The Most Effective Way to Increase Your Vocabulary

[@Thelinguist]

The app I use to learn languages -> bit.ly/3jjQHO9 My 10 FREE secrets to language learning -> www.thelinguist.com Are extensive and intensive reading part of your language learning strategy?

[@dowolo]

I 100% agree. Being able to read a novel without recourse to the dictionary is the stage at which I feel comfortable saying that I "know" the language.

[@biiauchann1736]

主席好

[@goodtogo2876]

Yes but I think one should'nt even necessarily stop using a dictionary, ever. There will ALLWAYS be words that you don't know and there are ALLWAYS new words to learn. Of course they become less and less but still, as long as you read, you improve. Its a journey for life. Of course reading a book on paper feels much nicer after a while, but to read something digitally here and there, where it's very easy to look up certain words is always a great thing to do i think, doesn't matter how good you already are.

[@tbarrelier]

@@goodtogo2876 I'm an educated, native speaker of English and I still have to use a dictionary, rare though it be. If you have a working vocabulary of 50,000 words you probably would never need to use a dictionary, but who has that quantity of words at their disposal except a native, educated speaker?

[@dowolo]

Of course one will always need to look up words in a dictionary for a foreign language, but eventually you pass a certain point where you can still thoroughly enjoy a book without looking every word because you know the vast majority of them.

[@tbarrelier]

@@dowolo Yes, I can do that with French and Spanish, am working on my Italian now!

[@GeneRauXxX]

Summary: 1. do different things with using the language 2. extensive reading ( read a real book) 3. Use lingq (for reading) 4. Read a lot. 5. Import epub,pdf etc text files to lingq and study there.(short demonstration)

[@alexdesouza6980]

Thanks for the summary!

[@кпн-б4г]

legend

[@thetrueoneandonlyladyprinc8038]

I always watch all or most videos with subtitles in Dutch / Norwegian / German etc or other target languages if I am at least intermediate level in the language, whenever subtitles are available, and when there’s no sub available, I use the ‘translate to’ option, even though it is not always 100% accurate, but most words are going to be pretty accurate tho, so it helps reinforcing them in my hern and even learning new words - I am advanced level in Dutch now, and I only learned about 5 new Dutch words from this video (luckily there are Dutch / Norwegian etc subs available) because I knew all the other words, and every time I see them, it reinforces them, which is how an automatic mode in a new language is created, and I think I am soon to develop an automatic Dutch mode, because Dutch is so easy to learn because almost all the words are so pretty (just as pretty as English words) and so distinctive, and one tends to remember prettier and more distinctive words faster (which explains why languages such as Dutch / English / Norwegian etc can be learned very fast) so, it all went super fast for me!

[@DeShark88]

Sorry, but this isn't a great summary. The key takeaway is missing, which was that speaking and listening are good to reinforce words you already know, but if you don't know a word you obviously won't say it and you also won't understand it. Whereas reading forces you and allows you to pause, look up the word, and add it to your vocabulary. You can do this at a surface level, only looking up words that prevent your understanding, or you can do it intensively, whereby you actively study a text sentence by sentence, study it's makeup and structure and then cover it up and re-create it from memory.

[@DeShark88]

All the stuff about lingq, or however it's spelt, was to show you that importing ebooks allows you to very easily use the online dictionary to define words you don't know. Whereas some languages (like Chinese) has awful dictionaries where finding definitions is a slog, online learning permits rapid look-ups which makes learning more fun, which makes learning more likely.

[@soinc9900]

i've been reading the last couple months and I can tell you guys I've acquired many new words and have been using them in my speaking. Reading is so powerful i wish i did that earlier.

[@nadjetmansouri8780]

Please can you tell the name of books which you were used to learn !

[@RemarkablePerson]

​@@nadjetmansouri8780you shouldn't, on internet alot

[@agnesskaoma9599]

I think it's a good idea in my life I have never read a novel how ever if I have one I will set time to be reading it cause it's going to be helpful since I forget easily words when lam speaking with someone

[@てふ-v8m]

@@nadjetmansouri8780 theres a ton of articles in ur target languae on the internet (unless your learning some language thats only spoken in a very rural area in africa or something), u dont really need to buy books to acquire new words!

