|
 |
Reading as a method | ||
Tags: Reading | Learning Technique/Method | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5478 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes  Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 33 of 68 18 February 2011 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
It does get faster, maybe not after the first chapter, but certainly after a few hundred pages you will be moving along at a better pace. To give an example, I have read all the Harry Potter books in Czech. The first chapter of the first volume took me an average of an hour and a half per page. The final chapter of the last volume took me an average of four minutes per page. It was, of course, thousands of pages of reading over many months, and the speed increase was imperceptible day to day, but comparing start to finish showed a massive increase in both speed and understanding. 9 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6512 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 34 of 68 18 February 2011 at 11:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
When I start reading something I decide beforehand whether I'm going to do it as an intensive or extensive activity. In my weak languages intensive reading is the dominant variant because I can't yet read ordinary texts fluently, but as I get better the focus gradually changes towards extensive reading. However I should always keep some of my reading as intensive study to stay alert - purely extensive reading tends to lull me into a false belief that everything is going well, while my level is actually deteriorating.
For instance I hadn't made any intensive studies of Dutch for a month, and then I began making errors of word order and other things... arrgh!! So now I'm doing the intensive studies I have neglected for a month. Reading and (to some extent) listening to Dutch was demonstrably not enough to keep my level. Being alert to formal elements, neglecting content (!), is an important part of learning and maintaining a language, and in this case I have not only read, but actually copied several pages of Dutch where I deliberately analysed and cathegorized the word order in every single sentence, and I'll follow this up with a reread of the relevant pages of my Routledge grammar. Extensive reading is something you primarily do for the sake of the content, secondarily to keep the language present in your mind (if your are a language learner). But then any problem I encounter in this situation is by definition something that just has to be brushed aside, and I don't learn efficiently enough from it (although with time mere repetition might do the trick). Edited by Iversen on 19 February 2011 at 5:42pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5239 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 35 of 68 19 February 2011 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
I think this is a particularly important point. Yes, it's important and beneficial to read and expand one's vocabulary. But if you want to really make improve your language performance (speaking or writing), you have to go beyond reading and think of using. A first step in this direction is precisely what Iversen suggests. Copy pages or phrases (I would recommend doing this by hand). Even make some flashcards that can be reviewed regularly. A key point here is that as learners we should be interested not only in the words themselves but also in how they are used. This, by the way, is the key to developing a natural or idiomatic manner of expression, be it written or spoken. I believe there is no better approach than to imitate, or rather emulate, good examples. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| skchi Groupie United States Joined 5554 days ago 57 posts - 86 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 36 of 68 21 February 2011 at 5:51am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I'm really interested in using this method. I have some novels in French, and, in the past, I've attempted to "read" them. However, I usually get frustrated by constantly stopping to look up unknown words.
I'm encouraged by the success that some of you have had, so I'm going to try again, this time without the dictionary. I hope this technique works just as well for me! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| purplepixie Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4834 days ago 26 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Greek | Message 37 of 68 21 February 2011 at 9:48am | IP Logged | |||||
This has been a really interesting thread to read through and thankyou Iversen for the very important points above. Reading has been my way back in to picking up my Spanish studies again, I love reading in my native tongue so it makes sense I will enjoy the activity in a second language! I am currently struggling a bit with the intensive vs extensive reading issue. Currently I am reading 'un viejo que leia novelas de amor', it is only a short novela of 135 pages, so I am reading it extensively first, brushing aside minor points I don't fully comprehend and just reading the story, only noting down/looking up key words I don't immediately recognise. Afterwards, I will go back intensively, page-by-page, to review the vocab and any grammar points the material raises. As an experienced language learner, what do you think of this approach? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| away-with-words Triglot Newbie Australia Joined 4837 days ago 4 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Turkish | Message 38 of 68 21 February 2011 at 12:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I've also enjoyed reading through this thread! I read a lot, mostly because I enjoy
it. But I also think people underestimate the 'value' you can get out of one text, especially if you're on a limited book budget - some of my suggestions would be: - read through a text quickly (for pleasure) - in this case I usually only reach for a dictionary if an unfamiliar word or structure is preventing me from understanding a KEY component of the plot - read slowly, looking up all unknown words in a dictionary, and writing them out in a sentence (either the sentence/phrase from the book, or one from the dictionary, so I know I am writing out something correct) - a conscious vocabulary expansion exercise - listen to an audiobook version with or without reading the text at the same time (fairly passive) - read the text out loud - ideally you'd have a native speaker who could provide feedback, or else read a sentence/passage and then play the audiobook back if you have it. But I think reading aloud is still valuable without either of these options. - sometimes I play a game where when I hit a verb I conjugate the verb in all the forms of that tense (e.g. if I come across a third-person singular imperfect form I will write out first and second person singular, and first, second and third-person plural imperfect forms) - worth verifying these with a grammar book to be sure you're correct - you could also do something similar finding antonyms, synonyms, turning nouns into their related adverbs etc although I admit I've never done this - translating passages! I think translation is one of the most fun 'games' of all - although I know not everyone agrees :) Best if you have a native-speaker you can run it by, or a published translation of the text in your first language so you can check for accuracy - sometimes I turn new phrases into a drill, e.g. if I came across 'Nous n'avons pense d'abord qu'a son plaisir' and was surprised by the placement of 'd'abord' I would say (or write) 'Je n'ai pense d'abord qu'a ton plaisir', 'Vous n'avez pense d'abord qu'a notre plaisir', etc. If I run into questions with this type of thing I check in a grammar book, or save them up until I can ask a native speaker. - if I have a teacher or another native speaker contact who is willing to correct text, I often write a few paragraphs about the book - some ideas could be a synopsis of the plot, a book review, a journal-type 'response' to the book, a text of my own imitating the author's style... - as described by Iversen above, another option would be to rewrite phrases and analyse for sentence structure - parsing. I should also say that I couldn't work through a whole novel doing just one of the above (apart from the more passive options) - that would drive me nuts. If I've had a hard day at work I just read! But if I feel like tinkering with the language these are some of the things I do. Does anyone have other ideas? Edited by away-with-words on 21 February 2011 at 12:04pm 10 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6512 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 39 of 68 21 February 2011 at 1:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
I think it is an excellent idea. However this sequence presupposes a certain level in the language - otherwise you can't just hammer through a novela, brushing away minor problems and looking up a few words here and there. If you read something in a weaker language and you don't have a bilingual edition then you have to take the intensive study first, but after that you should be able to reread it extensively (and with pleasure).
But it may not work, because you may not be able to read the text with all those unknown words. An alternative: take a quick look at each paragraph or page and then look up at least some of the words beforehand (and write them down so that you down forget them). Then your chances of getting through the text are much better even if there still are words you don't understand. Grasping your dictionary and looking words up one by one while you are in the middle of a sentence is sure way of making you lose any sense of cohesion in the text. The 'looking up' process is less harmful to your reading pleasure if you take it blockwise before attempting to read the text. Edited by Iversen on 21 February 2011 at 1:56pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5227 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 40 of 68 22 February 2011 at 2:02am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I am certainly finding that the more Norwegian I learn the easier I find it to learn from
books and can see myself getting to the stage within a few months where I can learn purely from native materials. For learning idioms, I think having a book in the language you are trying to learn as well as in a language you know, preferably native I suppose, is very useful. With a dictionary you might be able to learn what a sentence would mean in literal terms but still not quite grasp the actual meaning due to the idiom used. Having the same book in a language you know means you can quickly find a translation for the general meaning of an idiom, and can perhaps save you having to come across the same thing over again to figure it out via context. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
