How To Find Comprehensible Input For Language Learning

When you start learning a language, finding good materials to use can be hard, it can be even harder to find something that is comprehensible.

I will be going though why it can be hard to find and some tips to help you find some.  

What Is Comprehensible Input In Language Learning?

When you are learning a language and reading or listening to the new language, this is called input, as you are taking the language in.

When you are doing this, you need to be able to understand it. It doesn’t matter if you do not understand it fully, but so long as you have a basic grasp of what you are studying, it can be very helpful.

Ideally you want something that is just above you level of understanding. Your subconscious is going to be able to start building links between what it already knows and what it doesn’t.

This is how you acquire the language and why it is so important that what you are studying is something that is comprehensible.

(You can read more about What Is Comprehensible Input In Language Learning?)

Why Is It Hard To Find Comprehensible Input When Studying A Language?

The real reason why it can be hard to find comprehensible input is because most of the material available is for natives.

It makes sense; most people who consume the language will be native speakers, so of course most things are going to be aimed at them.

This can therefore make it hard to find something just above your current level as a learner.

The problem is even worse if you are a beginner. You pretty much know nothing, so everything is going to be too advanced for you.

Kids Material

This really means that as a beginner you only have stuff that is designed for very young children, which is usually boring and often too simple.

A kid’s book might just be a picture of a cat and the word cat next to it. While this is comprehensible, it is still not great.

If this is the type of material you are trying to learn with, you would be better to just learn this type of simple vocabulary through apps like Anki.

Why Kids Material Is No Good For Beginner Language Learners

While some kid’s material can be okay and can be comprehensible, you will usually find that this is aimed at very young kids, so it’s very basic.

Once you get into school age kids, the material can very quickly start to get too complicated for a beginner language learner. 

When you find out that a 3 year old child should know around 1000 words, you can quickly start to see how that can be an issue for a beginner. What should be a very simple book can very easily get too advanced. 

Knowing a 1000 words in your target language is a huge milestone and it can take you a long time to get there! You might take a year, maybe two years to reach this level, so you will not be reading kids books any time soon. 

Kids Are Fluent

The real problem is when you find out a 5 year old child should be able to understand around 10,000 words, which is a huge jump up.

Then to make things totally terrifying, a 10 year old will understand around 50,000 words.

However, let’s be honest, it’s safe to say that any 10 year old is fully fluent in their native language by this point, even if they don’t really know everything.

This means when you hear recommendations like “Oh, just read Harry Potter, it’s a simple kids book” it can be very frustrating.

Books like this might be for kids, but since the kids reading it can understand 50,000 words and you can only understand 500, it’s not exactly going to an enjoyable read for you and it probably will not be very comprehensible.  

Kid’s books can certainly play a part in your language learning, but they are really for intermediate learners.

Beginner Language Learner Material

When I say Beginner Material, I mean the stuff that is specifically targeted towards adult language learners. This is going to be any book or course that is designed to get you started with the language.

A lot of this stuff is going to be boring, but it works.  The same goes for learning the most common words, it’s extremely boring, but it can help you comprehend things a lot quicker than trying to learn these words in context.

You sometimes just have to see it as hoop you need to jump through, a barrier to entry, as such.

So long can get past this and get some basic, simple understanding of the language into your brain, you can quite quickly move on to material that is aimed at natives.

Of course you are probably going to have to start with native kids books, but at least it’s something and not just studying boring grammar tables.

Graded Language Readers

Graded readers are books that are pretty simple and are graded on how difficult they are. If you are a beginner you are going to find a book that is full of words that you should know. 

These are written for language learners, so they can be pretty useful and can help you get input at the level you are at without having to read really boring kids books.

Youtube Channels Targeting Language Learners

Youtube is a great place to find content to watch, but the vast majority is of course made by natives, for natives.

However, some kind natives have made videos for you, the learner. Just think of the “easy Languages” channels. They talk slowly and cover simple topics that you are probably studying.

You should be able to find plenty of similar channels that are aimed at language learners. They tend to speak a little slower and clearly, to make sure you catch what is being said. They also usually have subtitles to help you too.

Usually if you search your target language along with “Immersion” you should be to find some videos that are aimed at learners like yourself and hopefully they are at your level and comprehensible enough.

It Is Easier To Find More As You Improve

The good news is that comprehensible input does becomes easier to find as you advance with your studies.

As your vocabulary in your target language grows you will start to be able to read kids books and then work your way up to more complex things, much like you did when you where actually a kid with your own language.

However, you will be able to do this much faster, since you already have the ability to comprehend things in your own language, unlike kids who may be experiencing the concepts of the words for the first time.

Go Over Old Material Again

When you are learning, repetition is key, and going over old material can be very helpful.

When you first read or watch something you might find it is too hard. Maybe you can only understand 10-30% which is going to leave you pretty lost.

As you advance and study some more and learn some more words, go back and revisit the same material, you may not find your level has increased and find it easier to comprehend more of it.

Maybe this time you will understand 80-90% which is perfect, that is very comprehensible and really going to help you.

You should then go back to it again in a few months and you will find that you probably now understand it fully.

Conclusion

Finding comprehensible input at the beginning can be difficult, but if you dig deep enough you will find it.

Your main goal should be to get some basic knowledge under your belt, once you do this you will start to find it much easier to find more and more material that is comprehensible to you and therefore useful to your learning.

(You can read more about – How Can You Make Your Language Learning Input More Comprehensible?)