8 Ways to Read More in a Foreign Language

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - The Prize & The Problem
1:10 - Non-Fiction
2:38 - Translations
3:28 - Kindle Books
4:48 - Parallel Texts
6:14 - Side-by-Side Reading
7:26 - Blogs
8:30 - Graded Readers
10:21 - Children's Books?
11:32 - Take Action!

📜 SOURCES & ATTRIBUTIONS:

@creatorways

[eisenhorn]

I import everything I want to read into LingQ and it has completely changed my language learning experience. Over the last 3 months I went from not being able to say anything in German to being able to converse (albeit in a broken fashion).

[Tranquility-Base]

For any french learners out there trying to get into novels, i've found that books that don't use passé simple are incredibly useful and makes your experience a lot more enjoyable - La Fille du Train is a great example

[JackCoxMSquirrel]

Your graded reader in Swedish got me into reading Swedish after a number of failed attempts. Now I'm onto authentic novels. Really great resource.

[hugobourgon]

The exception amongst kid books is "Le petit prince" because it actually is a mature topic explained to kids.

[qwert]

Olly, thanks for this video. I’m currently reading a non-fiction book in Spanish called ‘Cultura en el mundo hispanohablante’ it’s for learners in the range of A2-B1. It speaks about all the countries that speak Spanish, whether it’s official or not. I like it as it’s colourful, has pictures, there’s a small amount of activities for understanding comprehension and each country is structured into 5 sections: info about it, daily life, celebrations, culture, and travel. Good for those that want to learn more about Latin America, Spain etc.

[djw]

*For those learning German or Russian, I have some suggestions regarding children's books that do not contain nonce-words, but rather real language that one will come across in everyday life: For German, the books of Erich Kästner, the most famous of which is "Emil und die Detektive" (Emil and the Detectives). And for Russian, many of the short stories by Lev Tolstoy (not necessarily written only for children), such as "Акула" (The Shark).*

[jeffreybarker]

Glad to see you getting back to stories as a tool, Olly! Appreciated your honest on kids’ stories and your thoughts on graded readers.

[neverstoplearning]

I'm learning ASL, and THIS video helped me understand how I could apply "Storylearning" to that...I have found many great youtube channels in ASL and most of the time they have closed captions...parallel reading! Eureka, I get it. Thanks a mil.

[tonyobrien]

I've been learning Irish with Duolingo and now I've started to read children's books at about the 10 or early teen ages. They've been great for building vocabulary and understanding language structures. I've tried books for older readers but it's still a hard slog, so I wouldn't dismiss this phase of learning.

[keithkannenberg]

On the topic of parallel texts and side by side reading, one thing that I've done is to have a digital copy of the translation but to only refer to it at the end of chapters. Read a chapter in the target language extensively, then go back and reread the same chapter in the translation to make sure you haven't missed important elements of the story. This lets you immerse yourself in the target language and avoid the temptation to have your head in a dictionary or the translation, while still taking advantage of the translation to help you understand the content. As I've gotten better with my target language I no longer reread the chapters in English but will check back occasionally to clarify something I was struggling with. This seems better than intensively reading that troublesome passage.

[senshtatulo]

I like to read Wikipedia in different languages. It can be challenging, of course, but it's also fun. I pick whatever topic I want, and then read about that topic in whatever language I want although many topics are not available in minor languages. And if I get really stuck on a word, Wiktionary is right there, too.

[lionesslio]

Reading my favorite books in different language is my go to language learning tool, also very useful in audiobook format, set it to slow and you can really get used to the way words are pronounced as well and at the same better helps with understanding native speakers. Plus it’s great for busy people who are on the go

[TheDanishGuyReviews]

Just started a long Swedish novel. It's going very well so far. I've even learned new words through it thanks to figuring it out from context.

[azotic]

At the risk of adding another comment to recommend a children's book that feels better than typical for that kind of thing, in my efforts to read more Icelandic, I've been having a lot of success with the Icelandic translations of Ben Clanton's "Narwhal and Jelly" series. These books are mostly presented as conversations between the characters, they don't suffer from having lots of specialized vocabulary that's not applicable elsewhere, and they're really funny for adults as well as children. I'm reading a range of different kinds of material, but these are among the most entertaining I've found at my level (which is probably in the A2 range.)

[KirbyLinkACW]

9:01 I'm actually really glad you brought this up, because I'd always mention that I'm reading a Japanese grader reader or the like, and they'd always fight with "that's not authentic."

[mickeyFin]

I almost jettisoned this video at first because it was in a language I couldn’t understand. Then I realized it was in the Queens English. I quickly adjusted my brain and took in a lot of valuable information. I am trying to learn Spanish. Thanks from a Minnesota Yankee. By the way, I understood every word. Ya sure you betcha. 😊

[allencallahan]

Superb content, superbly presented — as usual. And gorgeous Brazilian soundtrack!

[chrislowe]

Parallel texts in two languages you are learning can be very good - each of the languages supports the other. And because neither text is your native language, you won’t be overly reliant on one of the texts and not read the other.

[Daniel_Firmino]

10:21 In my opion, chidren's book could a good way to learn a langage because of its simplier vocabulary and figures, however it's better that you read this kind of book that apeals to adults too like books that was addapted of a great children movie you liked or a book that you feels nostalgic about or ones about cultural myths of your target language.

[rclose]

Great information! In addition to using Olly‘s short stories in German, I have found great benefit from first writing down the text in German, I am using Luther‘s 1912 Bible, in a nice journal and then translating. I know the Bible stories already, grammar is simple and repetitive, plus I get the added benefit of looking carefully at the spelling. Love your videos and continue to be encouraged to spend a few minutes each day interacting with my target language.