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Learning Material.. What Level Is Ok? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Heliion Newbie United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4127 days ago 25 posts - 32 votes Studies: English*, Spanish | Message 1 of 17 02 September 2013 at 8:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Is it ok to learn from listening to and reading material that you only understand say 25% through listening and
perhaps 50-60% from reading it? I'm talking about dialogue with transcripts. I've heard that you perhaps need to find material where only about 10% of it is unknown to make good progress, I'm hoping that's a myth since I'm struggling to find the perfect fit and I just want to jump into something a little more interesting despite it being a little too advanced for me to comprehend without working through it and looking up 50% or more of it. Thanks. Edited by Heliion on 02 September 2013 at 8:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5577 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes  Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 2 of 17 02 September 2013 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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Depends on your frustration tolerance. You'll just have to find the right balance between language you know, language you can infer from context and language you need to look up or ignore, and the content that might keep you interested or not.
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| I'm With Stupid Senior Member Vietnam Joined 3984 days ago 165 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Vietnamese | Message 3 of 17 02 September 2013 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'd imagine it's massively tedious. And even then, looking up every word in the dictionary won't necessarily give you the meaning. You'd also have to look up any grammar points you're not familiar with, and any collocations you come across.
Is there any way you can find material that's a lower-level version of the same thing? For example, in the past, I've used BBC Newsround stories with my lower level students, because the main BBC article is too complex. The story is still the same though, and it has the added bonus of often explaining any cultural aspects that children (and my students) wouldn't know about. At a higher level, I know that a lot of students prefer tabloid newspapers because the language is generally less complex. The other thing is to perhaps use materials with more visuals to give the dialogue more context. Someone posted a Youtube football compilation of a player online today and it happened to include some German commentary. I was surprised by how much I understood after just two months of study, from the context of having the players basically acting out what he was saying. Obviously it'll depend on the exact topics you're interested in as to whether they'll be available. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6720 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 17 02 September 2013 at 11:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would find it difficult, but again, you have to start somewhere. Can you find dialogues with translations? They can be really helpful.
As Iversen says: "(...)the use of bilingual texts in any setup is a very efficient method for vocabulary acquisition, and it is a shame that the pedagogical community didn't accept them wholeheartedly long ago. Maybe teachers saw the method as cheating?" (from Interlinear books (Page 2)) Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 02 September 2013 at 11:35pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4639 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 6 of 17 03 September 2013 at 12:23am | IP Logged | ||
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What I don't think I have yet seen, even on HTLAL, is a step by step guide to the best way of using parallel texts.
I have used them and do use them (although perhaps not as frequently as some other people here), but I always wonder if I am using them in the most efficient or effective manner. ... I just happened to find this: using parallel texts Not sure if I found that last time I looked for something similar. I'm aure there are many ways of using them, but the beginner would be forgiven for wondering what precisely he or she is supposed to do with them. The advice suggested in that article for advanced learners suggests (to me) they don't actually need parallel texts, and could get by equally well (or almost equally as well) with separate texts. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4820 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 7 of 17 03 September 2013 at 12:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Using a text when you understand only about half is possible if at least one of these conditions is met:
1.you are one of the people who love such a challenge and looking up things and therefore understanding so little isn't any source of frustration to them. Good for you, have fun. 2.you do not belong to that happy group but you are strong willed and can make yourself go though no matter the discomfort. I admire you and I wish you a lot of success. 3.it is something you really, really want to read for the content. In such case, who cares about % and advice by anyone else! (Many people of my generation read new HP books in English no matter they understood half of the words. We were just too excited to wait for translations to our languages. It was awesome.) Understanding even less of unabridged audio of the same text shouldn't be much of a trouble in my opinion. Had it been separate audio, I'd say 25% might be too frustrating (but of course, some conditions could change the situation) Edited by Cavesa on 03 September 2013 at 12:39am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3955 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 8 of 17 03 September 2013 at 1:23am | IP Logged | ||
Which language are you studying? Spanish? If it's Spanish, I can maybe offer you some ideas of simpler stuff that isn't mind-numbingly boring. I think that I'd have a *really* hard time learning from something if I only understood 25% of it. If nothing else, my motivation wouldn't last more than a few days. My goal for extensive reading - based on my experience as both a student and a teacher - is 90% comprehension as a bare minimum. Ideally, I'm aiming for 95% understanding for extensive reading. (extensive reading = pleasure reading) I can work more deeply with texts that I understand less of, but it's a lot more work and I need a balance between hard and easy so that I don't lose my momentum. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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