[@ivanmontes9645]

Hi Steve. Unfortunately, I don't think You'll read this comment, but let me tell you, that I'm a blind English learner man, and I'm telling you that I'm a blind man because I've been using a lot of ebooks for acquiring English and I've been doing that with my iPhone, and you can make it read the book for you. You can choose Siri's voice and I swear you, all of Siri's voices are very realist and natural. It's not an advertisement, because they pay me nothing haha, but as a blind man this brand has really changed my life. Steve I really admire you. I send you my best wishes and my love, from Quilmes Buenos Aires.

[@freelanceservices8704]

That’s awesome!! I love Siri

[@bocarlson6049]

Congratulations Iván! Now there are some great alternatives to Siri that sound even more natural using artificial intelligence. I think Speechify costs money, but there might be some free options too.

[@pauld3327]

Reading AND Listening. Book + Audiobook. Graded readers are a great way to start because they come with the audio recording.

[@mattstone8111]

I read books intensively and watch shows with target language subtitles for all my extensive reading. It's a well-balanced combo.

[@seoul_mate]

I am doing exactly the same. I read novels intensively on Lingq and watch Korean YT videos and TV shows with subtitles. It works well for me and my listening comprehension has improved tremendously as a result.

[@speakrussian6779]

Each new word must be memorized in the context of a sentence - this is the best way to increase vocabulary!

[@burgular_the]

This is the only video you need for “How to Learn a New Language”. I’ve watched your videos for a years now as well as many other polyglot videos and this is by far the best one. I love how you break down the difference between active and passive vocabulary, and explain what each language activity does to improve our language ability. The biggest mistake I think I’ve made for years with my Japanese learning is being afraid to read. Many other Japanese language learners stated that doing so ruins your accent so I refrained from reading except via subtitles on anime. That process is very slow I think with acquiring new vocabulary. Every time I make huge comprehension gains it is through quickly reading a few points from a grammar guide and intensive reading of some novel online with an online dictionary. Thanks for another great video Steve!

[@christianstainazfischer]

What?? Reading is a FANTASTIC way to practice your accent! It’s a perfect opportunity to read out loud and repeat anything you pronounced wrong without worrying about being criticized by a person, and it helps your mouth and muscle memory become more comfortable with those combinations of sounds

[@burgular_the]

@@christianstainazfischer that makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately when you’re first starting out and want to achieve fluency, a lot of folks want your money more than they want to help you. Hence the bad advice I listened to early on

[@christianstainazfischer]

@@burgular_the dang that sucks. But for real when first starting out it's quite hard to come across genuinely helpful advice

[@williamvesey3679]

I'm learning Japanese and the kanji seems like an obstacle to this approach because there is no way to mentally sound out the word unless you know which of potentially several pronunciations the character has in this context. Its even hard to know where words begin and end. I'm very new to japanese and would like to jump in to this method so any advice would help. Books with furigana would be super helpful, but are they common?

[@christianstainazfischer]

@@williamvesey3679 good questions. I’ve personally been using Lingq almost two years now and honestly I’m saying this because I truly believe this app is worth it On the app, you can actually click on words in text your reading and it speaks the word back to you, you can then extend this by highlighting multiple words or characters and not only will it speak the grouping back to you, but it’ll also translate it and you can save it as one Lingq (which is basically just a saved meaning that you can review later). The only thing I don’t really see it helping you with is actually writing out Kanji, and really any other script you don’t already know. So maybe look into an app or book that teaches you stroke by stroke how to write the new characters, if that’s something you’re interested in of course

[@macodamia]

I knew before clicking that this was going to be about reading, talking about both intensive and extensive… But gosh darn it, you’re right! Even most intermediate and advanced courses have students reading WAY too little, especially in terms of novels/full books. Keep up the great work, Steve! 🙌🏻

[@goodtogo2876]

You're telling the absolute truth. Recently i read my first full novel in french and finished. The difference in my ability from before and AFTER is HUGE! I can only imagine what will happen once i've read 10 books! Or 20 and so on. It's a journey for life and reading really feels like the key. You learn the language, you learn the history, you learn the culture, you learn so incredibly much. Ariane - La jeune fille russe. Incredible book and it really was a huge achievement.

[@pantameowmeow.s.1149]

I went from ok to fluent german by reading comic books! Asterix and Oberlix, Tim Tim... PAPER BOOKS, not e-books. I looked up every word I did not know. After I learned that new word, I'd suddenly see it in other texts and hear it all of the time. A university professor recommended picking one article (I read Die Zeit) in the paper and looking up all of the unfamilar words. Good advice.

