What Is Comprehensible Input?

One topic that stood out for me at the 2017 LangFest in Montreal was comprehensible input. It’s key to successful language learning.

Here I talk about what comprehensible input is and how I make sure I’m into it from the beginning when learning a new language.

[KMMOS]

If a person listens to sufficient Steve Kaufmann videos enough times, the person will become motivated to learn languages.

[ale]

Hi Steve, I've been learning English by listening to podcasts with the transcript, and I know the power of repetition, it's really necessary. I've also noticed that even after repeating a podcast many times and learning all the vocabulary in it, things still remain a little bit superficial in my mind, but when I get back to that podcast after some weeks, it seems like the new words and expressions are stronger now, as if they are more deeply rooted in my memory, and I have a better and clearer comprehension of everything. So this is one my techniques now, while studying something new I'm also reviewing some old material.
Thanks a lot for this video.

[luamfernandez]

About this comprehensible input, I've learned more English from your videos for being comprehensible than watching series.

[SarahKelso]

Hi Steve. I was happy to come across your channel (subscribed!) that highlights the wonders of CI! I started a Spanish CI YouTube channel due to the pandemic and remote teaching and I find it truly to be a compelling way to teach a language.

[ronlugbill]

Thank you for describing how to start learning a language. It is extremely frustrating watching video after video, and searching all over, and no one talks about complete beginners and how to get to the point where you can read or understand stories. It is like watching a cooking show and all they say is bake bake bake and they fail to say anything about what ingredients or mixing and you have no idea how to get to the bake bake bake stage.

[Elflamencojuan]

I have been doing German on LingQ since February. I am now on intermediate 2 level material and whilst challenging, it is also satisfying because of the content. I am fortunate to have found a murder mystery story with a proper narrative and actors. I believe is is all amateurs but is very well produced and very compelling. I hope there are more of these on LinqQ because I am convinced it is accelerating my learning.

[josephjoseph]

You are my motivation Steve. Thank you so much for sharing your thouths with us. Greetings from Korea. 고맙습니다!!!

[thenaturalyogi]

I signed up for lingq and hearing that you listen to a story 40 to 50 times is encouraging I never thought I would have that much time to settle in with a certain story or dialogue until I get to comprehend every piece of information out of it in my target language. I'm using it for European Portuguese and finding material is muito difícil but with lingq it's available even if it's not as varied as Brazilian Portuguese.

[FrenchComprehensibleInput]

We are the comprehensible teachers !!! 👍😃💪
Thanks for the upload Steve ans let's keep the spirit up!

[bajuszpal]

Well said, Mr. Kaufmann,
comprehensible and compelling are the very drivers of learning languages, which should be viewed more than tools of learning something new on a specific topic, learning about cars directly from the materials written by the inventor or manufacturer of the product.
I also find instructive to read manuals of say a TV set in several languages just for the pleasure of finding out the different approaches tto explaining the same phenomenon eg. in taking remedial actions. Many thanks ad all the best. Paul, 67 retired teacher - non-native speaker ofEnglish.

[tomaszb]

It is good to listen or read the same texts several times to notice new words and structures. But often I loose my motivation and I need to find sth else (new language, or even - new type of activity). Also very short texts or even advertisement i find very useful, especially at the beginning.

[TofuFiesta]

I like to listen to French podcasts from France Inter that are about classical history. I have Latin in school so I know most important people from that time and when I then listen to this much more detailed podcast it's still new information (so it's enjoyable) and it's comprehensible for the most part.

[giuseppebonelli]

I reached a B2/C1 level in Spanish within a year starting from scratch with comprehensible input and C1/C2 in English.
It works!

[Cecilia]

Thanks again, Steve. Love your insight.

[juniorferreira]

Eu quero falar fluentemente ingles, espanhol, frances, hebraico e japones. Eu melhorei muito meu ingles assistindo seus videos.muito obrigado por compartilhar sua sabedoria conosco e até o próximo video.

[LaynneCris]

I'm reading your book The way of the linguist - A language learning Odyssey... I've been learning English by myself and I'm really excited about being a linguist...

[MarcinVoyager]

I have a few books in English that are really entertaining for me and I read them with pleasure from time to time. It's beneficial in at least two ways. I can clearly see my progress in English and every time I pick up new vocabulary without noticing it. Of course these books are compelling for me. I can't imagine to read something unintetesting and boring over and over again. Cheers. :)

[patriciahe]

No me canso de ver sus videos Steve, todo lo que dice hace perfecto sentido. Desde que descubrí lingq y su canal, no he parado de leer y escuchar todo tipo de material tan interesante. Es usted una gran inspiración. Muchísimas gracias!😊

[samshaysharp]

This was a wonderful explanation of a concept I was having trouble understanding. Thank you so much!

[ComprehensibleRussian]

Comprehensible input for beginners CAN be compelling. That's my hypotheses:-) And I am trying my best to implement this. Putting complicated adult themes like history and culture in simple words in the target language. Shouldn't we all (teachers and content creators) aim at this, to simplify the path of beginners? Let's be honest. It's boring to death watching kids' cartoons or readimg fake-text-book-materials at the beginners stage. We need to do something with that.
Steve Kaufmann is one of those inspiring examples - invesigating, experimenting and motivating. Thank you so much!