Ten reasons why a language learner needs interesting language content more than anything else.

Of course, language learning success depends mostly on the learner. But what about external factors?  What does a keen language learner need most of all?

The answer is interesting language content. What constitutes interesting content will depend on each learner, and even on the changing interests of each learner. But the best way to learn is through interesting content, listening, reading and building up vocabulary.

There are at least ten reasons why learning languages through meaningful content is preferable to attending class, studying grammar rules, or trying to speak your way to fluency.

1) It is easier. You just listen and read. You start with easy content and advance to more difficult content, on your own timetable.

2) It is more effective. You can concentrate better on noticing the language, if you are not interrupted by teachers, other students, or yourself trying to speak the language. Most successful polyglots only rely on content based learning.

3) It is cheaper. You do not need to pay for a school, or travel anywhere. You can find all the content you need on the internet, at libraries, on television and radio.

4) It is portable. You can carry your language learning with you, wherever you are.

5) It is less stressful. You are not forced to find words and to try to express yourself. You do not need to remember grammar rules nor do exercizes.

6) It is more interesting. You choose what content to learn from. After the initial beginner content, you can quickly move to things that interest you, sports, pop culture, current events, hobbies, literature or whatever you fancy at any given time.

7) You can study for life. Once you know how to learn languages from content, you can continue doing so throughout your life, whenever you want. You can achieve whatever level you desire in a language.

8) It is easier to study more than one language, and you will probably eventually do so. You have more freedom to choose when to study, and to dabble in more than one language.

9) Your mistakes don't matter. Once you realize that you do not need to understand perfectly at each stage, as you progress in the language, you just sit back and enjoy. What you get out of your listening and reading is your own business. No one is standing over you and correcting you.

10) You decide when to start speaking, and when you do, you tend to do well. If you can understand well, and if you can read for enjoyment, your speaking skills will quickly catch up. Trying to speak before you understand is a far more arduous task.

I look forward to adding to this list. Please let me know more reasons.

Posted via email from Lingosteve's place

Comments

[Olekramo]

Se você usar conteúdos chatos... você vai acabar achando que o idioma é chato.

[Steve Kaufmann]

É por isso que é importante que o aluno escolhesse o conteúdo.

[Valina]

Another reason
When you do speak native speakers are more likely to understand you better. If you are trying to construct what you want to say from the rules of grammar, you will make things overtly complicated, and make a lot of mistakes. This in turn will make it difficult for native speakers to understand you. If you say what you want to say because you have heard it and read it many times, chances are you will be able to communicate more clearly.

Or at least this is from my own experience. I have ran into many people who have spent years studying grammar rule after grammar rule, and they tend to be more difficult to understand because they lack a feel for the language. I don't like talking to these people because they are not pleasant to talk to. They sound really strange and overtly complicated.

Whereas my friend who just spent 1 year listening and reading to things that interest her, although she makes mistakes, her overall feel for the language is better, and she is much more pleasant to talk to.

[Katie]

I find all of this to be so true! I am pretty much a "Spanish listener" and my Spanish speaking friends say I speak as if I had lived in Spain for some time. That says a lot. Listening and growing your vocabulary is what it's all about. It's so simple, and so rewarding.

[Steve Kaufmann]

But Katie, that is what I was trying to tell Benny and he wasn't listening.

[Supakorn]

Interesting article!
I entirely agree with you.
Studying in a class is so stressful and boring.
Moreover, the content found in the textbooks brings me sleepiness and drowsiness, very ineffective.
But LingQ is so independent.
I can choose what I like or am curious about.
So that stimulates the brain and appetite to learn.
I've never seen such a great language learning site like LingQ before.

[Sebastian]

I agree with most points except #2 and #5. I have made the experience, that it is most effective for me to learn languages input based and to spend a small amount of time (maybe 10%) learning grammar. Maybe it is stressful for you to remember grammar rules. But having a fundamental knowledge of grammar makes speaking for me more comfortable and gives me much more confidence in the language. I don't mean that I try to remember complex sentence construction schemes in a conversation, but basics like correct case endings and the use of them after certain prepositions, verb conjugation forms ect. These basics you can use immediately without slowing a conversation.

