Find 2 hours a day to read in your target language

[@lindaha]

Hey Lamont, I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate those short videos of yours! It refreshing that you're not making the video 10 minutes log for the sake of this stupid KZbin algorithm. So thanks for being you and thanks for being and staying authentic!

[@daysandwords]

Hi Linda - thank you! I will admit though (and I said this in, the 4th video I think? Not sure which video it was...) that making 10 videos about it rather than I long, in-depth video was partially a KZbin decision. I'm not above improving my chances in the algorithm... but I am above lying for views. Thank you again!

[@lindaha]

@@daysandwords I know that everyone needs to work with the algorithm. What I wanted to say is that you come to the point and have a high information density instead of just talking for the sake of talking. And, to me, it feels like it's easier to take out the information from those short videos in comparison to one long video in which you'd discuss all the topics at once!

[@augustahnfeldtengdahl7307]

@@daysandwords Hej vad heter du?

[@billywade7794]

One other small nugget that I found helps when listening to audiobooks, is to listen as loud as you can tolerate without it being obnoxious. You are less likely to fade in and out. Lower sound becomes white noise.

[@daysandwords]

Wow, interesting. I try not to listen too loud but sped up is actually going to be louder because you've got more sound compressed into less time. But certainly I never listen quiet enough that I miss words... Some audiobooks are so well recorded that there is no whitenoise at all, but that's an interesting thought. I might give that a try.

[@billywade7794]

@@daysandwords sorry I meant white noise as in is low enough to where you tune out. With it being louder you know it's playing. It's not not everyone. I just find I stay more focused.

[@mallory8940]

I’m learning Spanish and I had to build my tolerance and comprehension by starting with manga/manhwa/manhua translated into Spanish. Then after that the next step was asían light novels, light novels are fairly complex but not as complicated or long as reading a book. Now I can read adult novels with a bit of concentration but truthfully I prefer to read light novels still. I doubt this would be helpful for anyone learning Swedish but hopefully it gives someone some ideas on how to get more into reading.

[@daysandwords]

My channel is about all languages, it's just that I personally am learning Swedish. So if it helps anyone, it's a welcome comment!

[@HaIsKuL]

I get to work 30 mins early and stay 30 mins later. I also do this for school. That's 2 hours right there. If I don't have classes/work, I'll get some coffee and sit down to read for about an hour. It's consistency, not binging, that gets me volume.

[@Livakivi]

First :) I think an amazing benefit of learning a language and reading/listening to books is the fact that it's not only "productive" in the sense that you're learning when reading in your target language, but also because you are consuming books, which is already something that may enrichen your life, even without the language learning aspect. If someone says that they read for 2 hours a day (in their native language), that's already a feat worth praising in itself. I'll definitely try to read as much as you suggested my TL in the near future as well!

[@ineen2251]

Hey it's livakivi

[@daysandwords]

Hey Livakivi! I watched two of your videos recently and I was really impressed. Correct me if I am wrong... you are Finnish? I am taking that from a few little clues I saw, so it may be totally wrong. Yes, and for the reasons you mentioned, I try to consume stuff that is beneficial anyway - e.g. I have bought the Swedish paperback (and have the audiobook on my app) of Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, which I'm really looking forward to.

[@daysandwords]

Oh sorry, you're Estonian! Estonian is cool... you guys make the best language apps!

[@Livakivi]

@@daysandwords Haha yeah I'm from the country with the most language learning apps per capita. And thanks! I'm looking forward to reading whatever comes to mind in my TL as well. Another good thing about books is that most books usually have a lot of translations, and unlike subs or dubs, they don't take as much away from the original experience in most cases.

[@daysandwords]

@@Livakivi I'm assuming you mean that there are generally a lot of translated books, rather than most books have a lot of translations? That sounds like most books have been translated multiple times, which yes ok that can happen but it's certainly not common. But yes you're totally right, translated novels can be really good (see the second video in the series) and have all/most of the original meaning as opposed to subtitles which have to be brief.

[@Isaac-eg3um]

Reading is 100% my favorite activity to learn Swedish. I started reading books 5 months in to learning and haven’t stopped over a year and a half / 12,000 pages later (about 20 books). Even if I move on from actively learning Swedish in the future, I don’t think I’ll ever stop reading in it.

