READING or LISTENING to Become FLUENT Faster?

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!