No es de la noche a la mañana. ¿Cuántas veces has leído en el idioma que quieres aprender? Para ser honesta, yo he estado leyendo Pleamargen desde 2018 para practicar francés, y aún no termino.
At some point, you have to keep reading, even if you don’t understand most words. At the same time, if you don’t understand most words, it may be best to reconsider what book you’re reading.
I don’t know about you, but I was thrown into the US when I was about 3 years old and was expected to just understand a new language. Apart from a really sweet classmate who was so kind to interpret what the teacher was saying in the beginning, reading was what helped me learn.
Estabas en preescolar, ¿cómo te vas a acordar?
Existía un programa llamado “I Can Read”. Y, desde mis recuerdos mochos, tenía una lista de vocabulario por cada letra y eran las palabras más comunes en inglés. La importancia que se le da a la lectura públicamente está medio rara, pero fuera de lo del día a día, leer es bastante útil cuando quieres hablar mejor.
Speaking of improving your speaking skills, a very common myth around learning a language is that the ultimate goal is to speak it, and while that may be the case most of the time, learning a language is way more than that. I’m sure you know that learning a new language is learning a new way of understanding the world. I find that beautiful, and reading is an incredible way to absorb language from a new perspective and connect with…
Yes.
Your interpretation.
Cuando lees en otro idioma, comienzas a detectar patrones y puedes predecir las estructuras gramaticales con más facilidad. ¿Recuerdas la identidad de la que hablamos la semana pasada? No se constituye sólo de input y output, sino de la interpretación de todo aquello que recoge.
The same text will not mean the same thing to two different versions of you. So, what happens when you read in another language?
You have the chance to view language in a different setting.
The vocabulary that you’re reading is used in context (nada de andar adivinando).
You get to read common phrases.
And maybe, without noticing, you also become more aware of yourself.
What frustrates you.
What excites you.
What you avoid.
What you insist on understanding.
La lectura es un espejo, sin importar en qué idioma lo hagas.
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This week’s journaling instructions are to read and observe. One book series I always recommend whenever people ask me about what books they should read is A Series of Unfortunate Events. Honestly? You need something fun and simple to get started, and that’s the way to go, especially with how the way the narrative is constructed.
But what if I’m not confident yet?
Look. All you have to do is find a book that’s not that hard. As long as you understand about 80% of the words, you’ll be good to go. You just need to stay a little longer than you usually would.
Rememberrrr:
If last week was about who you are in your new language, this week is about how you see in your new language.
Eso se cuece (cose, cuese, cueserejé) aparte.
As always, feel free to reply to this email. I read everything. I’m curious about what you notice, especially the small things.
Alsooo, if it’s in your possibilities, you may want to check out our book club, to get your reading on.
¡Feliz día del libro, por cierto (fue ayer, pero el tiempo no existe)! Nos vemos la próxima semana :)