How To Practice Your Reading Skills In A New Language

Practicing Reading in your new language is pretty simple, you just read, but I will go through some of the little details you should pay attention to, to make sure you are not slowing yourself down as well some techniques you can use to maximise your progress.

Practicing reading in a new language takes times and effort, so you will want to make sure you are doing it in the most efficient way possible.

Language learning is hard enough, so hopefully these tips will make things smoother for you. 

Just Read

The best way to practice is to just simply read in your new language. As stupid as it sounds, it really is that simple. Every line you read will help in some way, so just keep reading.

Of course I will go through some different ways to do this below, but the basic principle is that you need to read a lot.

Reading is going to expose you to more of the language, so the more you read the better you will become at the language, which in turns means you will find it easier to read as you know the language better.

It really is a positive cycle and it is exactly why you need to do as much as possible.  

(You can read more about – Why Is Reading In A New Language So Difficult?)

Make Time For Reading

To make sure you actually put the work in, you need to make time for your reading. You can do this in two different ways, so just do what works best for you.

You can either set some time aside every day and just read then. So for example you can say “I will read for an hour every night” that is very straight forward, just set the time and make it happen.

Alternatively you can say “I want to read 10 pages” and then you just go for it and if it takes you 10 minutes fine, if it takes you 3 hours, well so be it. This approach is probably easier if you are reading physical books, but you could also say “I want to read 3 news articles today online” and do it that way.

You should play around with what way you like to do things and just stick to that. Both techniques will be beneficial, so really just do what you enjoy and what you can stick to. So long as you are consistent with your reading you will make progress, which is exactly why you need to make time for it.

(You can read more about – Is Reading The Best Way To Learn A Language?)

Keep Your Reading Practice Simple

You should also keep things simple when you are practicing. You should aim to read something where you can understand what is going on.

You do not need to comprehend 100%, but you should also not be totally lost. So long as you can get a basic grasp of what is happening, then you should be fine.

If the text is too complex you will not understand anything and its waste of your time. Saying exactly how much of it should understand is a gray area. It will really depend on your level and what you are reading.

You could potentially only understand as little as 10%, or comfortably understand all of it apart from 1 word.

So long as you are somewhere in this range it is beneficial for you. You will need to play around with some things and see what you find most comfortable and beneficial for your progress.

(You can read more about – How To Overcome The Fear Of Reading In A New Language)

Re-read Things

One of the best forms of practice is to re-read things. This simple technique is often over looked by people as it’s boring or seen as a waste of time. However it is extremely effective.

Okay, so yes it can be boring to re-read things, but we are not here for the entertainment, we are here for the language learning and re-reading something is going to help with this.

You will find that the first time you read something you may get a grasp of what is going on, but it can be a little fuzzy. If you read it again you will now already have some overall context, which means you may start making sense of things that you didn’t before, especially near the beginning of the text.

Your comprehension will literally increase but more importantly you are being exposed to the same words again. This is very good if there is a slightly obscure word. It may not show up again for months if you are just reading things, where you will have totally forgotten the word by the time you see it again.  If you are re-reading things you are going to see it again, and actually be able to remember it.

You don’t need to just read things back to back, you can re-read them the same day, a few days later or even a few weeks later. It doesn’t really matter as it all helps and all just allows you to go over what you have already covered.

Don’t ignore this technique, it is very beneficial for you. Once you get to a decent level you can stop it, but early on, this will make a difference.    

Don’t Worry About Looking Up Words

When you are reading, don’t get caught up in looking up words all the time. I’m not saying never do it, I’m just saying don’t be doing it non-stop.

Don’t even bother the first time you read something, maybe the rest of the text will unlock that word for you. When you get to the end you can look it up and double check.

You may also find that some words seem to repeat themselves, or seem really important to the whole understanding of the story, if this is the case then of course look the word up. They are clearly important words and will help with your comprehension.

If you are finding you are looking every word up, you are clearly reading something that is too difficult for you and you need to drop down a level and read something simpler. This will be better for you in the long run.

Use Language Exchanges To Practice Reading

One of my favourite ways to practice reading, well actually all areas of my language, is through language exchanges.

This is when you make friends with native speakers online and you help each other learn your native language.

These new friends will send you messages and you will be able to read them and get some practice in. It doesn’t really feel like practice, as you are just using the language, but it all helps. The fact that you will then have to reply also makes sure your other areas of the language get some practice too, so it’s just fantastic.

It’s also just really nice to have some new friends and learn about the culture and language through them.

(You can read more about – Language Exchange Partners)

Change Everything You Read To Your New Language

A very simple way to get reading practice into your day is to just switch anything you read into your new language.

You will always hear people say to change you phone into the new language, which can be helpful, but really this is rather small, you are much better off actually changing anything you read. This would be things like the news, the sport results or the weather.

Instead of visiting English sites for this information, visit sites that are in your new language. If you want to look up a recipe for your dinner, or waste time of social media …don’t do it in your native language. 

The more things you can change into your new language, the more you are making the language a part of your life and you will actually just start using it as a part of your day, not something you kind of study on the side.

(You can read more about – Reading Resources For Language Learning)

Read and Listen At The Same Time

A very powerful, but often overlooked way to practice reading is through using subtitles.

You probably could argue this is more of a listening practice, but I guess it’s both. All you have to do is watch or listen to anything in your target and also read the subtitles/ transcript.

Just make sure the subtitles and audio are both in the same language. Don’t cheat and read in your native language with the audio is in a different one. This is a waste of time.

If you do this properly you will be hearing the words and reading them on the screen. You will hear people say this makes things too easy, which can be true, but that is not a bad thing. This is actually really helpful, especially as a beginner and it will help you improve your listening and your reading at the same time so it is worth doing for a while.   

Conclusion

Practicing reading in your language is easy, and hopefully the tips above have shown that. Really the hardest part is just doing it and also making sure you do enough.

If you can stay committed and regularly put the effort in, you will see results. Reading is a very powerful way to improve your language skills, so don’t skip the practice!

(You can read more about – Common Mistakes When Reading In A New Language