[@polyglotsjourney]

Reading is the most effective and amazing way to acquire a language. There is no such a joy and sense of the accomplishment like reading a novel of your favourite writer in the target language. 😍 This is probably the most important reason that's pushing me to get to the intermediate level in some of the languages in which I am a total beginner. 😊

[@user-wb1wf6ix6b]

For me it's having conversations with native speakers that gives me the highest feeling of accomplishment.

[@anangelsdiaries]

@@user-wb1wf6ix6b right, this happened to me in Japanese and I was actually able to hold my own.

[@jefflowman3698]

In gaining fluency with Thai there is a great deal of satisfaction to break the code, so to speak. Not only is the meaning understood, but the pronunciation and tone is understood as well. Greatly enjoying the videos!

[@pawliq88pawlica71]

I discovered your channel few years ago. Since that time my English has improved tremendously. At least in my view. Thanks to you I started to listen and read in English on a daily basis, also using LingQ. Today I am a big proponent of using comprehensible input as the best way to acquire words in target language. Currently I can basically read non fiction books but still struggle with novels (excluding graded readers, easy ones and so forth). Your content also keeps me motivated on my way to fluency. Often it happens that you just make my day better. Greetings from Poland! Thank you Steve! You are definitely the best polyglot in the universe.

[@Thelinguist]

Thank. I also want to get back to my Polish learning and visit Poland. I've never been there.

[@pawliq88pawlica71]

@@Thelinguist If you need Polish tutor just let me know😉By the way I know you are interested in history and I teach it in school😉

[@juliuscaesar1573]

@@Thelinguist How to keep remember a lot of words when i even read 1 page especially novel in English I easily get 7-8 words ,so on reading even 20 pages I acquire 150+ words easily. How to keep remember them?

[@ragnarbluechip8795]

This guy is a top G. That point about reading can't be emphasized enough

[@尤七弓]

Dear Steve, this is Apina (& Gordon Li) from Taiwan (previously Vancouver). I'm so surprised and delighted to find your KZbin channel popped up on my screen this morning. I hope you get to see this message eventually. We've been back in Taiwan since 2005. I started my painting business from scratch in Taipei and have been doing well. We still remember your kindness in helping people and enthusiasm for languages. And we remember your bold action of calling in Chinese radio program speaking Cantonese in disagreement with the host. Those good old days! If you ever visit Taipei please do let us known. We would really love to see you and catch up on almost 20 years of missing time. I'm on my 4th attempt to learn French now. Finally made some progress with Duolingo after 500 days. The program helps with reading but falls short on speaking and listening ability. Anyways I'm going to start watching your channel diligently. I know you definitely have so much to offer in this field!

[@Thelinguist]

Hey, great to hear from you. I remember you both fondly. If I get to Taiwan I will definitely look you up. Please do the same if you are back in Vancouver. Cheers.

[@НиколайНовиков-п3у]

Ведущий так красиво говорит по английски ,что я просто в восторге .С переводом на русский я уже этот ролик смотрю десяток раз.

[@nathanlaoshi8074]

Problems with looking up every unknown word: 1) it takes forever, 2) you might "guess" the wrong meaning for words with multiple definitions, and 3) it makes the entire exercise very disjointed. This is where Krashen comes in: if you have a mostly comprehensible text, context will help the student "guess" more accurately than looking up the word, and the flow is maintained. Of course, you have a limited selection that way, and if the content is not compelling enough, motivation to power through is tough to come by. Personally, I prefer a hybrid approach: I read whatever the heck I feel like reading, ignore most of the unknown vocab (many words will become clear enough with time), and only look up words used in at least five instances where I think meaning is being obscured by not knowing them. This technique worked for me in French, German, and Italian, and is working just fine in Spanish. Mandarin is more challenging; I have yet to arrive at a technique for that one.

[@SimplicityForGood]

how to remember vocabulary when you need it? like right now I was writing romantically with a girl I got to know... I could sense clearly what I wanted to say, but as English is not my mother tongue and I am not yet that great of a writer I had to look for other words of the word that first came to mind to find the right atmosphere and romance of our dialogue.. she replied me "I do appreciate Your careful treatment of me as a flower 🌻".... I really like to study vocabulary and I see how important is when you can communicate and touch another person in need of some carrying and well chosen words a late night after a long day of her being in distress having fled from Ukraine... But as a Swede is really a nagging bad habit that I always have to look things up in the moment I need to write fluidly and realise how limited my English vocabulary really is... thanks for a great channel! 👌

[@WilliamCooper-l6f]

