suggests highlighting new words to become aware of them without immediately looking them up, which helps in maintaining the reading flow and pleasure.

05:03

🔍 Effective Strategies for Learning New Words

Lea continues with her tips on how to handle new words encountered while reading English books. She recommends reading the entire story first to understand the context and then looking up words that appear frequently or are crucial to the narrative. Lea advises against individually looking up every new word, as it interrupts the reading process. Instead, she suggests collecting new words and looking them up after each chapter to save time. Lea also highlights the importance of pronunciation by having words read out loud through translation tools and encourages using the newly learned words in different contexts to reinforce learning. She shares her personal practice of using Deepl.com for translations and pronunciation. Lea invites viewers to share their own reading tips and to subscribe for more learning experiences and best practices.

Keywords

💡Non-native speaker

A non-native speaker refers to someone who has learned a language other than their mother tongue. In the video, Lea identifies herself as a non-native English speaker, emphasizing her personal journey to improve her English skills. This term is crucial as it sets the stage for the tips she shares, which are aimed at helping others who may also be learning English as a second language.

💡Learning journey

The learning journey metaphorically describes the continuous process of acquiring knowledge or skills. Lea mentions being on a 'constant learning journey,' which underscores her commitment to self-improvement and language acquisition. It relates to the video's theme by highlighting the ongoing nature of learning English through reading.

💡Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the words and phrases that make up a language. In the context of the video, Lea talks about expanding one's vocabulary as a key benefit of reading English books, which is central to the video's message of improving English proficiency.

💡Complexity

Complexity in this context refers to the level of difficulty in language or narrative structure. Lea advises choosing books with 'simple language and less complex stories' to avoid frustration and ensure a smoother learning curve, which is a practical tip for beginners navigating the complexity of English literature.

💡Children's books

Children's books are a category of literature specifically designed for young readers, often characterized by simple language and straightforward narratives. Lea suggests starting with children's or youth books as an accessible entry point for English learners, illustrating a practical application of the video's theme.

💡Comic books

Comic books are a visual storytelling medium that combines images and text. Lea includes comic books as a recommended starting point for English learners due to their straightforward language and engaging format, which can make the reading process more enjoyable and less intimidating.

💡Context

Context is the circumstances or setting in which something occurs, and it plays a crucial role in language comprehension. Lea emphasizes understanding the 'entire context' over individual words, which is a strategy for grasping the general meaning of a text despite encountering unknown vocabulary.

💡Highlighting

Highlighting is the act of marking or emphasizing text for reference or review. In the video, Lea recommends highlighting new words as a way to become aware of new vocabulary without getting bogged down in looking up every single word, which is a strategy for maintaining focus on the overall story while still noting new language.

💡Pronunciation

Pronunciation is the way a word or language is articulated when spoken. Lea stresses the importance of learning pronunciation along with spelling when looking up new words, as it aids in comprehensive language acquisition. This keyword is integral to the video's message of holistic English learning.

💡Translator

A translator is a tool or service that converts text from one language to another. Lea mentions using translators like Google Translate and Deepl.com to look up new words and to hear their pronunciation, which is a practical tool recommended for enhancing language learning through reading.

💡Practice

Practice refers to the action of repeatedly performing an activity or exercise to improve at it. Lea encourages using newly learned words in different contexts as a form of practice, which is a key component of the video's advice for solidifying language skills through active application.

Highlights

Lea shares top five beginner tips on how to read English books.

Lea emphasizes the importance of choosing the right book for English learning.

Beginners should start with simple language books like children's or youth books.

Comic books and short stories are recommended for beginners.

As you advance, choose books by topic rather than simplicity.

Avoid trying to understand every single word while reading.

Understanding the overall context is more important than individual words.

Highlight new words but don't look them up immediately.

Look up words that appear frequently or are crucial to understanding the text.

Collect new words and look them up collectively after each chapter.

Use online translators to hear the pronunciation of new words.

Learn alternatives to new words using online translators.

Practice using new words in different contexts to reinforce learning.

Lea encourages readers to share their own English book reading tips.

Subscribe to the channel for more learning experiences and best practices.

Transcripts

Today, we're going to talk about

the top five beginner tips on how to read English books.

So I myself as a non-native speaker, am on a constant

learning journey, trying to improve my English every day.

However, when I started to learn and read English,

these five principles helped me to learn English much faster,

a lot easier, and left me with a broader vocabulary and range of expressions.

Hi, my name is Lea, and on this channel, I help you to grow in various aspects

of your personal and professional life with the aim of becoming more

balanced and happy.

So back to books and my childhood, because I wasn't that lucky

to learn English from an early childhood, but only started

to learn it in school when I was like nine or 10 years old.

Yes, that sounds really late and indeed, in my opinion, was too late.

But nevertheless, I managed to learn proper English, as you might have noticed.

So, in fact, I would attribute

part of this to my joy of reading and the following principles I followed

and are partially still following today when reading English books.