[@bigfan2452]

Can you do a video regarding delayed gratification. Langauge learning is a delayed gratification and I want people to know that it is totally worth it to learn a Langauge but the benefits come much later than earlier.

[@tigrafale4610]

Is it really though? I get a massive dopamine boost from learning a language, when I recognise a word I recently learnt, when I finally understood a difficult sentence structure, when I make a sentence correctly.

[@futurez12]

@@tigrafale4610 It differs for different people. Some people don't particularly enjoy the process, and those moments you described don't really have the same affect on them. I'm that way; I don't really get a kick out of small things like recognising a word, but I do enjoy the big moments of progress you get when you suddenly realise that you're understanding easier than before. That sudden realization is a good example of 'delayed gratification' because you can go a number of months without detecting any progress at all and then out of absolutely nowhere it seems to comes together, and you make a noticeable leap forward in comprehension. I'm still not sure how that works exactly. It feels like magic. I think it has to do with a period of gestation in the brain (maybe the length of time it takes the brain to lay down solid myelin?), which means what you do today won't pay off until further down the line. Either way, it's pretty awesome, but it is something you have to wait for and have faith in.

[@life_withandy]

This is a super underrated part of language learning and one of the reasons I’m loving it because it is a true delayed gratification test!

[@bigfan2452]

@@life_withandy yep, you are also a language learner I will go and check out your content right away.

[@life_withandy]

@@bigfan2452 yeah I am! I’m starting later than a lot of others but I’m enjoying it and learning a lot! Thanks for checking out my channel!

[@yourfirstsecondlanguage4782]

Great insights as always! Audiobooks for the win, I’ll have to try doing that increased speed cs my thoughts are definitely prone to wander!

[@u4rialol617]

Hi "days", I honestly don't say this at all or ever, but it's surprising that you don't have a lot more subs than you have right now. Your videos are so fluid and your setup is so clean and professional. Just letting you know I really appreciate your stuff. Cya!

[@daysandwords]

Haha, well I am a photographer so I already had some of the equipment to make a clean set up... thank you!

[@u4rialol617]

@@daysandwords I have to mention though the color scheme really bothers me. There's something tweaking, it might just be my monitor though

[@daysandwords]

@@u4rialol617 Nah I think you're right. It looks too red on my phone too, though it looked right on my monitor. But my monitor is probably "wrong".

[@twoblocksdown5464]

He's rather "gауs" than "days"😂😂😂😂🤣🤣

[@nfrankiksa4596]

Now he's getting there...

[@BalintFarago]

I'm learning German and the increasing number of books on my shelf I already read make me feel proud every day. Reading the first book in your target language is the hardest step. Reading the 2nd and the 3rd is easier and then it just becomes a habit!

[@prodomango712]

I’d like to know how you deal with stopping when you come across words/sentences you don’t understand. Especially with audiobooks where your speed is set, and stopping is more of an ordeal. This isn’t as much of an issue when you’re more advanced but I’m now trying to read in my 6th language, Mandarin, and I’m stopping and starting a lot because otherwise my comprehension level would be too low and it wouldn’t be having fun/knowing what’s going on. Of course the obvious thing to do is choose more level appropriate material but this can be an arduous task in and of itself (and that material is often deadly dull), and it is still a problem at higher levels of comprehension. 95% still means 1 word in every 20 is an issue - thats super frequent even at such a high percentage. There are lots of ways to approach this and it changes as your level increases. What’s your take? PS. I’m a fan of the video’s length 🍁✌🏼

[@hauskasiili]

You don't have to know every word or understand every sentence. The book is primarily a tool for language learning rather than a mere end on its own and you're not being graded on your comprehension. If you want to understand more, you can reread the book on a later date and enjoy how much you've progressed since the first read. I think your obvious choice is the right one here. That or reading with your eyes. That audio book will still be there once you have progressed further and your listening comprehension is ready to understand without going back and forth.

[@ShaneGodliman]

It’s crazy how impactful getting up a bit earlier and getting sh*t done is! I always find when I get even just a little bit of language stuff done in the morning I’m much more likely to keep things going and hit my targets, start as you mean to go on I guess!