Excellent advice. I failed all throughout school. It wasn't until I dropped out and started reading, that I began to actually learn. It worked out so well, that I got a GED and graduated from several trade schools, several colleges and several Universities. Ironically, public school wasn't able to teach me, but I was able to teach myself and publish several books, several songs, three patent inventions and an award 🏆 winning 🎥 movie 🍿 script. Every bit was a struggle and no one helped even a little. But I was resolved to succeed and piss everyone off that said I would never amount to anything. 👅

[@willowtree6657]

You have echoed my experience of public school:) couldn’t read or spell when I left but I could copy type - learnt to read whilst at work, when on to study and gain the teaching qualifications need to work with children with additional needs. My horrible school experience enabled me to learn how not to engage with children. As I am dyslexic their methods were horrendous- well done for all that you have achieved and hope you will continue in your success :) reading changed my life :)

[@Kitiwake]

You'll get plenty of discouragement in life. That has a purpose. It makes us think.

[@IN-pr3lw]

I've just been reading graded reader and just 100 pages in I feel stronger in my vocabulary that I already know. Like I forget common words much less and I've picked up new phrases

[@IN-pr3lw]

Not just good vocabulary but also intrinsicly learning complex grammar!

[@luislopez-zr3tt]

Ok, Steve. Thank you for your suggestion. Really, it is exciting reading and looking up vocabulary in the context. The exact words in different contexts. English is rich in words and synonymous and precise words in paragraphs with diverse objectives. Thanks for your indications.

[@Justusosaa]

I agree with you about the importance of reading. I learnt French by translating three books using my dictionary. Ten years later I had bought 1500 French books. I read about 3 three books in a week. These means about 156 books in a year. So to read all of them takes 9.6 years. Until now I have read many of them twice and some thrice. This is one example of a man’s life. Happy upcoming New Year!

[@saidfarid6382]

Hi dear professor Thank you so much for your help and advice. I really appreciate your job. I wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity. All the best. Take care and have a good time. Your follower from Algeria not Nigeria. تحياتي الحارة إليكم يا حضرة الأستاذ الكريم. ألف شكر لكم على الدروس القيمة التي تقدمونها والتحليل الممتاز والنصائح المفيدة. أتمنى لكم التوفيق والنجاح ودوام الصحة والعافية. ختاما تقبلوا مني كل التقدير والاحترام. متابعكم من الجزائر.

[@1sola1verita]

This is so important! I remember reading Herman Hesse in Italian when I was not yet 17. My Italian was limited at the beginning... but by the end of the book I had learnt SOOOO much!. Without ever looking at a dictionary-- mainly because I was too lazy.

[@jannetteberends8730]

Years ago there was an exchange program between the city I live, in The Netherlands, and Sri Lanka. The man that learned the Sri Lankan Dutch used comic books. He was remarkably successful. So I bought French comic books, to practice my French. Reading in another language on an iPad is so easy nowadays. You just click on the words you don’t know. Nowadays I only read on my iPad because it’s easier to adapt the layout, without the ‘book’ getting heavier.

[@holliswilliams8426]

I find reading interesting modern novels and noting down any words you don't know is very helpful.

[@Ivy_1057]

Thank you! You are absolutely correct! I started learning Spanish a few weeks ago. I will try this app. I haven’t built a large enough vocabulary to read a book, but hope to learn by reading 📖. I’ve learned English the same way. Reading really helps. My first books was Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. At first, I had to look in the dictionary every single word, then I’ve got tired of that and just kept going trying to understand at least main meaning of the paragraphs. By the time the book was finished, I felt as I’ve watched a movie. Really interesting one 😊! When I asked myself what new words I’ve learned, I could recall only one word - “darling”. Sure, I’ve learned a lot. Our mind does amazing things!

[@msmaria5039]

I had started using the Bible. First, I read the English passages and then the Spanish passages. I also wanted Visual Politick in Spanish.

[@choreomaniac]

The Bible is great because there are so many translations and versions and audio recordings. You can find a translation fairly cheaply in virtually any target language, at least the New Testament. And then reading along with the audio is quite powerful. And sometimes there are parallel or interlines versions. The only other book readily available in dozens of languages is Harry Potter. And maybe some Shakespeare.

[@Tehui1974]

I've been learning my target language for 4 years. I started reading after 1 year and although it was initially difficult, I immediately saw the benefits. I started picking up words but I also internalized grammar patterns. With hindsight, I should have started a lot earlier. I'm probably at an advanced level in my reading now.

[@notmyproblem7971]

what is your target language?

