IWTYAL 271: How to learn vocabulary from reading?

Kristin asks: “How can I learn vocabulary from reading without stopping every 5 seconds?”

In Today's Episode:

Consider this analogy:

When you're pushing yourself on the treadmill and working hard, it can get uncomfortable. However, you keep going because  you know it's doing you good. Try to extend that analogy to the act of “reading without stopping”. By keeping reading, without stopping to look up words, you're pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone.

Some practical tips to make reading easier:

• Everyone has a strong desire to understand every word, but there is so much value in being content not understanding 100%
• To combat that, try a “zero stopping” policy for a while, and see how it feels. After you finish the entire chapter, go back and look at vocabulary. You'll find that – from continued reading – you've already understood words that flummoxed you earlier
• If you really must look words up, only look up vital words that keep coming up
• Read electronically so you can look up words instantly
• On Kindle, you can select your dictionary (monolingual, bilingual) and highlight words with one touch, then create flashcards automatically
• Separate the tasks of “reading” and “study” – Don't make flashcards while you're reading!

Much of this comes back to our perception of vocabulary being everything. In many ways, it is! But that doesn't mean that stopping to look up every word is the best way to get there!

Resources:

• How to read effectively in a foreign language – my complete guide to effective reading in a foreign language

Helpful tools:

• LingQ
• Kindle Paperwhite
• Readlang

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Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.