[@daysandwords]

Exactly. Today for example, it's 7pm but I haven't done anything yet... so I'm on KZbin rather than immersing. Speaking of which... 🇸🇪

[@amberswilddiaries2831]

I've read 16 books that year (from 1.1.2021) in a non-native language all of them but one are non-fiction books (Mostly physics math and personal dev) and my greatest advice is stop using your social apps (i.e fb, ig etc) and you'll see that you're bored you open a book, you go take a run or do something useful with your life

[@rachelday5406]

I’ve noticed that reading books in my native language has helped IMMENSELY with the size of my active vocabulary, has helped me look outside of my prospective, and just made me a more interesting person overall. Definitely gonna try this out with my target language. I have 2 books arriving tomorrow! Thanks for your videos! No other language learning channel really talks about the benefits of reading. I also appreciate your authenticity, as a lot of language learning channels I see are often too focused on acquiring as many languages as fast as possible, which often makes me feel like I’m not doing enough. I come to your videos to be reminded to set realistic and enjoyable goals for myself. Like reading a nice book :) (Also that intro! I was thinking “I bet that took a lot of takes” but the confidence in which you said “oh wait I just did” makes me think that was your first take. Either way, impressed. I trip over my words all too often)

[@daysandwords]

It was my second haha. In the first I messed up the hard bit at the end "of which this is the sixth".

[@billywade7794]

Ok so I have a few questions. 1. When you read via audio books, do you sit down and listen intensely or is passive listening ok? 2. What % of thr book do you recommend that you understand before taking on this task? Bonus question for 10 points 🙂. What do you do when there are words or even sentences you don't understand and you're listening passively? Just muster through?

[@LucasSnydar]

I recently (about a month or so ago) started reading in my target language. To answer your second question on what percent do you need to understand I would say that you can start reading a whole lot earlier than you think. When I started reading there were so many words i didn’t know and way too many to look them all up. I recommend picking up a book that you have already read in your native language and know well (that’s what I did).that way you don’t have to worry about keeping track of plot and characters, and you actually pick up so many words just by remembering the first time you read it. In just a month my reading comprehension has improved from maybe 40-50% to a good 70-80%. Seriously reading is such an amazing form of input and will help you so much. If you don’t think you understand enough to start reading, you probably can and the great part is the more you do it the easier it gets. Hope that helps.

[@bofbob1]

14 (books in the pile) ^^. Man, I wish there were more hours in the day... It's not always easy to prioritise.

[@yourfirstsecondlanguage4782]

I now look forward to washing up because of the chance to listen to audiobooks :)

[@levipatrickdiaz]

Nice! You hit 39k subscribers, congrats! I've just started to WRITE a lot in my current target language. I think I've got a long ways to go fluency-wise to have a book be significantly comprehensible. Though I agree, reading is super powerful, and an awesome way to "passively" learn, since you can do it while you do other things (whereas writing is not something you can do while driving, etc, haha). I think one of the main reasons to go hard on grammar and vocab early on is so that you can GET to the point that passive learning is easier and more comprehensible, making each minute more efficient.

[@hauskasiili]

I think reading practice can really start from day one, if desired. Just try to find easy texts or bilingual ones where one of the languages is a language you're fluent in and the other your target language. If you like comics, that's one source of comprehensible material.

[@levipatrickdiaz]

@@hauskasiili I think that bilingual texts can be great for beginners! I think one thing that can be hard is finding comprehensible input, especially if you maybe don't have easy access to a library or a source for material in your target language. I think for early beginners, whatever application/textbook they have is probably sufficient in terms of reading, especially since it is usually already aimed at a particular language level. Comics are a great idea - the visuals definitely make the input much more comprehensible. Good idea!

[@levipatrickdiaz]

Oops, realized I didn't explain this well, haha - I mean "read" as in reading audiobooks (or listening to podcast or anything like that, haha)

[@hauskasiili]

@@levipatrickdiaz I think the problem with beginner material - be it an app or a textbook - is that usually they don't come with enough interesting material for reading. Textbook chapter texts are made for intensive study - comprehension is usually contingent upon memorizing the associated word lists and bundling further reading materials would be uneconomical for the publisher. What I propose is extensive reading - reading target texts and understanding most of their content without dictionaries or glossaries (a few terms being explained is ok - let's not be absolutists). The texts have to be easier, but you save time spent on making and drilling flash cards. Few hours searching for material is a drop in the bucket, especially given how slow a beginner is at reading even if a text is comprehensible. I found it to be humbling to manage to read a mere 10 pages in an hour with decent comprehension. But then I realized this meant that I could get many more hours of practice out of a single book than I thought and reading speed became another thing I could take pride in improving. I think reading can be a major source of vocabulary and grammar. It's not an activity that has prerequisites. You crack open a book and start making sense out of it. You might enjoy giving a read to this blog post on learning to read in Japanese: insidethatjapanesebook.com/2020/07/15/how-to-start-reading-books-in-japanese/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