[@Tehui1974]

@@notmyproblem7971 Māori (New Zealand)

[@olgabauerova3303]

Hello, Steve!!!🙂 I very much agree with you that reading helps to learn language. That´s how I widened my vocabulary and my English grew and I became very confident in it. Now I am doing the same with Portuguese. Thanks that you have such an interesting channel with inspirational videos. Wishing you all the best!!!

[@M3STERL3G3ND]

Feliz que tenha interesse em aprender nossa língua, será muito bem-vindo ao Brasil!

[@olgabauerova3303]

@@M3STERL3G3ND É muito legal da sua parte, muito obrigada!!!😍

[@juanpabloagudelo630]

Your videos are very efficient, you don't know all knowledge that you apport at this comunity, greetings Steve from Colombia!

[@ivan_3578]

Wow! Thanks for advice. I've never read book intensively. I definitely wanna try this.

[@nytheris2848]

I've recently started playing through Final Fantasy 14 in Japanese and after watching this video I think it will work really well for both kinds of reading. For the main story quests and the more important side content, I can do intensive reading. For extensive reading, there are hundreds of other side quests. They aren't really connected to the main story so it doesn't really matter if there are a lot of things I don't understand.

[@spartan.falbion2761]

That isn't a book though, is it.

[@nytheris2848]

@@spartan.falbion2761 With the amount of dialog in the game, it basically is a book. Multiple books, in fact.

[@Asrashas]

How is your current Japanese? I always have trouble imagining most language learning tips to work out well without an already decent base understanding of japanese. Especially due to Kanji. Steve could read that sentence even if he didn't know a word or two. And he could pronounce it. Which is wholly impossible with kanji. If you don't know it, you can't read it. You can't just not understand it, as is the case with other Latin script languages, you can't even attempt to read it. And these tips, as far as I've seen, exclusively showcase languages that us Latin script. Like, I can read Gakkou, but no Japanese novel, newspaper or manga will print it like that. Instead I'll see 学校 which I can't attempt to sort into anything. I can't associate a sound with it, which I think is important in an exercise as shown in the video. If you read, you should be able to verbalize the words, even if you don't understand them. That helps the learning process, basically creating multi-sensory input. Sorry for the probably incoherent rant. Maybe I should have taken more time to refine it. Hope you can still get a glimpse of what I mean. Anyways, I wish you luck and more success than I had so far.

[@nytheris2848]

@@Asrashas Currently I'd say I'm at a low intermediate level in Japanese. My vocab is lacking quite a bit but I know at least 500 kanji, probably closer to 800 or something (I don't really keep track). The radicals that make up a kanji can give a clue to its meaning and/or its reading. 泳 (swim), 注 (pour) and 波 (wave) all have meanings related to water, and all have氵at the side, which is a form of the radical for water. The kanji 亡 can be read as ぼう (bou). 望, 忙 and 忘 all contain 亡 as one their radicals and have ぼう as one of their readings. So once you know a decent amount of kanji, it becomes a lot easier to pick others up because of this. There have been times where a word had a kanji I didn't know, but I was able to work out the kanji reading based on the radicals. Then when I put together the reading of the whole word, I realised I already knew it, but it was a word I had only heard spoken and never seen written down. So yes, you definitely need more knowledge for this in Japanese compared to some other languages, but it's maybe not as bad as you think. I think a few hundred kanji would be a good starting point to jump into reading. And you only need to learn the meanings, since it's much better to learn the kanji readings by just learning the words they're used in.

[@joedwyer3297]

​@@spartan.falbion2761the words need not be printed in a book to be able to be read😅 There are plenty of games with absolute walls of text, Disco Elysium for example helped massively for me. I once heard someone say "its the best videogame ive ever read"😂

[@liv4nation781]

I use the same technique, 1st I read it on iPad and mark the words to understand the meaning and pronunciation, later if I love the book I re-read it in paperback.

