How to start reading in a foreign language (even as a beginner) 

In brief: In this video, the speaker shares her experience and approach to reading in foreign languages. She has read over 100 books in English, 30 in Spanish, a few in Italian and Korean, and has developed a system that works well for her. She discusses intensive and extensive reading methods, her preferred approach, devices and apps she uses, and advice on reading in foreign languages. Intensive reading involves reading slowly and carefully, looking up unknown grammar and vocabulary, and taking notes. It's recommended for beginners or shorter texts. Extensive reading means reading widely and for pleasure without looking up every single unknown word. It's recommended for texts slightly above one's level. The speaker prefers extensive reading for long-form content like books and intensive reading for shorter content like articles or graded readers. She finds physical books inconvenient for reading in her target languages, instead using tablets or e-readers like the Kindle. She recommends Link, an app for language learners, which allows users to import content and look up words or phrases while reading. Tablets are good for reading, but not ideal for long periods due to eye strain. E-readers like the Kindle are better for the eyes, and Android e-readers allow for app installations. The speaker offers a general guideline for reading materials, from easy to hard: short texts from textbooks, graded readers, articles or social media posts, graphic novels, children's books, non-fiction, contemporary fiction, and classics. However, this should be adjusted based on individual needs and interests. Some common advice about reading in foreign languages may not work for everyone. For example, the speaker doesn't find reading children's books as helpful as others might suggest, as she prefers reading content that is relevant and interesting to her age group. The speaker in the video suggests being picky when choosing books in a foreign language, focusing on children's books for older kids and ensuring the topic and vocabulary are relevant. She recommends trying graded readers that are written specifically for language learners and categorized by difficulty. The speaker also shares that while many people suggest reading familiar books in the foreign language, it doesn't work well for her because she enjoys mysteries and plot twists. She advises against starting with classic literature, as it may be too difficult for beginners. Being flexible, trying different formats, genres, and media, and not giving up after one bad experience are key to finding the right reading materials in a foreign language.

I am actually reading The Time Traveler's Wife in Spanish in GoodNotes right now. I highlight the words I don't know and put the meaning and notes in comments. I am a rereader naturally so it's nice to have a fresh read of it in Spanish. When I get to that point I plan to read in in Russian and Korean. All of your advice was very good and I plan to implement them as I go along. Thanks!

I went for the intensive approach for reading printed books in German. I started with Christiane F (Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo) and went on to die Unendliche Geschichte. I get a notebook and divide the pages in half (2 columns) then I write down the page number and list every word I'm not 100% sure of in roughly the order it appears in. Then I write down the meaning of the word in context. It doesn't matter if I have to list the same word dozens of times because I'm not trying to learn vocabulary, just understand it. Then I have a full glossary of the book and can read a chapter at a time understanding everything. Many words I almost didn't bother listing turned out to mean something entirely different to what I'd assumed. German uses a lot of prefixes and suffixes so words that look similar aren't always close in meaning. Some people say they don't like children's books because there's too much descriptive vocabulary that a second language speaker wouldn't use. But I do want to know all the words a ten year old child knows. My criticism of the language instruction I got at school was that we were encouraged to talk about international politics, nuclear disarmament, the environment and stuff like that but if someone talked about a kitten chasing a ball of wool and tangling thread around the table legs, I wouldn't have understood that. And yet we could talk about acid rain, nitrate pollution, missiles, warheads and the Berlin Wall no problem at all!

I’m definitely a rereader. I have read most of Agatha Christie’s mysteries multiple times. Knowing the twist makes me appreciate how well the author crafted the clues and misdirects.

Great video! No, your accent in English is amazing, sounding very standard American, your foreign tones almost imperceptible, and someone could easily believe you're from the Mid West. Your L is slightly more velar (less palatal) than most Americans, if you want to tweak it even further, but no need, as your English is truly outstanding, no kidding. Well done!

Your tips are great and I love the aesthetic of your books and notes. You seem to be very creative.

Great video! I think reading definitely helps with learning a language and advancing your vocabulary. I read a lot growing up and it definitely helped with my writing and speaking; writing is my strongest subject and I always scored highest in that area.