I am sure if I had ever studied English grammar, my English wouldn't be as bad as it is now.

[inchaur]

Sebastian, your written English is not bad at all. You don't need to learn English grammar.

On the other hand, I agree that some grammar (case endings, prepositions and so on) can help in the learning process. But I don't think it is very, very important, because the grammar of a language is already in the expressions used in any content-based text. When you listen to a lot of real content-based input, you only need to look up special cases, exceptions and peculiar things that all languages have.

[Oldboy]

"But Katie, that is what I was trying to tell Benny and he wasn't listening."

He didn't have to listen. As long as he kept talking, he was sure to learn everything he wanted to in three months or less.

Okay sorry, it was just too easy to pass up. Also, Katie... you weren't much of a booster of input before, but now "listening and growing your vocabulary is what it's all about"? I say we excommunicate her!

I'm joking, of course. As an advocate of input, where could she go, being as timid and unable to explore the world as such people are.

But really, I'm kidding. :)

[Friedemann]

My main problem is that transcripts are almost never available for the language I study at the moment (Chinese). My main source of input is Chinese television or occasionally podcasts but many TV-programs I like don't have subtitles. That ideal case would of course be a transcript on the web that I could read using my online dictionary, but is mostly not available. But the lack of transcripts is really my biggest obstacle at the moment,

Friedemann

[Anglophobe Jones]

Friedemann said: "...the lack of transcripts is really my biggest obstacle at the moment."
---

Was ist denn mit LingQ?

Isn't the library at LingQ well stocked with advanced stuff for Chinese learners?

[Friedemann]

What I liked from the lingq library was some of the dialogues with Wolf, but it is always the same setting and the same voices. Much of the other stuff I thought was rather staged and stiff (maybe I should check again). I really like to go after the stuff I like on TV, maybe I can get someone here to transcribe some of it, I'll even be willing to pay for it and shore up the Chinese economy,

Friedemann

[Colin]

Steve, I'm curious to hear what advice you would give beginning learner's who want to work with self-selected, interesting content but still have a low vocabulary. I know in the past you have talked about tackling content with 50% unknown words but in your own experience what is the line between futility and having a pleasant time with the content? What things do you do to get yourself into real content (made for natives) as quickly as possible?

[WilsWords]

I think this is so important. Especially the emphasis on 'interesting'. I start all my private lessons now with some kind of input activity that I know the student will find interesting. Maybe it's an article from the news I know he or she will like, or it could be a podcast or video on a topic the student is interested in.

I find starting with input, even for confident students who will spend most of the rest of the class in conversation, is the most effective way to inspire students and provide a focus for the class.

I remember teaching a kid years ago who hated school and wouldn't speak a word of English to me but I knew from his mother that he liked football (soccer). We sat together and watched football with English commentary for three lessons, then on the fourth, he came in, asked me about the scores that week and started telling me about his family in English. From then on, he was happy to talk about anything in class in English.

[Steve Kaufmann]

Friedemann, we would love to have more content in our Chinese library. We rely on our members,and our Chinese members have been less productive in this regard than members of the other language groups, with the exception of Swedish.
If you can get your friends to record and/or transcribe content we would love to have it at LingQ.

[Steve Kaufmann]

I would just use LingQ. At the beginning we are forced to just suck it up and listen many times to relatively uninteresting content. We have created some beginner stories and other content at LingQ. Then I would move on to more difficult content asap. Since we still have to listen often, the fact that there may be 50% unknown words is not an obstacle for the keeners. What is more, at LingQ, you can choose content that has a lower percentage of new words based on your own vocabulary. There is a reason we measure that.

[Katie]

Oh, so it's back to Benny.

I'm not getting into this again. If you want to read my thoughts on all this, which you have gotten wrong so far, they're all over the place.

[Steve Kaufmann]

Inchaur is right, Sebastian. Of course we refer to grammar. I have short grammar books in different languages, and I occasionally refer to them, or even quickly read through them. I also look up Spanish verbs or Russian cases on the Internet. But I do not expect to remember anything. It is just for reference,and it helps. It is just that it should not, in my opinion, be the core of language studies, as it too often is. You are taught the subjunctive, or the dative case, and then tested on it. I cannot learn that way.