[@vivianapons4388]

reading is great for vocabulary , It's true

[@GandalfTheWise0002]

I've found that combination of intensive and extensive reading effective as well. In addition, I do something partway in between I think of as targeted reading. If there is a particular aspect of the language that is frustrating me when I run across it, I target it each time I encounter it until it is not frustrating. The first time I tried it, I had hit a plateau in Ancient Greek in my extensive reading. I had improved quite a bit, but just seemed to not get any better. Intensive reading wasn't effectively fixing this either. It was an issue of internalizing grammar to the point it was automatic. I don't remember why, but I decided to fix one problem at a time. The first obvious problem was that I hadn't internalized verb endings of the indicative cases to the point they were completely automatic. To fix this, during extensive reading, I paused at each indicative (and subjunctive verb), thought about it intentionally for a bit, then picked up again with extensive reading at the beginning of that sentence. I found that quick emphasis on a particular aspect of the language helped internalize it. Within a few days, the verb endings were not much of a problem so I stopped focusing on them. I've found that this targeting of the aspect of grammar that is most annoying and frustrating applies the Pareto Principle to clearing out the worst stumbling blocks to comfortable extensive reading. I don't stay on one aspect until I have it perfect, but rather until it's not a noticeable impediment to smooth extensive reading. This is something that is much like what using parallel texts, interlinears, or computer click-for-definition functions is for vocabulary when extended reading, except it's for grammar. It's a momentary distraction to the reading, but gives a quick review on what is needed. I found targeted reading a great addition to both intensive and extensive reading. It's a minor temporary slowdown to extended reading that gives a permanent bump up in skills. I've found that this targeting usually clears most stumbling blocks in a few days or at most a week without turning all my reading time into intensive reading.

[@ekaterina9181]

Thank you so much, Steve! Your videos are extremely motivating

[@annettemcnabb3033]

I always enjoy your insight, Steve! I also wanted to thank you for suggesting LingQ for a tutor even though I had tried in the past this time I found a fantastic tutor!

[@s3b4s38]

The best way for acquire more vocabulary! Even if i forget everything, i´m taking action. Nice recommendation🔑

[@mar79amp]

You always have a valuable tip to improve learning experience, Steve , thanks a lot!

[@donaldliu]

Thanks for your valuable sharing to inspire the people in the world for a better view and language learning...Best Regards, Donald at Suzhou, China

[@carloseduardonaranjosuarez5917]

Thank you very much, Steve

[@j4v3l73]

Reading could be very difficult in the beginning. I read few paragraphs and then gave up. Cause.. I didn't get what sentences meant. Sometimes even if I knew almost every word. But listening to audiobook same time while reading text helped me a lot. I did that and after few chapters I started to read without help of audiobook. It's like children learning to ride bicycle with a hard of a parent. So now I get this skill to read book even without knowing some words. While reading in foreign language. Don't give too much attention on unknown words, take a meaning of whole sentence or even a paragraph

[@videosinfrench9928]

Hi Steve, Thanks for the videos. I do want to say one thing however. It is quite obvious that you have a phenomenal memory and a gift from the universe of a brain/mind that is quite rare among humans. You must have been wired at birth to have a gift to pick up languages which most of us do not have. I wish we did but we don't.

[@aixzi_official]

you can google lends a paper book page that you read - copy text - paste in a txt file and importe

[@jpknijff]

Thank you for another inspirational talk! Reading cool stuff in a new language is so much fun. Almost two years ago, I decided to read all the books in a particular series in a particular language. Each book in the series is great (some are fantastic), but it's especially nice to notice that every new book is a little easier to read. I'm almost at the end of the series and reading is practically effortless now, whereas at the beginning, I had to re-read and think a lot (looking up words I've avoided from the outset). So in a way, I want to read the whole series again!

[@Rhand007]

Trying to learn Polish, reading children's books. Way more difficult than it is implied here to improve my vocab by just reading the books. There's such a wide variety of possibilities in terms of translation of certain words. And yes, I can UNDERSTAND what is being said. Because in the end it does not matter for the story if they say word x word y or word z, as long as they are in the same ballpark and mean roughly the same. But if you want to start using that word yourself in conversations, it's a bit more important that you use it the right way. So I read the book, write down all words that I don't understand, read the book again, make a guess for their meaning and then look them up and create a flashcard. Few days later I read the book one more time and see if this time I understand everything. Passively picking up vocab is bullsh*t, and I speak from experience. I've been living for 10 years in Poland, am married to a Polish wife, and yet speak barely better than A2 level.

[@sahilhussain8801]

Great thanks 🙏 Love from 🇮🇳

[@EllaOstrova]

Hi Steve! I adore your videos! Good luck!