[@fdiotalevi]

Speeding up audiobooks is a good idea in your native language too. I had the same problem for years, I really wanted to use my spare time to listen to audiobooks, but I would constantly lose focus. Now I listen at 1.5-1.8x speed (depending on narrator), and the additonal "difficulty" make sure I never lose focus.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah I put an app on my phone just to speed them up haha. I go about 1.8 - 2.2x if I'm only listening, and 2.8 - 3.2x if I have the book to read along with. 3.2 sounds insane but if you're reading the physical book as well it's pretty easy, and sometimes the narrator is speaking at 50% to begin with haha.

[@retrolearnskorean3553]

Last year I did 61 books this year I already know it's going to be less. The reason is simply due to the length of the books, I've been reading for 2 hours a day at least for since Sept 2019. The books at first were a bit shorter than the ones I'm currently reading, in Korean there's a counter for the number of characters for Ebooks and sometimes regular books the first set of books I read were around 70,000-90,000 characters, rightly so some I finished quicker than others but it allowed me to hit 61 books. This year so far I've read 11 and they've all been around 130,000 and the next series I'm going to start on 1st April is 190,000-250,000 characters per book over 8 books . It's great that you are pushing reading with the size of your channel but for me honestly the speaking gains from books has not been that great, transfers to writing better but I think there's a couple factors. Korean is very different from English and I've spread myself really wide so I've seen a lot of vocabulary meaning my brain doesn't necessarily have a perfect grasp on spitting out simple sentences. I can type decently without much practice but my speaking is definitely out of practice. Thanks to anyone who read this.

[@harrywater8305]

72 books, It's so impressive! Probably for you reading now is so easy and your comprehension is almost 100%. How is your reading speed?

[@retrolearnskorean3553]

@@harrywater8305 I'm not really sure how it compares but it's faster than it was when I first started. my comprehension is probably around 95% it's hard to tell sometimes. There are pages where I highlight 2-3 words and then no new words for 5-10 pages. However even when you know the words you still find new uses of them even after many hours.

[@Mahmoudmahmoud-yn3ns]

Ich möchte, dass Sie wissen, dass ich viel von Ihrem Rat gelernt habe. Ich lerne Deutsch und ich versuche es zu verbessern also schreibe ich diese Kommentar in deutsch ❤️😁

[@Tomanita]

Great video! Before the "current situation" I had time to read on the train but now I have to actively think about making time for it. And yes, that joke was something else😂

[@Flauschbally]

So true. We just have to make time for it. We must want it enough and so we are going to do it. I really enjoy reading in my target language. It's still more "learning/studying" then reading... but it's good. 🤩

[@daysandwords]

I just know that one day your Croatian will feel completely natural!

[@Flauschbally]

@@daysandwords thx Lamont. That gives me hope and motivation.

[@noVicda]

There are some youtube videos that explain the main points of popular business/self help books. I watched like 50 of those in one month. I highly recommend anyone to give tha a go. The more conversational style was way more easily digestable for me compared to standard literary prose.

[@heatherhanlon2799]

Today, I found a website that has the Japanese news, but simplified for (native speaker) elementary to middle schoolers. It can be hard to find books in japanese, especially here in ireland lol so I guess that'll be my reading practice for a while

[@karifurai8479]

uh, where can I find this website? I am also learning japanese.

[@parasitius]

It's not 2002 anymore (like when I started learning these languages) ~ there's no excuse. It's not hard to find Japanese books anywhere "in the world", as amazon.jp is accessible by the internet and is more than happy to sell you e-books for their Kindle software or ship them to you (well, I believe so, I've only shipped to the US). just FYI :)

[@karifurai8479]

@@parasitius I'm using a browser extension that highlights words you don't know, and you can click on it and whatnot and instantly make an anki flashcard. basically what I'm trying to say is I'd sorta rather keep it on my browser as best as possible. thanks for the suggestions though

[@wolfzmusic9706]

@@karifurai8479 readlang?

[@karifurai8479]

@@wolfzmusic9706 nope, Migaku Browser Extension.

