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L-R vs. extensive reading for B2-C1 | ||
Tags: Listening-Reading (L-R) | Reading | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5380 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 9 of 18 13 May 2014 at 9:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is not the first thread where I have gotten the impression that the more experienced language learners think reading a text without audio is better for learning vocabulary than reading a text with audio. Other than the possibility that the learner may be able to read faster than the audio book, why else would adding audio be a negative? Or, am I misunderstanding something here?
My preference has always been to listen along with the audio if it is available for the very basic reason that I feel it helps my understanding/listening and ability to both hear and see the word at the same time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6602 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 10 of 18 14 May 2014 at 12:47am | IP Logged | ||
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In my experience, doing one or the other gives you a more acute awareness of what you still need to learn. Reading at your own pace or listening without a transcript will make you admit "okay, I don't understand that". Especially when it comes to listening, transcripts (and subtitles) are a crutch, and relying on them too much can create an illusion that you understand everything.
Note that I was only speaking of a relatively high level. If reading+listening is enough to push you out of your comfort zone, do it. This also depends on the language - in Finnish or Spanish it's possible to listen without reading and still look up any vocabulary you need, with some languages it's more difficult. Also, I found audio+text immensely useful for Danish. If the language is related to something you already speak, often some similarities are more noticeable in written form and others orally, so that gives you synergy. Also, when the LR method was first introduced here, Steve Kaufmann (who was still a member) said that while both listening and reading are important, he prefers/considers it more useful to do them separately. Edited by Serpent on 14 May 2014 at 12:55am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5014 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 11 of 18 14 May 2014 at 5:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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The L-R technique was designed with beginners and intermediates on mind. I've tried it and despite it not being my cup of tea, I consider it to be a very good alternative for certain kinds of learners. However, I'd recommend going for separate extensive activities, when you are at the higher levels, for these reasons:
-much wider selection. It isn't always easy to find a book and an audiobook. Not all books get an audio by far. And many audiobooks are abridged. Really, finding separate books or separate audiobooks you'd like is a challenge enough sometimes. -you need to practice both activities and having both resources at hand may keep you, in my opinion from practicing the weaker activity -if you already watch movies in French and you see reading as the issue, than I can't see the audiobooks to be a huge asset. -this may be my personal issue but I find myself unable to dive into the story (and therefore trully immerse myself in the language) while trying to follow both the text and audio at the same time. It's like sitting on two seats at once. So, it is uncomfortable while not having enough advantages for me 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6110 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 12 of 18 14 May 2014 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I like listening to short radio podcasts, of about 15 minutes duration.
I always begin by reading the accompanying text, usually a couple of paragraphs. This pre-reading prepares my ears for the likely words and phrases I am going to hear during the podcast. I used to L-R children's stories, and it was especially helpful in pronunciation and in learning how the endings of words merge into the beginnings of those following. But now when I read, I like to read and nothing else. The same for listening - I close my eyes and 'focus' only my ears. Of course, with TV it's probably better to keep your eyes open! Edited by Mooby on 14 May 2014 at 5:49pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4914 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 13 of 18 15 May 2014 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | ||
This is an excellent description. What I like to do when I have a book & audio for it is to listen to the audio on its own 2-3 times. The first time I'm struggling, but by the third time I have a very good idea of what's going on. Then I tackle the text on its own. What's nice about this is that I am reading the book with a pretty good, but not perfect, idea of the action. There will have been words which I just didn't get when I was listening, but which make total sense when I'm reading; these words tend to stick really well. Sometimes I later listen to the audio while reading the text, but as Cavesa said, it's uncomfortable. I do think, however, that it is helpful for improving my reading speed. For me, one exception to not reading + listening is watching 7 jours sur la planète, a French news programme which has very good French subs. I think the speaking pace is a bit slower than an audiobook, so it's not quite as painful as reading + listening to a book. Also, episodes are only around 25 minutes, so it's not too taxing. Edited by Jeffers on 15 May 2014 at 2:16pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6602 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 14 of 18 15 May 2014 at 4:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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LR can also be done in shorter sessions. I used to need many breaks in the beginning, but now I only take them due to basic physical needs.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6914 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 15 of 18 15 May 2014 at 4:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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My main issue with L-R is that I read faster than any narrator speaks, so by the time I've listened to one page of audio, I've had to slow down a lot or re-read the text half a dozen times.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6475 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 16 of 18 15 May 2014 at 5:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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Jeff, please contact me privately. Your inbox is full.
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