The Words I was Looking for Appeared in my Head
Many people watch films or TV series in the original language to improve their English and this can be very effective. I’ve taught many students who have achieved a high level of fluency in this way! On the other hand, not many people know how incredibly effective reading books can be. I became fluent in French through reading. I had studied French for years at school, but couldn’t string a sentence together! At first it was incredibly hard, I would fall asleep after reading 2 or 3 pages, but after a short time I became conversational; the words I was looking for just appeared in my head and I could use quite complicated grammar. It was as if the language had been downloaded directly into my subconscious! This was in 1999, e-books existed at the time but I had never read one!
Reading Helped me Get my Dream Job
I had previously done the same with Italian. I lived in Italy for two summers – about six months in total. After that, I got a job as a flight attendant with an Arabic airline but missed Italy and missed speaking Italian. Unfortunately, we didn’t fly to Italy and we rarely flew to continental Europe, so I searched the world for Italian books and films. I rarely found any but when I did, I stocked up. I read the books and watched the films over and over again and my Italian got better and better. In 1997, I achieved my dream of getting a job as a flight attendant with British Airways. I wouldn’t have got that job if I hadn’t spoken Italian. No time spent educating yourself is ever wasted and reading is a great way to learn – look at Elon Musk!
Lurking in the Recesses
In 2001 I moved to Spain and started the whole process again. For the first six months I studied one week a month at a language school and I started reading novels almost from the beginning. Learning Spanish was relatively easy as I already spoke French and Italian! Unfortunately, I’ve now forgotten most of my French and Italian – it’s as if Spanish came in through the front door and French and Italian slipped out through the back! I don’t think they’re gone forever – I’m sure they’re still lurking somewhere in the recesses of my brain!
Reading Romantic Novels as a Form of Study
Working as a long-haul flight attendant meant I had a lot of free time and I loved reading romantic novels. On the other hand, I felt guilty because I thought reading novels was a waste of time. Reading in foreign languages was like killing two birds with one stone; I could read novels without feeling guilty and learn a foreign language at the same time!
Tips for Learning through Reading
- If you are a beginner, start with children’s books; the language will be less complicated.
- Choose a book you have read in your native language; you already know the story, so it will be easier to guess the meaning of words you don’t know!
- Choose a book that has been translated from your mother tongue; the structure will be easier to understand.
- Choose a non-fiction book on a topic you’re interested in; it’s always easier to understand a foreign language if you’re familiar with the subject matter, and the grammar is usually less complicated in technical books.
- I would recommend reading e-books, as they are less expensive, take up less space and are lighter when you’re travelling. You may also be able to take notes or click on words for definitions, which makes the process much easier.
- If you’re reading a physical book, I would recommend reading for general understanding rather than looking up words in a dictionary.
- If you’re reading a shorter text, looking up the meaning of words will help you build your vocabulary.
The Digital Age
Love it or hate it, the digital age has greatly increased our exposure to foreign languages; it’s so much easier to find books, films and music in foreign languages. It used to be very difficult to learn a foreign language without living in a country where that language was spoken. Nowadays, you can learn languages, stream films, listen to music, read books and interact with people from other cultures and linguistic backgrounds on the Internet.
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a fantastic place to find books and you don’t even need a Kindle Reader; you can read them on your laptop, tablet or smartphone. There are millions of books to choose from and you can even take notes, highlight sections and click on a word to get a definition!
Kindle Unlimited
Kindle Unlimited is a monthly subscription that costs less than £10 a month and gives you access to millions of ebooks – it’s like having a virtual library at your fingertips!
A 30-day free trial
Click on the affiliate link below to sign up for a 30-day free trial:
If you sign up for a free 30-day trial of Kindle Unlimited using this affiliate link, I may earn a small commission. It will be enough to buy myself a coffee, ot two!
Thank you in advance!!!
Over to You
I’d love to hear about your experiences of learning languages through reading! Do you find reading as useful as I do? Do you have any tips for good books for students to read? Do you prefer reading, watching films, listening to music or talking to people from other cultures to practise your languages? Do you have any other tips for language learning?
I would also appreciate it if you would share this post with your family, friends or classmates on Twitter, Facebook or Whatsapp!