[@eucalyptus-rw5qe]

It encourages me a lot when I found I can read Harry Potter after I had already learnt 10000+ words in my senior high school. The number of words is abstract but the ability of reading an English book is palpable🎉

[@caute-x5e]

Bravo Steve pour votre accent français. C'est à s'y méprendre. Vous pourriez être un espion.😄 Vos conseils sont précieux et judicieux pour élargir son vocabulaire. J'ai remarqué que quand je lisais Jane Austen en anglais, le vocabulaire était très daté mais c'est un style si agréable. J'ai connu une jeune étudiante américaine qui lisait Marcel Proust en français. Ce n'est pas facile comme lecture, mais elle me disait qu'elle appréciait beaucoup la poésie du style de cet auteur. C'est tellement magique! Merci pour vos vidéos.😀

[@Thelinguist]

Merci. Et merci pour la France où j'ai passé trois ans merveilleux comme étudiant dans les années 60.

[@caute-x5e]

On aurait pu se croiser. J'étais déjà là dans les années 60. Et mon père travaillait comme mécanicien sur la base américaine (OTAN) de Chambley, près de Metz (Lorraine). @@Thelinguist

[@mintee8638]

One weird tip that I find helps learn new vocab fast is ask if it is positive or negative, and remember that. I believe when I tested it, I recalled 60% (for new English words). It was the best out of I think 12 methods I tried, and is among the fastest.

[@danubiodeoliveira6108]

Thank you for your tips, Steve! Your passion on language learning has inspired me and a legion of people. A question which always takes me is how do you manage to switch from one language to another without messing up ...

[@Thelinguist]

It just happens, more easily with some languages than with others.

[@paologomez4114]

Eres el mejor,gracias por tus consejos

[@usamahirsi6082]

Thanks for your assistance

[@LEARNJAPANESEWITHZEESHAN]

Very useful informative video. Thanks alot sir.

[@susanaaparecidaferreira6403]

Thank you so much Steve!!

[@4himsanctified]

Biblia Bilingue... really broadened my vocab. So many cognates that just pop out.

[@dannymeyer1296]

Could anyone explain to me what Steve was talking about between 4:18 ~ 4:43?

[@johnlammergeier2890]

how about Chinese, how to best handle that one, I bloody hate that pinyin, so any advice for Chinese reading would be great. Thank you sir for your great videos and work

[@figgettit]

i love this dude. i LOVE. this dude.

[@tripp8833]

Thanks steve

[@paulwalther5237]

I love reading because you can pick anything of any level and go nuts. When you rely on speaking the person you’re talking to will always grade their language to accommodate you where appropriate. At least that was my experience in Japan. I even got mad at them for not speaking naturally like they do to other Japanese people but obviously that’s silly.

[@raditicat]

don't tell them you are mad, or they will block you from their lives.

[@paulwalther5237]

@@raditicat Aside from saying I think they are speaking easy Japanese to me a little I didn't do anything. I don't think they held it against me.

[@raditicat]

@@paulwalther5237 just keep in mind that all japanese have a lot of faces and for them thats a good thing. Good luck...

[@centurybeta2112]

Thank you! This is really great advice and gives me more motivation 👍

[@sohrabmoafizad5436]

سپاس فراوان

[@basswithmax]

I love reading and look forward to doing it extensively in my target language (Japanese) but I’ve heard from many sources that reading a lot without doing a lot of listening upfront can harm your pronunciation. With Japanese this particularly important because if you develop bad habits with regard to pitch accent, as well as general pronunciation, it will be difficult to correct later on. Also, reading tends to be easier than listening, so there will be a comprehension gap unless you do a lot more listening than reading. I’m currently focusing on doing intensive listening for a year before I really jump into reading. I’d be curious to hear others’ thoughts on this.

[@tedc9682]

Vary intensive and extensive. Good idea. Thank you.

[@assadullahamiry]

good method, thank you

[@mohamadalipourtaheri7818]

Thank you for useful advice. In the Persian book in this video, in 3rd line, the word تالشی is not correct. The correct word is تلاشی

[@atfernando1]

The only thing LingQ lack is awareness for grammar words. Other than that, it is a great way to read and learn vocabualry at the same time.

[@Thelinguist]

Depends on the language and the dictionary you select.

[@hukes]

I always tell my students that reading novels is better than reading non-narrative texts, because in novels they'll find dialogues.

[@SkyAaronBrink]

hi Steve! thank you for sharing all that wonderful knowledge with us！I tried to click on the links a few times. but it fails to open i wonder why?

[@mannnanda-io7qi]

Excellent

[@AubreyElmostakshefa]

Are you able to import novels into LingQ? I'm reading some short "learner" books in addition to the stories in LingQ, but certainly reading a "real" book designed for natives would be exciting! *edited to add* I wasn't patient enough. You talked about being able to import an eBook into LingQ. This is fantastic. I'll have to see if I can do this with one of the Egyptian Arabic eBooks that I have.