Your videos are excellent!! I’m so glad I found you!! ❤ 💕🇫🇷🇪🇸🇹🇷

I've been using LingQ for my arabic studies. Total game changer. Thanks for the reading tips 😊

Overall, I really liked your video, great tips! I started English back in the day, with graded readers, and it really helped a lot. I would also like to add, that for English and Dutch (I'm already fluent) I read many books that I've read already in my mother tongue. It helped me with understanding and picking up vocabulary. Also, since I started reading in foreign languages, I think I prefer non-fiction, for the reasons you've mentioned in your video. However, now that I'm on a more advanced level in some of my languages, I can enjoy different genres too. Currently I have a series of Short stories in Japanese and Korean (These are my newest languages). They have after every story a vocab/expressions list with the indicated new vocabulary and some questions about the story, so you can check your understanding. What I also like, that each story is 2-4 pages, but there is a half a page summary of all of them, and an English translation if needed. I try not to use the English translation, but it is a good back up, if a sentence really does not make sense. These books are really basic level, but it really helps me to stay motivated with my reading and learning.

Love the video ❤ Keep up the good work!

You did a FANTASTIC job of covering the techniques and going over some common issues beginners may face. I also like the idea of ADAPTING THE ADVICE OF SOMEONE ELSE TO FIT YOU. For example, I too like mysteries BUT I'm ok with reading THE SAME MYSTERY over again, especially if there is LANGUAGE (words or grammar) that I don't know. FOR ME, it adds to the overall meaning of the story. Great job! ; )

Je trouve cette video incroyable. Merci a toi. J'ai deja adopte plusieurs de tes strategies mais cela m'a pris tant d'annees a les developpes.

I think you are one of the language enthusiasts whom I can relate the most. I don't usually take notes because I never review them, and instead, like you've mentioned, let the natural repetitive exposure build up my skills. Of course, I love reading, and LingQ has been my savior because I use it for 4 languages I'm studying; I sometimes import an entire e-book when the book is quite challenging. I also use a Kindle device and a tablet, depending on what I'm reading or the language. Children books are not necessarily easy, and I have a problem when people recommend Little Prince as a beginner level book. Graded readers are much much better option or maybe young-adult novels. Well, in the end, if you like it, whatever book is fine, but I would not recommend Cien años de aoledad, either, hahahaha. I also use Google Lens for translation and reading the book aloud.

Thanks for this video! I also tried reading 위저드 베이커리 because it's young adult and found it to be actually really hard even though I have quite a high fluency in Korean- so I agree with you about children's books. I'm going to try a non-fiction book because I think the vocabulary will be much for familiar and relevant

I'm all about extensive reading. I read a lot!! Around 6 books a month I'm my target language which is English (I'm Italian and I live in Italy). I can understand (almost) everything going on in a novel but to be completely honest I just read. I'm not learning new things... When I come across an unknown word or a sentence I don't look at the meaning on the dictionary... I'm so eager to know about the story that I literally can't stop reading to look up the meaning of words I don't know... I guess I've reached that point where I can understand but struggling to speak... I'm stuck in a rut I'd say... It's discouraging reading so much, understanding almost everything but can't memorize new words/expressions...

Great vid! 👍

Awesome video and I learned a lot. Especially about grades of reading, which does not intuitively make sense, but hearing about it really shines a clear light. For example, I didn’t really understand why non-fiction seemed easier than the classics of Spanish. But you are 100% right!!!

You (and all those pretty books😅) really motivate me to level up my language learning❤❤ Thank you!

Thank you! I love all the info you gave! Thank you!

Very informative, thank you!

Good morning, Tanya. Thanks for your advices. I've never read usual books in English before but I have a C1 level in English (reading & listening) and between B1-B2 (writing & speaking). It seems to me that books can widely expand your vocabulary, plus when you're reading you revise all the words you'd already learnt before and that's really nice ("Forgetting curve"). After watching your video I decided to start reading books. So, I need to find the PDF of Saburo Sakai - Samurai :) Have a great day! Best wishes, Anton.

you give us excelents advices. Thanks

it's interesting to see how different methods work for different people! although I also learn languages mainly to read, I'm pretty much the opposite to you in that I intensively read EVERYTHING, at all skill levels. I've tried extensive reading but it's neither enjoyable nor effective for me :( I agree with you about children's books. I enjoy them - mostly due to nostalgia! - but ones for younger children often use quite archaic/fairy tale-y language which can be both difficult to learn and not too useful in daily life. I also love graded readers! overall they're probably my favourite type of language resource :D and I really like that you remind people to be flexible. everyone's learning journey is different!

Reading on a Kindle is super practical. You can highlight the words you don't know and it will give you a short definition from the (wherever language) dictionary you have installed on your device.

