|
 |
Reading as a method | ||
Tags: Reading | Learning Technique/Method | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5240 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 57 of 68 02 March 2011 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
This is an interesting idea that I actually use. Whereas traditionally people recommend reading material in the target language with translation, I think it can be very enlightening to read translations in the target language of authors that one already knows. Here it's important to choose your authors carefully. For example, I like contemporary authors in the thriller genre with lots of dialogs. When you read the translation, you really get a sense of how the target language can render the same idea. Of course, this suggestion is not meant to completely replace reading original authors in the target language. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5191 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 58 of 68 02 March 2011 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
Wow, it's just like magic! Edited by Arekkusu on 02 March 2011 at 9:00pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5191 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 59 of 68 02 March 2011 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | |||||
Compared to speaking with a human being, reading is incredibly easy to ignore. I find that it's also very easy to dismiss written text: you can read through parts that you don't understand or you can also keep reading while you mind wanders away only to realize that you don't actually remember the last paragraph. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5191 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 61 of 68 02 March 2011 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I think it’d be fair to say that the majority of learners in this forum adopt a literary perspective. For most, speaking is secondary.
If it’s your choice, then I have nothing to say, and reading is obviously the best way for you to learn. However, too many people concentrate on the written language simply by default, without questioning whether that’s the right thing for them to do. Personally, passive understanding of words on a page is of minimal interest. Oral communication is the ultimate goal; creating and assembling meaningful constructions that mirror my inner thoughts -- on the fly at that! -- , now that’s fascinating! If anyone out there thought there was something wrong with them for not keeping a vivid interest through hundreds of pages of wizardry or ancient biblical tales, consider the possibility that you are simply not using the right method. As humans, we are all deeply and subconsciously moved and touched by human contact and we’ve been learning languages orally for millennia: we are genetically programmed to learn languages through interactions with other humans. Edited by Arekkusu on 02 March 2011 at 8:44pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| aabram Pentaglot Senior Member Estonia Joined 5343 days ago 138 posts - 263 votes Speaks: Estonian*, English, Spanish, Russian, Finnish Studies: Mandarin, French | Message 62 of 68 02 March 2011 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
As many here, I'm the reader type. I started reading Spanish at the time when I was
still doing A2 level stuff. The courses and grammar drills just didn't do it for me. So I bought a parallel text book and read through the first story about 20-30 times. I was not satisfied with just getting the translation on opposite page, I wanted to make sure I can parse the sentence structure correctly. So I read and re-read until I was satisfied. Spent solid two weeks on one story alone and then another week on second story. It was worth it though, because I learned so much of the inner workings and grammar and it helped me to overcome that all too familiar case of getting all the words correctly but still missing the meaning. I then gradually moved on, first with readers, now with real books. Huge boost to my reading was when I started reading on Kindle with inline dictionary. It's like best of both worlds, I do not have to put the book down for lookups and I never lose the sight and feel of the sentences. Currently my Spanish learning consists of reading only, I'm growing my vocabulary like mad. But I have discovered one drawback: books I read or want to read tend to be highly topical (history, science) and I'll get a bunch of cool vocabulary while missing out lots of "normal" vocabulary. For example one day it struck me that I know Spanish words for "steamboat", "triangulation" and "black hole" I do not know words for "sink" or "sewing kit". So while I can read and enjoy a popular article about latest trends in modern medicine I'd be hopelessly lost when I'd need to buy a pool of thread. I don't know whether this is more sad or cool. I'm not worried though, because I once worked my English up the same position so I'm pretty sure I can do it again. I've (re)started with German recently and currently my only means is parallel language book. Frankly that's currently the only method that I've got time and patience for so I'll see how far and fast I'll progress with that. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6485 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 63 of 68 02 March 2011 at 11:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
I would like to start using audio. I think it would be the best approach, but I use something like you. Reading what I like or need is the only method I can keep doing. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5144 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 64 of 68 02 March 2011 at 11:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
For me also oral communication is the ultimate goal. But extensive reading is one of my main methods for reaching that goal. 4 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. |