[@GypsieSeeker]

Reading and listening are different activities, if you pause to look up new vocabulary it will take longer, and in general I don’t think the number of books you complete has any relation to your progress other than there amount of time you put in - so carefully reading one long book should have more benefit than spending less time speed-listening to a kajillion short books. But 3 hours a day is legit if most of it is active learning.

[@daysandwords]

The rule to count as a book in the month was that they had to average 10 hours in audio form (though I did actually READ some of them) so no, I'm not counting a billion short books. In fact I do listen to short books and what I do with them is to add them to my list of books read but I don't number them, so my 24 finished books doesn't count anything short.

[@GuoJing2017]

idk, I read for about 90 minutes a day and for a standard book that's like 200-300 pages it still takes e probably like 2 weeks to go through I think your reading speed is pretty impressive, I read much slower than that. I have always read quite slowly in English, but I think if I applied 90 min a day I could probably do 5 books a month in English, but in Chinese my reading speed is way slower, I can force myself to read faster if I want skim parts and what not but I tend to enjoy it less

[@daysandwords]

Yeah I probably do read a BIT faster than normal. I find that if I read along with the audio book in Swedish, it should be at 1.6x otherwise I'll be outrunning the audio - so that suggests like 200-240 wpm. In Mandarin it's always going to be slower for an English native. (I probably should have mentioned that caveat, but I figure people understand that Swedish is way easier).

[@GuoJing2017]

@@daysandwords That's true I forgot you were doing it with the audio at the same time, if I do it with the audio to help I go way faster but I tend to get more out of the book if I take my time and just read it. Pros and cons I guess.

[@daysandwords]

@@GuoJing2017 I am often not doing it with audio, I was just saying that when I do, I find that slower than about 1.5x will mean I read faster than the audio. But then I also just listen to stuff a lot, with no book. Basically all three combinations are possible.

[@ldahmy]

3:10 well, I'm about to do it this year.

[@prestokrs1]

You listened faster in another language? This guy is amazing.

[@daysandwords]

Haha. Audio books are really slow though, and listening to stuff in Swedish is like all I do, so it's not really surprising that I can now listen a bit faster. In English I can't stand anything less than 2.0x.

[@prestokrs1]

@@daysandwords Well, I still congratulate you because to this day I do not listen to Spanish audio books at full speed. Three years in 😂

[@heathersaxton8118]

Sorry if you don’t appreciate Swedish corrections in the comments, which if that’s the case I totally respect and understand. In that case, just ignore this. There’s quite a big difference in meaning between “titta på” and ”titta”. In this context you’d say “tack för att ni tittade” which is the typical phrase you’d hear after a video, show etc. Titta på refers to watching as opposed to participating. For example, titta på ett slagsmål utan att ingripa. Saying “tack för att ni tittade på” sounds like sarcastically saying “thanks for just watching and not doing anything”

[@u4rialol617]

I think he'll like your help

[@daysandwords]

What happens is, I record maybe 1, 2, 3 or even 4 of each "part" of the video, including the end, and in the edit, I go with my favourite, or the one that fits best in the video. For the very end, I try not to think about what I'm going to say like AT ALL. I just say something, more and more often it is in Swedish but that's not like a choice, that's just what happens. If the Swedish happens to be wrong, it doesn't mean that I didn't know that... it means that it's still my favourite take of the ending (or in this case, I believe it was the ONLY take) so I just left it in. Jag tänkte typ "vem fan bryr sig, ingen kommer att se den här delen i alla fall..." Jag hade så klart fel. Men kort sagt: Jag visste redan om det här men tänkte liksom att det inte spelade nån roll.

[@heathersaxton8118]

@@daysandwords ja jag kände på mig att du egentligen visste det men att man bara råkar säga lite knasigt ibland, samma som när man pratar sitt modersmål. Men kanske kommentaren kan hjälpa andra här som lär sig svenska, idk

[@diogodelacruz]

the number of pages you read a day is the number of books you read a year

[@laurencetaylor5046]

I've been learning French for a year now and I'm starting to feel quite comfortable in most conversations, but that's mainly because the way i have been studying is through conversation practice 3 or 4 times a week on italki. I've only started reading books recently, and predominantly because of these videos. So first of all, thanks! Second of all, I don't speak a word of Swedish but it could be interesting to see you do a video in Swedish soon, if only to see your level of fluency. The amount of time you have put in already is incredible, and whilst I'm proud of the progress i've made i can't shake the feeling my ability is a little inflated by my ego It sounds like your language learning process is entirely taken up by reading now - do you get much opportunity to speak? (is it even as important once you reach the advanced levels?)