I'm impressed by how many books you've read in different languages, you've probably read more books in Spanish than have and it's my native language, It shows how reading helped you become so good at English Currently, I'm learning Japanese, and I'm reading my 4th book, I probably look up more than 10 words per page but thanks to my Kindle It doesn't take much time. I also like reading manga on paper, but having to look words up on my phone breaks my immersion.

This was very helpful. Thank you

I got a kindle when i was learning french many years back and indeed it's the most useful purchase i made :) I use reverso too to translate netflix subtitles

I want to read nonfiction histories and biographies in French and German. My current method is to spend an hour reading French on one day, German the next day, and continue alternating. I'm reading mostly online news articles on a variety of topics in order to broaden my grasp of vocabulary. I hope eventually to be able to read books in French and German, and Spanish as well. Thank you for the videos, they inspire me to never surrender.

Great video! I feel like the hurdle to get started in reading is ridiculously high… every option is bad for one reason or another 😂 edit - also that onyx ereader is so cool, I had no idea such a thing existed! I will definitely be keeping that in mind in the future

Great video!

Just downloaded Pocket. Now I can streamline Keep. Thanks for the mention 👍🏼

Your video is amazing; I liked it

Woah, your handwriting is so beautiful

It's one of the best videos about reading in foreign language. I'm reading in Swedish and I read only on Kindle, I tried reading paper books but after 3 of those I felt like I loose concentration because my pencil was gone, my hand hurts or I feel bad about destroing book while making notes. Now I use only Kindle, I mark words and sometimes use a translation. my narive language is Polish so unfortunatelly many words which I don't understand in Swedish I dont understand in English as well. About children's books, You are totally right, I tried once series about children detectives and it was terrible. One of the easiest books I read in Swedish is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, really easy vocabulary and almost no grammar:D I have one tip - don't read original books, like in Swedish by Frederick Backman, I have 2 of his books and one by Haning Mankel (detective Wallander series) and it id much harder than translations.

trying theatre might be a good idea if someone is struggling, it has some technical words that might be hard in the beginning but then it's basically just dialogue

Harking on her point about ignoring what's working just because you've heard it doesn't work, I actually had the exact opposite effect with books. The e-books I've downloaded have always failed to grab my attention so much I just don't bother with them anymore, but real books grab my attention enough that my once empty bookshelf is actually becoming pretty full. (If you can count 20 books as full, but that's 20 more books than I owned before.)

I'm English, been living in the Czech Republic for about 8 years. I suffer greatly from not being able to read books. Its a shame as i can read them, but my brain just will not remember what I've read, and completely incapable of conjuring up images of the story in my head. People tell me its ADHD, because i can only manage stuff by physically doing it. I can speak some Czech quite well, with pronunciation etc... only problem is.... everything I've learned so far is simply because i had to!! To survive pretty much, i listened whilst in the pubs having a beer and it stuck lol . My issue is, is i dont onow how to read Czech still, and every time i try its a nightmare as all the words i'm used to are spoken in friends form. Now the words change dramatically when reading a book, words i've never even seen before. And this is not the language to start guessing words in. And google translate is diabolical in translating Czech to English. Any ideas? 😂

When I learn a new language I struggle only with writing and speaking. Thnx for this vd ❤❤❤❤❤

I'm turkish, ı'm fluent in english and ı try to learn spanish and korean. Finding your video seems like something ı needed to.

I really like to read and I want to learn more about a new language through the books 📚

C'est exactement ce qu'il me faut. Merci.

Whenever I take notes, I focus more on the task of taking notes than on the content of the notes themselves and in the end I just never look at them either, notes tend to help me sort my thoughts out and I always keep those in case I need them but I found that whenever I need them it's easier for me to rewrite them than re reading them 🤷

Thanks for the video! Personally I'm on the other end of the spectrum, I read intensively, I look up every word I don't know, and I re-read the texts until I can read them fluently. But that's just a strategy that works for me. The tablet approach might not work as well with some languages. When I was learning french, I absolutely preferred reading on my phone for the reasons you mentioned. Now I'm learning finnish and I'm at a point where grammar isn't a problem but vocabulary is. The problem is that my iphone dictionary just doesn't give me anything for finnish words. And even if it has a finnish dictionary, it usually fails to recognize any conjugated words. I hope this changes soon. The approach I've found more useful is to have a physical copy and to take a picture with the google translate app. When I encounter a word or a phrase that I don't understand, I can highlight it and the translate app will automatically translate only that part. I can easily make my selection bigger and it will update automatically. Then I also have a dictionary website I have on my phone browser that I use all the time while reading.

