What's better for learning any language fast: listening or reading? To me, it is a common but poorly phrased question. First of all, to define “better”, you also have to define what you want to achieve.
Do you want to understand literature, newspapers and articles? Then reading a lot of books, newspapers and articles is “better” for you, in the sense that it is more conducive to that one goal. Do you want to understand American slang?
Then watch a lot of modern movies and listen to the latest hit singles! But if you are anything like me, I suspect that you want ALL of these things. You want to be able to read, listen, understand, speak, and everything in between.
Well then, if that is the case, all you need to do is to watch this video until the end! Listening and Reading Means Succeeding Now, let’s run an experiment by taking a text, in any language, and reading it mentally. What do you notice?
Anything cool? Here are 3 mind-blowing facts about reading that we take for granted. When we read, we transform symbols into meaning and sounds.
When we read mentally, we subvocalize, that is, we are reading out loud in our mind. It took us quite some time to learn this skill as kids (and we have totally forgotten about it! ).
The bottom line is, there are no “cons” in reading in your target language. The more you do it, the better. What about listening?
You can read all the stuff you want, but if you want to understand, use AND speak any language with people in flesh and blood, you have to LISTEN TO IT. And you have to listen to it a LOT. There is NO WAY around it.
THIS is how we have acquired our native language. And THIS is how adults have learned languages over the eons, when books and written texts were a futuristic invention that would come much later. Here is the thing: a language is MOSTLY about SOUNDS, and written texts are a rough representation of those sounds.
Sound is the BLOODLIFE of a language, because it contains intonation, emotions and vital information for human communication. Just think of the way this written sentence can be said: I did not steal the money. Here are 3 ways in which you can read it.
I did not steal the MONEY (but I did steal the car! ) I did not STEAL the money. (maybe I burned it!
) I did not steal the money. (It wasn’t me but that dude around the corner! ) As you can see (and hear), I can move the sentence stress and emphasize different parts of a sentence, slightly changing its meaning.
What about adding emotions (to the bunch)? I did not steal the money! (rage) I did not steal the money (sadness) Cool, ain’it?
;-) My point is: listening is the MAIN WAY we acquire language. Reading is an amazing skill through which we can learn a ton of vocabulary. So, why not read and listen at the same time… All the time!
? There is a catch. Here is where YOUR LEVEL makes all the difference.
If you are a BEGINNER, listening and reading at the same time is the way to go. Let’s say you have just started learning Russki (Russian). If you just spent 3 months only reading texts in Russian, you would not understand much when you hear it, and your pronunciation would be awful.
On the other hand, If you just listened to Russian (unless it is a very similar language to yours), you would quickly grow frustrated because you would not be able to make out the single words that make up a sentence, not to mention your incapacity to read Cyrillic. But if you read and listen at the same time you will reap a number of benefits. Get familiar with the script of a language Build a sound map between the written and the spoken language Can actually “see the words that you hear” You combine the advantages of reading with the benefits of listening!
When you read and listen to a language at the same time, your brain quickly starts building a sound map that connects the spoken language with the written language. “What about a language like Chinese or Japanese! ?
” Well, this is where some little things called the internet - and technology - make a big difference! For example, you can take any text like this (shows a text in Chinese) and transform it into this (shows transliteration of the same text). So, no excuses ;-) When you are a beginner, make listening and reading at the center of your learning session.
This is what students at the Smart Language Learning Academy do when they start using the Bidirectional Translation Method, which combines reading, listening, typing and translating to get the a solid foundation in any language, and it works like a charm with languages such as Chinese, Russian or Arabic, Reading and Listening Across ALL Levels The superpower of reading and listening at the same time has been a great discovery for you, but it comes at a great cost. It requires concentration, attention and dedication. The initial enthusiasm wears off and gives way to doubt.
So, while reading and listening in a foreign language seems to have practically no disadvantages, the problem is that the most beneficial thing is not always the most convenient nor the most sustainable. Think about the activities you engage in when you listen OR read in your native language. You might enjoy reading in your garden or listening to a productivity podcast during your commute.
But do you spend most of your time listening to an audiobook while reading along or watching a movie in your target language with matching subtitles? Chances are - unless you are a REAL language freak, you haven’t. The truth is, in our own native language AND in a language we have reached a level which allows it, we prefer either READING or LISTENING separately.
For 3 main reasons: Human beings are lazy, and reading while listening is the opposite of lazy We associate reading and listening to certain habits, times and circumstances We have developed full capacity of either reading and listening separately Most of us read when we’re relaxed and there’s no rush to get anything else done. And I’d say most people listen to podcasts while doing something else at the same time such as cooking, cleaning, running or driving. And this is what I do when I reach a B2 level in a language.
I go through the specific methods I use in my OIP course aka Overcoming the Intermediate Plateau as an intermediate learner to become proficient in my target language. I read books at the beginning or end of my day and I listen to podcasts in combination with other activities. And that’s where the REAL fun starts!
So if you’re an intermediate level learner, you’re going to want to go through a resource multiple times (e. g. reading, reading and listening, just listening) to get the most out of it.
As an advanced learner, you can just start reading for the pleasure of it (books, magazines, newspapers or even comics) on one hand, and on the other, you can just listen (podcasts, the radio, watching movies). The key thing is that at this stage of language learning you can either read or listen separately, as each has its different advantages and can be associated with various times of the day, locations and your personal habits. Exactly as you would do in your own native language!
Reading is amazing for developing vocabulary and a rock-solid grasp of the grammar and structure of any language. Listening is the quintessential language skill you need to acquire any language, since it conveys key information such as intonation and emotion. If you combine the two, they mutually reinforce each other.
I highly recommend you do this until you reach a level that allows you to separate reading from listening activities. In fact, once you reach a B1-B2 level, you can do one OR the other, and organize your daily activities around listening and reading separately. Language learning is not about this OR that.
It is about this AND that. And so read and listen. Listen.
Read. Combine all these. Do it every day.
Do it for a long time. And - I guarantee it - the magic WILL happen! So there you have it!
But before I let you go, one more thing. I have written an in-depth and completely FREE Ebook called The 10 Mistakes to Avoid to get from Failure to Fluency and it comes with the corresponding audio book as well! I left a link in the description box so feel free to download it and go through it!
And now, that’s really it for today. As always, Happy Language Learning and see you in the next video!