[@daysandwords]

I used to speak HEAPS, but these days I focus more on input and it still improves my speaking. I have done some videos in Swedish but yes one should be on the way soon!

[@francescocarta6465]

Well, the cangaroo is the best one

[@anjavictoria23]

Hey, do you have any book recommendations for someone who is at A2/start of B1 level of Swedish?

[@hauskasiili]

If Moomin books aren't too juvenile for your tastes, you could try them. I think they're a little like Winnie the Pooh books, adult readers will find things in them that kids won't.

[@anjavictoria23]

@@hauskasiili not a bad idea, will give it a go, thanks!

[@paulinebelford2645]

Read kids books you enjoyed, translated into Swedish. A lot of folk I know started with Harry Potter. If you are in Sweden (which I am) you can borrow lättläst (easy reading) books from the library. If you're outside Sweden, they cost about 4 times what regular books cost, so it's prohibitively expensive. I just read the lättläst version of Goda Grannar, which was the best one I've read so far. I also read the lättläst version of an Ann Cleeves Shetland series mystery, plus a few less memorable ones. When I was at A2/ B1 level we read the lättläst version of Flicka Försvunnen. I don't recommend starting with something complicated like The Kite Runner (Flyga Drake is the Swedish title). My class jumped straight to that from lättläst novels and it was a real struggle. If you don't have easy access to lättläst titles, I'd recommend sticking to kids books for the first few, then middle grade/ young adult titles before moving on to adult novels.

[@paulinebelford2645]

Also, Olly Richard's Short Stories in Swedish for Beginners. I got both the ebook and the audio book and listened along whilst reading. The language level of the stories get progressively higher, there are chapter summaries, quizzes and word lists, and it takes you to B1 level. Even if the first half is really easy for you, you will probably still learn some new words, and increase your reading speed.

[@anjavictoria23]

@@paulinebelford2645 wow, thanks a lot for this Pauline! I am in Sweden, so I will try to get the lättläst books. if i may know, what level of svenska are you now & how long did it take you? :)

[@writerspen010]

I've seen lots of people recommend reading or listening to books they've already read, like Harry Potter. What are your thoughts on reading new versus familiar material?

[@jankoszuta9835]

How do you source audio books in French? Which is the best app or website?

[@daysandwords]

Honestly I'm not sure. Unfortunately French isn't as abundant in audiobooks as Swedish is, but I know that Storytel has a French section. Whatever you look for, always look for it in French, and try having a French VPN connected when you visit various audiobook sites. I am normally the LAST person to recommend Audible but these French audiobooks happen to be free: stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21122523011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dccs_sbtp-0-6

[@SkudMovieZ]

Where do you get your audiobooks from?

[@daysandwords]

I use Nextory. I know they have stuff in English, Swedish, Finnish and German... and I THINK Danish but I'm not sure. I don't know if they have other languages.

[@frogskocinq]

Just checking the math. I tend to look for books that are about 200pp @ 32/year = 6400p/year/365 = 17pp/day, that is almost doable. The average Swedish Ebook is $20*32 = $640/year. I might read this much in my native language per year, so this is a tall order for those will lower language skills.

[@daysandwords]

The average Swedish ebook is $20-30... What kinda dollars are those?? The average Swedish ebook is about 70kr, which is like $11 US. OK maybe that's not technically the "average" because you might have to take into account new releases and high-profile cookbooks and stuff but basically any novel that isn't brand new is 70kr.

[@frogskocinq]

@@daysandwords I will take that--my bad. Norwegian ebooks are 156kr or $20ish and only 20kr cheaper than paperbacks which they won't ship. Assumed Swedish were the same and did not check. Thanks for the reply. My project is now cheaper!

[@frogskocinq]

@@daysandwords One more update (again, thanks for the insight on cost). Barnes and Noble and Amazon have quite a few books in the price range you mentioned and are my apps of choice. I read a couple of pages and use the 95% rule (how much did I understand) to identify books I can read and see if there are any more in the series or by the same author. This works. Bonus if there is a audio book. Bokus has some really cheap books by the authors I feel like I could read. I have a ticket out to them because I cannot use the app in the US. Hoping to resolve. If so, this is a game change.