Wow I had no idea you could do that kind of stuff with the tablet That's way cool the linq stuff kinda like lingopie

I love the whole video but my heart melted when I saw Heartstopper 🥰

Awesome. I've subscribed.

I think I have not yet commented here, sorry if I'm repeating myself: There's a wonderful German publishing company specializing in graded readers. The company is called Circon Verlag. There are mainly graded readers for foreigners learning German and for Germans learning other languages. So, most of the books will have any vocabulary translations and explanations in German. But the great thing about them is that this company really, really tries to move away from boring graded readers and to make it more fun. I've enjoyed their graded crime stories in several languages. Personally, I find them so well made that I would recommend to give them a try even if don't speak any German and thus won't benefit from the additional information. There is also an audio version available for some of the stories. If you buy the audio version, I think that you will automatically also get the pdf version of the story.

cien años de soledad for a beginner is crazy ahahaha; it can be hard even for spanish speakers lol

I really think this is helpful... almost validating advice? I have been trying so hard to keep up with Wanikani for Japanese and I just cannot keep the words in my head, but i've just read through 2 full volumes of Yotubato! ( a manga, pretty easy, but still a native manga for natives) I have to find a middle ground though because I'm going to be trying for the N3 in December and tests are..... testing if you've done the traditional study. DaysofFrenchandSweedish (youtuber) does things like watch the same movie 50 times in your target language, and read a book along with the native audio book, and one time he did the top 1000 most common words in Spanish in 1 day on Anki (he's a youtuber, it was for a video.) he said that even though he never specifically studied any of those words from the deck again, he recognizes them in the wild. which was helpful. I've been pondering trying some of these cause SRS is abysmally boring, and no matter how hard I try I never remember them and just make wild guesses till I get something right.

I love your videos! You always have the best language tech tips for sure. May I ask which model of the onyx boox you have? And if you are satisfied with it displaying Lingq? What is your favorite device to be on Lingq, is it the ereader? Lots of love from Germany Luisa

Where do you buy your books? Especially the graded one

Beautiful video, congratulations and keep going with the italia :) Simone

taking notes is not about looking things up later. it's just like in school, we write things down to create an additional way of committing new knowledge to the back of your skull. so instead of just passive consumption, you'd also get an active element of using a language even if it's on a smaller scale.

you are the goat 🐐💯

Your comment about reading children's books made me laugh a bit. I'm encountering similar experiences. I bought a bunch of children's books and i had actually difficulties understanding some of the language and some of the setup of the sentences, and only after I checked with a native I found out that most of the book was setup in sort of rhyme which put words in different parts of the sentences that you usually would do in real conversations, and used irregular words just to have a nicer ring to it in the story, but are pretty much not used at all in real life.

But how do you find the pdf of the books you want in order to transfer it to Goodnotes?

Hi, really great video. Can I ask what the book at 2:38 is? Thanks 😊

Where do you get books for different languages? Amazon only suggests English for me.

I always try to use some vocab-only solution with an SRS-ish system (usually duolingo or Anki or WaniKani (in Japanese)) because going straight into literature makes it overwhelming, and if I choose something that's too simple I just get as bored as with Anki so...

Thank you Tanya for the inspiring video. Can you tell me where to find novels written in Italian that can be imported into LingQ? Meaning, I can’t import ebooks purchased on Amazon. Thanks

I almost never review notes. But I find it helps to take them anyway.

Yo soy nativa hispanohablante y aún así me cuesta leer cien años de soledad, el lenguaje es muy muy avanzado, la trama es pesada y hay muchos recursos literarios que terminan siendo cosas que nadie dice en la vida real. El libro es hermosísimo, pero definitivamente no recomiendo leerlo a menos que estén en un nivel súper avanzado de español 🥹 Por otro lado, me encantó ❤❤❤ Muchísimas gracias por los consejos

Random question, 10:55 where did you get your comforter?? It’s so cute!! 😍

hello tanya i almost understand every thing in english but i don't know much about writting and speaking can you help me how to do this.

Wow. You are like me. Awesome :)

How do you import books to LingQ? I’ve tried it on my iPhone but it kept saying error

My native language is Arabic now I'm reading books in English at first i Started with Wattpad and ao3 stories bc the language used there is easier now I'm planning on reading in french 😊

Android e reader is a good idea mainly for the eye friendly screen. Which Boox do you have?