[@giovanileite7118]

Reading fiction is much more challenging than non-fiction for me... A lot of words that I know in my mother language by instinct are pretty hard to understand in other languages

[@sergioflorentinodasilva4757]

Thanks

[@Helliconia54]

how about watching a movie, or tv show, in your target language WITH sub titles in that language?

[@ieltswithmrdan6724]

Thanks for your useful tips.

[@vibrantly50]

Do you offer European Portuguese yet on LingQ?!

[@retireditguy9493]

Some time ago you mentioned you were working on Vietnamese in LingQ. I know the release date was delayed. Is there any update?

[@MaxQiao]

Hello Mr. Kaufmann. Is it ok to use your videos for non-profit occasions other than KZbin?

[@Thelinguist]

Please feel free to use my videos. They are in the public domain.

[@MaxQiao]

@@Thelinguist Thank you sir.

[@EnglishStorywithBelladonna]

Hello Steve

[@melidali1]

Does anyone have an e-book in Spanish that is good for the beginner??

[@hectorpena8556]

Mister Steve tengo una pregunta. Usted tiene algún método de aprender inglés en poco tiempo???

[@Plecostumus]

By the way L'Événement is a french newspaper. Unfortunately, LingQ doesn't recognize the proper names...

[@essexitagermeng5504]

I think the reason why people struggle to understand the spoken language despite doing a lot of reading is because they read with the wrong pronunciation, i.e. moulded upon their native language. I know a lot of people who have this problem. They might be excellent at writing and grammar, often better than native people, but they speak hence read with a thick accent and can’t understand the words they know if those are uttered by native speakers

[@atarax232323]

I can read a novel in English but I can't understand oral english well. I think I pronounce words wrongly ..

[@ClaudioPereiradeMelo-y9m]

Depends you need to be in the environment of the vova

[@alisekulu7255]

Hi! I am 57 years old and retired. My native language is Turkish. I have already little English but i desire to enhenge it. I have started listening your videos for incresing my compheration level and learning useful knowledges about imorove my second language. My listenning takes about 30-60 minutes everday. I have writen a book in Turkish. I try to translate it in Englih. I establish sentences with my words and than ask chatgpt to correct my mistakes. Than i listen the due a readining program in voice with corrected situation my pharagraps. I do these everyday and if i can find opportunaty containius to listen. Will you please criticize my studing way method?

[@martabak360]

Fist time I learnt english I only knew "yes" and "no" then increased a bit then confused..

[@rayvoith1344]

It's not clear what sites you are using to get that ability to highlight words. Do I need an app, or are you just going to Gutenberg to find books? It appears you got to Gutenberg by googling the name of a book. Where would I go to find a bunch of books to read with the word selection built in?

[@jdelorenzod2725]

But can you jump into reading when you’re only a beginner in the language? For instance I just started learning Turkish a few months ago and I would be totally lost if I read a full blown novel in Turkish. Don’t you need a base knowledge first?

[@rayanehg6771]

Go for children books and grow from there

[@sajza1728]

Hi please could you explain or show how to import a csv file as vocabulary into LingQ? It only says I need to label columns as this snd that, but it’s a bit unclear. I’d appreciate you if you could show us how to do it exactly. Many thanks.

[@Thelinguist]

I've never done this but will try to find out and get back to you.

[@Thelinguist]

Please refer to this. lingq.wixanswers.com/kb/en/article/how-do-i-import-vocabulary-into-lingq

[@sajza1728]

@@Thelinguist thanks so much.

[@user-wb1wf6ix6b]

First I want to thank you for the video, but I disagree with the point that listening only improves your passive vocabulary. I learn a lot of new vocabulary by listening and finding the meaning of the words through the context.

[@RandomGuy4964]

Hi Steve, do you think there is a downside to learning through translations? Like you might correctly learn the literal meaning of a word but confuse its connotation or nuance with the English version. While if you learn purely through comprehensible input, the nuance and connotation of the foreign word in the foreign language will always be part of how you understand it. -Daniel

[@Thelinguist]

I use English for dictionary meanings. Only after seeing the word often do I get a good sense of what it means.

[@lightfeather7948]

If only reading was as easy with japanese as it was with english. Sucks that not every book has furigana

[@PabulDooloop]

I was interested in watching this but gave up after the second advert

[@fakenot1223]

Sir thanks!