ENG

How to Use this Book

There are many possible ways to use a resource such as this, which is written entirely in English. In this section, I would like to offer my suggestions for using this book effectively, based on my experience with thousands of students and their struggles.

There are two main ways to work with content in a foreign language:

Intensive learning is when you examine the material in great detail, seeking to understand all the content – the meaning of vocabulary, the use of grammar, the pronunciation of difficult words, etc. You will typically spend much longer with each section and, therefore, cover less material overall. Traditional classroom learning generally involves intensive learning. Extensive learning is the opposite of intensive. To learn extensively is to treat the material for what it is – not as the object of language study, but rather as content to be enjoyed and appreciated. To read a book for pleasure is an example of extensive reading. As such, the aim is not to stop and study the language that you find, but rather to read (and complete) the book.

There are pros and cons to both modes of study and, indeed, you may use a combination of both in your approach. However, the “default mode” for most people is to study intensively. This is because there is the inevitable temptation to investigate anything you do not understand in the pursuit of progress and hope to eliminate all mistakes. Traditional language education trains us to do this. Similarly, it is not obvious to many readers how extensive study can be effective. The uncertainty and ambiguity can be uncomfortable: “There’s so much I don’t understand!”

In my experience, people have a tendency to drastically overestimate what they can learn from intensive study, and drastically underestimate what they can gain from extensive study. My observations are as follows:

When put like this, extensive learning may sound quite compelling! However, there is an obvious objection: “But how do I learn when I’m not looking up or memorising things?” This is an understandable doubt if you are used to a traditional approach to language study. However, the truth is that you can learn an extraordinary amount passively as you read and listen to the language, but only if you give yourself the opportunity to do so! Remember, you learned your mother tongue passively. There is no reason you shouldn’t do the same with a second language!

Here are some of the characteristics of studying languages extensively:

Aim for completion When you read material in a foreign language, your first job is to make your way through from beginning to end. Read to the end of the chapter or listen to the entire audio without worrying about things you don’t understand. Set your sights on the finish line and don’t get distracted. This is a vital behaviour to foster because it trains you to enjoy the material before you start to get lost in the details. This is how you read or listen to things in your native language, so it’s the perfect thing to aim for!

Read for gist The most effective way to make headway through a piece of content in another language is to ask yourself: “Can I follow the gist of what’s going on?” You don’t need to understand every word, just the main ideas. If you can, that’s enough! You’re set! You can understand and enjoy a great amount with gist alone, so carry on through the material and enjoy the feeling of making progress! If the material is so hard that you struggle to understand even the gist, then my advice for you would be to consider easier material.

Don’t look up words As tempting as it is to look up new words, doing so robs you of time that you could spend reading the material. In the extreme, you can spend so long looking up words that you never finish what you’re reading. If you come across a word you don’t understand… Don’t worry! Keep calm and carry on. Focus on the goal of reaching the end of the chapter. You’ll probably see that difficult word again soon, and you might guess the meaning in the meantime!

Don’t analyse grammar Similarly to new words, if you stop to study verb tenses or verb conjugations as you go, you’ll never make any headway with the material. Try to notice the grammar that’s being used (make a mental note) and carry on. Have you spotted some unfamiliar grammar? No problem. It can wait. Unfamiliar grammar rarely prevents you from understanding the gist of a passage but can completely derail your reading if you insist on looking up and studying every grammar point you encounter. After a while, you’ll be surprised by how this “difficult” grammar starts to become “normal”!

You don’t understand? Don’t worry! The feeling you often have when you are engaged in extensive learning is: “I don’t understand”. You may find an entire paragraph that you don’t understand or that you find confusing. So, what’s the best response? Spend the next hour trying to decode that difficult paragraph? Or continue reading regardless? (Hint: It’s the latter!) When you read in your mother tongue, you will often skip entire paragraphs you find boring, so there’s no need to feel guilty about doing the same when reading English. Skipping difficult passages of text may feel like cheating, but it can, in fact, be a mature approach to reading that allows you to make progress through the material and, ultimately, learn more.

If you follow this mindset when you read English, you will be training yourself to be a strong, independent English learner who doesn’t have to rely on a teacher or rule book to make progress and enjoy learning. As you will have noticed, this approach draws on the fact that your brain can learn many things naturally, without conscious study. This is something that we appear to have forgotten with the formalisation of the education system. But, speak to any accomplished language learner and they will confirm that their proficiency in languages comes not from their ability to memorise grammar rules, but from the time they spend reading, listening to, and speaking the language, enjoying the process, and integrating it into their lives.

So, I encourage you to embrace extensive learning, and trust in your natural abilities to learn languages, starting with… The contents of this book!