And this gets back to this idea that we deliberately learn
things and I don't believe that.
Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here.
Today I wanna talk about reading and fluency.
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So, the reason I'm talking about reading in fluency is because, as you know, if you
follow me on this channel, I very much, you know, support the idea of reading
and listening as sort of the principal means of uh, growing and improving
in a language that we are learning.
So I was asked on, uh, by one of the commenters here, uh, on my YouTube
channel, uh, about my thoughts about, uh, a video put out by a certain Hadar
who has a channel called, um, The Accents Way or something like that, I'll leave
a link in the description box, where she ismore sort of in favor of speaking.
And, uh, suggest that there is a, a sort of, um, if all we're ever doing
is reading, we're avoiding, we're avoiding the challenge of speaking.
And I, I don't see that the one in any way that reading prevents you from speaking.
Uh, and I don't think that while we are reading that we are necessarily
escaping from the obvious benefits of speaking the language whenever
we have an opportunity to speak.
So to what extent is reading connected with the idea of fluency?
Because obviously we all want to achieve fluency.
I, I shouldn't say we all, but.
For many people, a primary goal of language learning is to achieve fluency.
It doesn't have to be the goal.
And I think this is also very important, we learn languages for our own reasons.
If we want to learn just enough of the language to be able to feel
comfortable in Mexico on our next visit, for example, that's legitimate.
You might be disappointed that there are, there is no shortcut to being
comfortable in the language, but at least if you have some knowledge of the
language you can, you know, have some communication with the locals, let's
say in Spanish if you're in Mexico.
So that could be a goal, or the goal could be simply to read books in the language.
That can be a goal.
But I think for most people they would like to achieve fluency.
So what is fluency?
To me, and I said this before and I'll flash up on the
screen, B2 in the European...
common European Framework of, sort of, language proficiency.
And we'll see that B2...
and remember that the Common European Framework, uh, has sort
of six levels and that, you know, A1, A2 is sort of a beginner level.
B1, B2 is the intermediate level.
C1, C2 is the advanced level.
It's possible to look at these and think that there's sort of
an equal distance from A1 to A2, from A2 to B1 from B1 to B2.
I don't see it that way.
I think that from A1 to A2 moves along fairly quickly, uh, and then to get
from A2 to B2 is a very long road.
But that B2 level to my mind represents fluency.
It means that you're able to converse on a variety of subjects,
sort of, call it adult subjects.
Sophisticated subjects, complicated subjects, not nuclear physics, but
some discussion even of politics, philosophy, economics, your feelings,
even though you make mistakes, even though you might not understand certain
things, you might be missing a word here and there, but you are communicate.
You are...
that to me is b2.
That to me is fluency.
It may be a surprise to some people to know that you need
a lot of words to do that.
You need a large passive vocabulary, and I stress all the time the
importance of passive vocabulary.
You cannot have a conversation with someone, an intelligent,
sophisticated conversation if you don't understand what they are saying.
And so you need a lot of words, a lot of passive vocabulary so
that you have a good chance of understanding of what they're saying.
Of understanding what they're saying.
Uh, similarly, if you have a good vocabulary, now you can read
books now, you can watch movies.
You can understand podcasts.
You can do a lot of these things, which will enable you to continue
to improve in the language.
It all requires comprehension.
It all requires a large vocabulary.
So reading, especially if accompanied with listening, is a great way
to increase your vocabulary.
Now, having a large passive vocabulary doesn't mean that you can use those words.
And in the video that I watched that this, this, uh, person Hadar put out,
she seemed to suggest, you know, if you come across a new word or a new
structure in your reading, if you don't immediately try to use it, if
you don't immediately try to nail it down, then you aren't gonna learn it.
And this gets back to this idea that we deliberately learn
things and I don't believe that.
I believe that we gradually get, we start to assimilate and retain and to be able to
retrieve things that we have met several times, hopefully in interesting context.
And all of a sudden we understand more and more of the language, and
if we have opportunity to speak, we end up, uh, starting to activate
some of that passive vocabulary.
So that's, it's, it's more of a fuzzy logic, natural subconscious process
rather than a deliberate process.
So, because you need a large vocabulary to be, sort of, getting
back to that B2 definition.
Therefore, a lot of reading is very important if you want to achieve fluency.
Now, there are techniques that you can use so that you are reading
that to help you retain more of the words that you're coming across.
That's why at LingQ we have a system.
We enable you to save words to a database.
Uh, you can review the words, uh, you can, if the text is very difficult,
you can look at it in sentence mode.
Uh, if you want to try to find content that is at that, what I consider
the sweet spot of 10 to 15% unknown words, some of which may be names, but
that's gonna be at a level where it's not too difficult for you to read.
With the help of the functionality that we have at LingQ, with the help of audio,
it's not gonna be too difficult, but you are exposing yourself to more new words.
Obviously, uh, another technique is to stay within a certain, you know, subject
area, be it economics or politics, or certain writers who tend to use the
same vocabulary so that you have a better chance of coming across these
relatively low frequency words more often.
So these are some of the techniques that you can use to help the,
the reading activity give you that potential to become fluent.
In order to become fluent, you need quite a large vocabulary.
I don't, you don't need an enormous, you don't need to know every
possible word in the diction.
You can also forget some of the very basic words.
That's not a problem.
But you need to have, and I refer to this reserve, you need to have this
large background with the knowledge you know, of, of these words, or at
least with the, the, the having had the experience of, of encountering these
words so that slowly you start to activate them when you have a chance to speak.
The fact, therefore, reading is not an escape from speaking,
it's a preparation for speaking.
If you combine it with listen, then it's an even better preparation for speaking.
And, uh, the idea that somehow many people, uh, and this was the point of
this video, and you, you can have a look at it, she seemed to suggest that
listening to podcast and reading and so forth, this is, you are, uh, escaping
from that obligation to go out and use it.
Yes, it is true that there are many people who have a good passive
understanding of let's say English and who are reluctant to use it.
Of course, you shouldn't be reluctant to use it.
The better your vocabulary, the better your understanding of the language.
The better you read, by and large, the more confidence
you're going to have in speaking.
If you don't have that large passive vocabulary and you miss
a lot of what's going on around you, you will be more reluctant
to speak and to arrive at a flu...
at a level of fluency, that B2 level, you have to combine a lot of input
activity, increasing your vocabulary, increasing your comprehension, and then
finding every opportunity to speak.
And to speak a lot.
To speak well, you have to speak a lot.
I've said that before.
However, lots of reading and listening can also contribute towards pushing
you towards that level, uh, of fluency, which most of us aspire to achieve.
And I'll leave you with a couple of videos that I've done on the subject
of listening and reading and their importance to our language learning.
Thank you for listening.
Bye for now.