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Lexile Framework for Readability

  Tags: Reading
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4535 days ago

1546 posts - 3200 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 1 of 2
01 August 2013 at 10:01am | IP Logged 
I was wondering if anyone had any experience/thoughts on the Lexile Framework for Reading? I don't know much about it, but they give scores for readability of texts in English and Spanish for books based on vocabulary, complexity of sentence structure etc:

https://www.lexile.com

If it's any good I thought I might use it as a (rough) guide for finding books for my level in German, based on the assumption that readability should be roughly equivalent across translations.

Anyone know of anything similar for German?
1 person has voted this message useful



Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5011 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 2 of 2
01 August 2013 at 11:57am | IP Logged 
Thanks for the link, it might be great for many English and Spanish learners.

However, I wouldn't be so sure the level is the same across the translations. The translations in general tend to be easier than the original. And the point of translating a text is not to keep approximately the same number of unique words or the same complexity of sentence structure so the differences may be vast even when it comes to good quality translations.

But such a tool makes me wonder: "why?". I once read an awesome essay by Tolkien, with which I wholeheartedly agreed based on my own experiene, that the best way a child can progress in the reading skills is to read harder books than he or she is ready for. Especially when it comes to used vocabulary. And I believe the only valuable criterion is whether the person finds the book interesting and enjoyable.

And their searching system is a bit strange. It gave me exactly the kinds of books I hadn't chosen in the menu and it seems to give me the same choice of books no matter the criteria. Fifty pages, starting with some American traditional songs, ending with Autobus magico :-D
2 persons have voted this message useful



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