[@meperson5864]

Do you know about the app Language Transfer?

[@moisessanchez8099]

2:02 I am still laughing 😂😂😂

[@nathanmcgarvey6613]

Awesome thumbnail

[@vinisuichi1243]

Hey, brother! Reading an audiobook (with subtitles/text) counts as "reading a book"?

[@daysandwords]

Sorry, is that a question? What do you mean by "subtitles"?

[@vinisuichi1243]

Hmm, It's kinda the book written in the screen (reading it while listening the audio) (Still improving my english, sorry)

[@daysandwords]

@@vinisuichi1243 No problems. Honestly I am not the authority on what "counts" as reading. If words in your target language are going through your head and they are NOT accompanied by pictures (like in a film or series), then to me, that's essentially reading.

[@malcido]

Any french novel recommendations for lower intermediate?

[@daysandwords]

It depends on your tolerance for discomfort and not understanding. Lower intermediate makes native content hard but at the same time, French is so comprehensible in written form that you can have a go at almost anything. Basically I'd start with something you've read before. The Harry Potter audiobooks (at least the 4th one) is very nicely read in French.

[@malcido]

Thank you. French is my third foreign language and I'm totally comfortable with feeling a bit lost and stumbling through a bit. Recognizable content is a good suggestion and I'm sure I can get HP in audio. I'm learning French differently than I did Spanish and German and while it's going well, I feel like I get in my own way some by overthinking.

[@peterk.6093]

In my experience French reading is tricky in two ways. First, the casual spoken French has very little to do with the official language. So if you have authors who try to put casual or low class people into their stories, using their authentic language (for example Anna Gavalda), you get a very specific vocabulary that does not repeat in more "official" literature. And believe me, there is a plenty of it, specific dialects, jargons and argots. So for this reason, translations might really be a better option than the originals if you are trying to get into fluent reading. Some authors like to play with words more than the others. At this stage it is maybe better to avoid the literature that is too artistic or poetic. Crime novels seem fine to me. Be it Agatha Christie or contemporary nordic crime novels. Or The Little Prince, that is in general a good book to start with in any language. Second, French has several layers and forms (régistres). Written form differs from the spoken one for example by the use of passé simple instead of passé composé. So before more intensive reading it is good to familiarize yourself with passé simple forms of irregular verbs at least in third person singular. Written form of BD (comic stripes) also uses specific abbreviations of how the words are pronounced, which might also be quite unnecessary for you at this stage - unless you are a big fan of French and Belgian BDs. To sum up, just grab a book, read the first page and you will see if it is doable for you or not. If not, just pick the next book and it can be times more easy to read. Do not choose just by the reviews of the book because some good books can have very specific vocabulary that will kill your motivation for reading.

[@prestokrs1]

I think 60-90 minutes a day is good 😁

[@lipglass]

14 books in the pile

[@daysandwords]

Good job! That pile was really heavy haha.

[@nathanpiazza9644]

Am I the only one who doesn't think listening to a book should be called "reading"?

[@daysandwords]

There's a comment a bit further down from "DiamondKing" that I have replied to about this.

[@prestokrs1]

107 hours in 29 days 😱

[@nathanmcgarvey6613]

Q&A at 40K?

[@daysandwords]

Definitely! I thought about all these "stunts" I could do but yeah I think I'll just do a Q&A haha.

[@nathanmcgarvey6613]

@@daysandwords You're the boss, boss, love your content regardless.

[@explosiveboat5710]

Yeah, yeah Lamont. You can read 10 books in a month, good on you. But can you read 2.5 books a week for a month?

[@js27-a5t]

Not every language is equal. If you are learning a language with a foreign script, that will slow you down. Your numbers don't work for everyone.

[@daysandwords]

Yes, these videos are about my experience. Any video trying to work for "everyone" is going to suck.

[@diamondkingdiamond6289]

You really can’t claim that you ‘read’ 10 books in a month when you actually only listened to them. Reading takes far more effort and mental power compared to listening.

