How to start reading in a foreign language (even as a beginner)

Summary

The 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:02

📖 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.

10:02

📱 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.

15:04

📚 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.

Keywords

💡Reading

Reading is the process of understanding written text. In the context of the video, it is the primary method of language learning discussed. The script mentions the speaker's extensive reading in multiple languages, emphasizing its importance in language acquisition and the development of a personal system for effective reading.

💡Intensive Reading

Intensive reading refers to a method where readers read slowly, look up every unknown word, and may take notes for later review. It is typically recommended for beginners or for reading texts on unfamiliar topics. The script contrasts this with extensive reading, highlighting the exhaustion that can come from the intensive approach.

💡Extensive Reading

Extensive reading is characterized by reading widely for pleasure without necessarily understanding every detail. It is suggested for texts slightly above the reader's level to encourage learning new things while still grasping overall meaning. The speaker admits to preferring this approach, especially for longer content like books.

💡Language Learning

Language learning is the process of acquiring new languages. The video script discusses various methods and tools for language learning through reading. The speaker's personal experiences and preferences in learning multiple languages are shared, making language learning the central theme of the video.

💡Apps and Devices

Apps and devices are tools used to facilitate reading in foreign languages. The script mentions several apps and devices like tablets, e-readers, and specific apps that aid in the reading process by providing definitions, translations, and note-taking capabilities, enhancing the language learning experience.

💡Vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to the set of words known to a person. The video discusses the importance of vocabulary in language learning, mentioning the use of apps like Anki or Quizlet for vocabulary review and the vocabulary builder feature on Kindle to test word retention.

💡Repetition

Repetition is the act of repeating something to reinforce learning. The speaker mentions the hope of gaining necessary repetition through extensive reading, watch, and listen practices, which is a key strategy in language learning as it helps in memorizing and internalizing new information.

💡Graded Readers

Graded readers are books specifically written or adapted for language learners, categorized by difficulty levels based on vocabulary size. The script recommends these for their structured progression and motivational value due to their shorter length and the sense of accomplishment they provide.

💡Non-fiction

Non-fiction refers to literature based on real-life events, people, or information. The video suggests starting with non-fiction before moving on to contemporary fiction, as it is often easier to understand and can be a stepping stone to more complex literature.

💡Classics

Classics are works of literature that are considered of high quality and have stood the test of time. The script warns against starting with classics in a foreign language, as they can be difficult and may not align with a learner's interests, which could hinder the learning process.

💡Personal Interests

Personal interests refer to the topics or genres that an individual finds appealing. The video emphasizes the importance of aligning reading material with one's interests to maintain motivation and engagement in the language learning process, suggesting that reading material should be enjoyable and relevant.

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