First of all, it's about choosing the right book.

So before starting to read just any English book

that you might have at hand, briefly recap what you want to achieve with

reading that book.

And in our case it is learning or improving your English, I guess.

And therefore, it does not make sense to choose a super complex, long book

with difficult language, since that would probably only leave you

frustrated and not provide the learning curve that you are looking for.

Rather, you should choose the right type of book for your goal, namely

easily written books with simple language and less complex stories.

So when you first start reading in English,

this could simply be a children's or a youth book with simple language

and storylines, but also comic books or collections of short stories.

I will link you to some of my favorite books

for English beginners in the description down below.

The fact that these type of books and stories are not so long and less

complex will keep you motivated to read on and help you better understand

the entire context.

When you are already more advanced,

feel free to choose the books, rather, by topic instead of simplicity.

So if there's a book

that you're interested in, but you are unsure about the complexity,

just start reading and do not limit yourself from the very beginning.

The following tips can help you to better understand also more complex books.

So having started to read your books or short stories, there is one thing

that you should avoid.

Do not try to understand everything.

It does not matter if you're a total beginner

or already more advanced in reading and learning English.

I bet that in every book you read, there's a number of words

you don't understand,

but it shouldn't be your goal to get each and every word, but rather

try to understand the entire context and bigger picture first.

If you don't know what the entire story is about, it won't help that you know

that single super fancy word on page thirty eight at the very bottom.

At least from my experience, you should give up on the idea of learning

all of the newly identified words or phrases in one book,

because sometimes there might just be too many new words such

that you would simply be Googling more than you'd actually be reading.

And second, if you're getting hung up on all these single words and details,

you will lose sight of the entire story, and with that, the pleasure

of reading that book.

So therefore, I recommend prioritizing overall story over

single details and words.

I would still recommend highlighting or underlying all of the words

that are new to you.

Not to immediately look them up, but rather to become more aware

of these new expressions and maintain the ability

to spot new vocabulary in the middle of a really good story.

Also, having them underlined or highlighted just makes it easier

to spot them in case you would still like to look them up.

Now you might wonder which words you should actually look up,

since I told you earlier not to look up each and every word!?

Well, that's a good question.

And that's the approach I used to take and that worked out quite well.

First, I read the story or book, and always try to get the overall picture.

At the same time, I was marking all new words that I didn't understand,

but tried to guess their meaning from the context first.

If a word then appeared several times throughout the entire story

or was super crucial to understand the paragraph, I finally looked it up.

Now, if you're using a similar

or maybe totally different approach so far, let me know in the comments.

And don't forget to give the video

a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel if you found that helpful so far.

After having collected a few new words, I always look them up

collectively, for example, after each chapter was over.

And doing so, you can save a lot of time

compared to looking up each and every word individually.

In addition to just translating these new words,

there were two more things that I did at the same time.

First of all, I had the words read out to me.

So nowadays, almost every translator be it Google Translate, Merriam Webster

or Deepl.com, which is, by the way,

my favorite translator, has the ability to also read out loud.

Especially when you're exploring new words, it is super important

to not only learn their spelling, but also their pronunciation.

Therefore, I highly recommend to look up new words and at the same time

I would have read them out loud such that you know how they should sound as well.

In addition to just translating and reading out words or sentences,

today's translators also suggest alternatives.

So, for example, using deepl.com, when I look up the word possibility,

it also provides we with an alternative, which is option.

So by looking up one word,

you can immediately learn several options, which is really helpful, I think.

And the second thing I recommend doing when having identified

and looked up a new word is that you should use the word yourself.

So whenever you read a new word, this is a best practice to better learn

the new word or sentence, identify the new word or sentence market.

Read it out loud for yourself. Look it up.

And then let the translator read it aloud, as well as maybe even its alternatives.

And once you know the meaning and exact pronunciation, again,

repeat the word yourself and try to use it in a different context.

Maybe just try to phrase a simple sentence or retell the story

that you've been reading so far in your own words.

For example, let's say you have identified and read out the new word awesome,

and you have marked it in your book already.

Next, use your favorite translator may be deepl.com and look the word up.

Now translating awesome, for example, into my mother tongue, German, provides me

with a few alternatives.

First, I let deepl.com

read out the English word awesome and repeat the word myself.

Next, I could also see what the other German alternatives here mean in English

and let them also read out loud.

Finally, I recommend using your newly learned word in that case,

awesome, and phrase a sentence where you make use of the word.

Doing so, you will immediately learn how to use that word in practice.

So just as simple as that, and in no time you will be able to read

more and more advanced English books and apply your newly

learned vocabulary and expressions in everyday situations.

Since I'm on a lifelong learning journey, I'm

keen on learning about your English book reading tips as well.

So also, let me know in the comments what you are doing

when you're reading a book in a foreign language.

Finally, again, make sure to subscribe to the channel for further videos

in which I share my learning experiences and best practices for personal

and professional life. Thanks for watching and see you next time.