[@hauskasiili]

There really isn't a single unified activity of reading - we read different texts in different ways for different purposes. Reading, say, philosophy like a novel is going to be bad time and reading a novel like scripture could be legitimately unsettling. Reading for language learning is imho about finding what's i) comprehensible at your stage of learning ii) compelling enough that you stay motivated to read and you learn better. (I remember reading that interest genuinely primes the brain to be receptive to learning on fundamental level though take this with a grain of salt as I am not a brain expert, only a brain user.) Decoding visual symbols into language is just a part of the process. Since I actually do find reading with my eyes less challenging than listening to audio books, I don't really do much of the latter. But they're a valuable asset for language learners as a source of audio input, for reasons of time management, as accommodations for disability or simple preference.

[@daysandwords]

I'll grant that for concentration, I do find audiobooks easier, but there's a few things to address here: 1. I actually have mentioned several times in the series that I read and/or listened to. I am not going to spend 3 minutes in every video detailing exactly which books I read, which ones I listened to, and which ones I did both with. People get the idea, and if they don't then they don't. 2. Linguistically (that is, in terms of the advantage for learning a language) you could very easily argue that listening is actually superior. It may be "easier" from a concentration point of view but it is HARDER from a language parsing point of view. "Egentligen undrade hon varför Layla hade gått med på det här..." - I am writing this down from an audiobook I heard when I first started learning Swedish, and let me tell you, it would have been a CRAPLOAD easier to understand it if it had been written in front of me. In the audiobook it sounds like "Ejenlignundradonvarförlaylahdgåmedpådeha..." Having learnt to pass that as if it were written in front of me has made my comprehension of Swedish VERY good, compared to many who have been learning for the same amount of time. If I had listened to them all while also measuring a room to work out where furniture should go (something that requires mental "space", hehe) then I would agree that it's a stretch to say that I read the books. But the most intense activity I ever did while listening was walking, which also happened to help me understand and retain the stories much better. Additionally, I basically had a rule that was: I need to follow what's happening. If I can't, whether it's because of the Swedish or because I was too distracted, then I would go back and READ the last few chapters again, or start a different book (if the book I didn't understand was really boring anyway). I actually "read" them much more intensely and probably followed the stories much more closely than I would have if I had read them in English. Also, I second Piano Playa's point. I am comfortable with saying I read/listened to. Taking in and understanding the story counts just fine.

[@parasitius]

LMFAO, feels like a dude on coke is trying to explain the normal pace of life to me as a common civilian. Math does not add up. Took over 400 hours to read a SINGLE novel in Japanese, and that was after I passed the JLPT 2 test (2nd highest level of the proficiency exam). Yeah I did learn a TON in those 400 hours, but doesn't mean the next novel will go faster than say 300 hours.

[@daysandwords]

Obviously it's going to be harder in a language with characters like kanji or anything completely foreign, but if it's taking 400 hours then it was probably too hard and too long.

[@ChristopherBonis]

Lamont, why are you pushing reading and listening so hard? These are passive activities that hardly improve your ability to actually communicate in your target language. Writing and speaking seem far more useful.

[@daysandwords]

"Seem" being the key word there. I used to believe the very thing you're saying, and this is a very complicated topic but to briefly summarise my argument: It's hard to argue that READING is passive anyway, but passive or not, taking in language input IS absolutely improving your ability to communicate. Speaking (output) can promote activation of certain grammar, words and expressions but the speaking itself is not improving your competence in the language. Your competence comes from having heard things in so many permutations and settings that when you come to express a meaning yourself, you know already what language should be used to express that meaning. Speaking and writing while you have a lower or even a decent (but not great) grasp of the language SEEMS to help you improve, but it's a false indication. I could write something in French here but really I would just be sticking French words and expressions together. It wouldn't help me learn French. What would help me learn French is listening and reading. Until literally 1 year ago I believed what you did... but for the previous 3 years I had just been speaking Swedish HEAPS. And I mean HEAPS. And in the previous 2 years it had barely improved. A year ago I started listening and reading a lot more and my Swedish (spoken and written) is now two three times as good.

[@ChristopherBonis]

@@daysandwords Wow. That was a really thoughtful and intelligent response! Thank you. Guess that’s why you have the channel! Sorry if I sounded hostile, it’s just I feel like I’ve made the mistake in my language learning of taking in too much “comprehensible input” and not practicing enough with another person. And now I regret that. But you’re clearly much further ahead in your (Swedish) journey than I am in mine. I understand your point now.

[@daysandwords]

@@ChristopherBonis Speaking definitely has its benefits, but generally I now agree with Steve Kaufmann: "You can't speak your way to fluency."