Hi, thank you for your comprehensive video. As I´m learning spanish too (Level A2/B1 probably), do you have any (fiction) book recommendations. I am desperate to find one to start with :) Thank youu!

Where did you find the physical copies of 슬프게도 이게 내 인생? I can only find the webtoon and can't access it

What book is she using at 0:44-0:45?

Just picked up 2 middle-grade books from the library, one Spanish and one German. The Spanish one is scaring me because I’m not even A2 yet

Da italiana Ti raccomando di leggere favole al telefono di Gianni Rodari o il sentiero dei nidi di ragno di calvino!

Where did you get your physical copies of 슬프게도이게내인생? It might just be me not knowing any Korean, but I can't for the life of me find it.

Tanya...can you please make a video for how to learn Asian language, particularly like Korean...I really love it but everyone says it's so hard ..you can't learn it

Also, what is the title of the book 14:23? Would you recommend buying it?

I want to be able to read thai, Chinese and French

i am a native Spanish speaker and i have never been able to finish cien años de soledad, even tho i am OBSESSED with garcia marques

How you feel about reading aloud? I am practicing an extensive reading a lot, in despite that it probably helps me, I cannot really feel it. I have an idea, that if I connect other areas of the brain by pronouncing the text, I will memorise things faster. But I must say, reading aloud feels a little bit slow and awkward

Gosh, it would make me sad to restrict myself from looking stuff up constantly. Even when I'm reading light fiction or a fluff article in my native language, I look up (or at the VERY least make a note to look up later) not only every single thing that I don't understand, but also everything that makes me curious or reminds me of another thing or whatever. Many, MANY times per book. Heck, MANY times per CHAPTER. I've done this ever since I learned to read (at a very early age) and would barely know how to make it through a book without doing it! :D (Disclaimer: I'm well aware that I'm weird!)

скажите пожалуйста,как называется серия книг на 2:56?

Graded Readers are the best to start reading in a new language 👍

Спасибо большое за помощь. Очень интересно видео. Я изучаю русский язык четыре года. Самостоятельно.

extensive reading is funnier to me

How does Linq have Gujrati but not Hindi or Tamil? It’s so frustrating to hear about great tools and they don’t have the languages I want to learn 😢

I definitely don't recommend starting Spanish books with classics. It's something I ended up doing after only ever reading a couple fantasy books in Spanish, because I was in a Spanish literature class. I was still at B1, and while I could definitely understand a lot a things, it was really a struggle. The fact that my main language is French definitely helped, and I got really good at guessing meanings, but I still wouldn't recommend it until you're at least B2. Especially with Spanish literature, because sometimes it can get really confusing, even for native speakers. I remember with one classic I was reading, we all had to read a chapter for the next class, and turns out, the president died in that chapter. I didn't notice, and out of the 35 of us including about 20 native Spanish speakers, only two did, and they weren't certain of what they had understood either.

As a native Spanish speaker, recommending Cien Años de Soledad to a learner is WILD

Let me say this first: your eye color is so beautiful ❤

Мне кажется у тебя великолепный англ акцент! Когда я начала смотреть твои видео, я даже не поняла, что это не твой родной язык, пока ты об этом не сказала, хотя обычно слышу у др блоггеров (чей родной язык русский)

Im trying to read in Russian and I am STRUGGLING

0:22 what’s the Japanese book?

When it comes to children's books... the reason they are so hard to comprehend is that the author is not writing them to teach the reader the language in which the books are written but to entertain small children. Keeping that in mind, often the author changes the spelling of words or maybe even the entire word and this is what makes it impossible for apps like Google Translate or whatever you might be using to help you to make any sense of the text you are reading.

Step one is always the same: magically already be at intermediate level

GIRLL I'm Argentinean and I can barely understand "Facundo" by D.F. Sarmiento and u even have a physical copy lmao

Hi, so I'm Polish and I saw the book that you've been reading, "Akademia Pana Kleksa". I'm so sorry but it's one of the worst choices you could have made. It was pablished like half a century ago and the launge is really difficult especialy for a forginer. Ofcourse yes it's for kids but like 60 years ago. (And the author was also a poet which you can clearly see by the words he uses)

The way I didn't hear an accent 😅

My biggest advice: don’t read magical realism until you’re fairly advanced in a language, because it’s going to be very confusing when something totally out of place happens!

What's your mother tongue?

1. know the alphabet