Why READING in a foreign language will speed up your learning: Where to begin with Olly Richards

Reading out loud had helped me a lot with understanding better what I'm reading and paying more attention. Even in my native language I read out loud when I want to remember better the text 😅

As a teacher of Japanese (and a couple other languages), I agree with almost all of Olly’s points except the point of reading out loud. Studies have indicated that reading out loud facilitates language acquisition, and I believe it’s especially important for Japanese to reenforce the “sounds” of the kanji. Other studies have shown that people who are successful at learning kanji can also associate them with their respective pronunciations. So you definitely should use reading as an opportunity to strengthen the sound-meaning connection, because it’s one of the few ways to do so. On the other hand, learning to quickly scan through a text and pick up meaning without focusing on sounds can be an essential skill for passing the JLPT and working in Japan. Scanning like this can also be a good way to prepare yourself to read a text with many unfamiliar words and readings.

Since I began learning English (and because I speak English very seldom) and keep my English "fresh" just reading and listening BBC World Service. But reading is so important when you are learning another language.. Not only you improving your new Vocabulary, the pattern of the written it will be fixed in your memory.. Keep on reading and keep on learning 👍

I found your story learning books to be incredibly helpful for Russian!

Olly, you are absolutely right about reading being something which unlocks foreign languages. I just wish I could do more of it

This is very informative. I am on my second foreign language (German), and it is a challenge, even though the first (French) was and is relatively straightforward. I have learnt such a lot about language acquisition, and gradually came round to the views expressed here i.e. most people underestimate the amount of work involved, rote learning does not work and intensive grammar study does not work. Unfortunately I don’t like reading, and I hate novels. That said I regularly put time aside to listen to a video while simultaneously reading the transcript. That has been one of the most beneficial exercises that I do. As an aside, I have used Duolingo, Busuu, Babbel and LingQ. The only one I recommend is LingQ because it uses natural material. The others were not effective.

Though i agree with Olly, a lot of his views are subjective. Reading out loud aids in confidence when speaking even if it's your mother tongue. Additionally, flashcards and spaced repetition will assist in remembering words and it's a proven technique used for many university studies.

My mother language is Portuguese. I'm from south america Brasil, in the southeast, São Paulo :). English is my second language and I love reading. I'm reading the fellowship of the ring, then I will read the two tower and then the return of the king. I'm 17. XD

I've learnt that Oli's not fussed about "keeping up" languages that he doesn't have a reason to use right now. That's really interesting, because I always have a twinge of regret, after all the work I put in to get fluent in a language. This applies most to me with Italian, as I loved it, so would like to still be able to speak like I used to, but less for Japanese, as I've never really found reading material that grabbed me and made me want to get better. For Catalan, I do miss it in a way, but it's easier to rationalise because it doesn't have that many speakers, so it can't really "compete" with other more widely spoken languages like Spanish or Portuguese. I wonder though if Oli doesn't feel it's worth keeping up home languages in the family, even if everyone a child speaks totally fluent English as well as these other languages? I have many friends who kind of regret the missed opportunity to grow up with a "heritage" language, because their parents didn't really stress that, and then when these friends are adults, they feel embarrassed about their limited ability and "foreignness" in the language. If my parents had different home languages, I would really hope they would bring me up in those languages, even if I would never need to speak them going out of the house. But I do agree that all of these are totally personal decisions, and the only important thing really is being okay with your own choices.

I tried to look up a lot of words while reading Spanish and it was soooooo boring lol. I prefer to just be immersed and just re-read or re-listen to the same thing!

Good, this chatting.

Not necessarily. I don’t even have a clue what people are saying in manga for God’s sake. 😢

Reading is amazing, when you're learning another language

Thank you. Read first. Listen second. Talk last. In the good old days that was the only possible order. To tell a person to never say anything they have not seen in an authoritative book is a hard sell. But in the long run the read first method saves lives. It is unfortunate, but in Latin America saying something one has heard only can lead to one's instant death! Will a Cartel member post a comment to this effect? No! That is not how they work. They are not linguistics. They do not devote their lives to scholarship. Al Capone is to me one of the greatest language instructors who ever lived. Here is Capones view on what results when one is not circumspect and tactus in speech. https://youtu.be/KdNSlyrbcDY?si=gOCa3k7nd1WNWL8E