Reading to improve language skills... (article)

[IceVajal]

I always enjoyed reading, mainly fiction, but also non-fiction. Both in German and English. Today I came across this article about reading and the effect it has on us. Enjoy reading!

https://theconversation.com/reading-to- ... ion-179552

[Cifi]

So did I, but I did experience the downside of it, too: when I came across a word I didn't know before, I could often guess its meaning by context, but I also guessed its pronunciation (without actually wanting to), and this resulted in some errors such as "evil" -> word with similar spelling I knew before: "devil", and I'd pronounce it like that.

That's why I'm reluctant to "read only" now, and heavily relying on audio along with texts, even though it's not that much of an issue with the language I'm currently learning.

[IceVajal]

[mention]Cifi[/mention] I agree, but I understood that it's about reading in your mother's tongue. But reading will expand your vocabulary in any other language, too

As I learn Russian to get the pronunciation is really important, e.g. молоко (moloko = milk) here you wouldn't know which 'o' is stressed. No hints, so you wouldn't guess it's pronounced 'malako'. Or perhaps you would...

[Deleted User 2316]

great idea thanks

[mathemajician]

So did I, but I did experience the downside of it, too: when I came across a word I didn't know before, I could often guess its meaning by context, but I also guessed its pronunciation (without actually wanting to), and this resulted in some errors such as "evil" -> word with similar spelling I knew before: "devil", and I'd pronounce it like that.

TBH this also happens to English native speakers; there are quite a few words where I knew perfectly what they meant but because I had never heard anyone use them in conversation I had the pronunciation not quite correct.

It's especially common with loanwords where the original spelling was retained; for example, "chaos" where someone who learned it from reading only will often pronounce it with č at the beginning.

[MoniqueMaRie]

For years, I only read English but didn't listen to English.
Sometimes I can't say if I own a book in English or German when a friend asks me.

But I had an experience similar to Cifi: I didn't really know the pronunciation, but guessed it and sometimes got it thoroughly wrong.
The first time I spent a longer period of time in the US I noticed that sometimes people didn't understand me and I myself had problems with understanding more often than expected.

After that, for the next two years I watched all the films/series I liked in the original English version (with subtitles on). The next time I was in the US my pronunciation received high praise: I was mistaken for a Scandinavian.

With French now I try to do both to improve my knowledge: reading and listening

[IceVajal]

Well, I listened to English radio way before I started reading English books.
And after about 6 weeks into learning Russian I started listening to Russian radio news and podcasts. Just understood single words and still struggle. Usually I can only figure out the topic and perhaps a sentence every now and then.
Dutch radio I listened to years ago and understood probably 40% of it, so the moment I started learning Dutch I started listening to a Dutch podcast.

[Meli578588]

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[IceVajal]

[mention]Meli578588[/mention], perhaps you can find some of the books on eBay..... https://circonverlag.de/collections/deutsch

They offer French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, etc too.

I checked with the public library awhile ago and they have a lot of these books. I guess there are other publishing companies around the world who also have books for language learners.

[Meli578588]

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[IceVajal]

[mention]Meli578588[/mention], happy to hear that you find these books interesting. I started with a Russian comic. It's great to start reading in your target language.