[Friedemann]

I'll be flying to Germany on Friday, when I am back in April I can ask some friends at work, we'll see,

互相帮助，互相学习

[Katie]

At the risk of saying something politically incorrect, if you have trouble finding content in LingQ, or if the dialogues seem just too long, at least for starters, you might try Assimil. You can find affordable prices on Amazon.

I started Italian with the beginners dialogues on LingQ, and found I really had to suck it up to get through. But then I moved on to dialogues spoken at a natural pace, and found that to be surpisingly effective. So it really is a personal choice. I have specific reasons for why I like Assimil, and that is that the dialogues are only about a minute long and can be funny, the voices belong to trained actors, and the English translation is right on the opposing page. I also like their short explanations, which aren't overwhelming, and seem to provide just enough.

I'm learning French in this way.

I had mentioned problems I have with LingQ, and that is namely that the interface does not work in a way that I find to be intuitive, but that's a separate topic. The idea behind it I think is spot on.

My favorite dialogues, which I get from iTunes, are http://spanishlingq.com and http://russianlingq.com mand so on. The Spanish ones are hilarious, and, in fact, I've been meaning to ask you about these, Steve (boy do I hope this post goes through). Who are these people? Mariano and Guillermo are hilarious!

[Anglophobe Jones]

Katie said: "Oh, so it's back to Benny. I'm not getting into this again."
---

In other words: you've been caught out by Steve and you've got nothing to say! ;-D

[Katie]

No. It's because I refuse to get back into this. I would like to move on.

[Steve Kaufmann]

Katie,
You say that you hope your comment goes through. Are some being blocked?

Our content is constantly improving but we do depend on our members. Out ItalianLingQ podcasts have really improved with Danilo and Rita. In fact we pay our LingQPodcasters, including our Argentinian friends and our Russian podcasters, since this material also helps get the word out.

We do not pay for content in our Libraries.

[Anglophobe Jones]

Yes. You would love to prove Steve wrong - but you can't! ;-D

[Katie]

I said from the beginning, I'm partial to input based methods. Benny and I have even been exchanging emails, and he knows what I think, but a difference is that I don't feel a need to convince him. He is just now learning what it is, and seems open to it. He may or may not try it.

Either way, it doesn't matter to me what he does. I'm not offended by those who think differently than I do. I don't care if he might say that the input method is a waste of time. I know that it's not. So, what's to defend?

There, I've just said the same thing I've said so many times. I'm not saying it again. If you're going to go back and quote me out of context, which I can just sense some of you are chomping at the bit to do, I would like to suggest that you not, and we go back to talking about languages.

[Anglophobe Jones]

BTW Katie, I think you're absolutely right about Assimil - I agree that it'd be much better than LingQ for complete square-one beginners.

(In a way, LingQ begins where´Assimil ends...)

[Friedemann]

You mean, paying them with points, right?

[Katie]

A few of my posts were blocked, but that's okay. Maybe because I was sending so many, Typepad assumed it was spam? :)

[Katie]

To AJ, about LingQ picking up where Assimil leaves off, I totally agree.

So, just a tip, to anyone reading this. On the lefthand side of this blog, you'll see a list of language podcasts. Just bookmark the language you want to learn. You can also easily pick these up on iTunes.

These dialogues are such a wonderful way to pick up on the culture and the people of a particular country. They speak at a normal pace, you have the transcripts right there. You can use the LingQ tools, or use your own. A Babylon on-line dictionary is under 40 bucks. I've been using Google translate and wordreference so far.

I even sent these URLs to Benny in an email. :)

[Friedemann]

Since Katie brought up Babylon, I had considered buying a Babylon license but I found their Chinese dictionary not as good as the Chinese reader software I use. For example they don't seem to have pinyin. Another minus was that they didn't have a Norwegian dictionary.

What are your experiences do others have with Babylon?

Friedemann

[Steve Kaufmann]

Friedemann,

No, we pay our LingQpodcasters money.

[Steve Kaufmann]

I bought Assimil for Russian and Korean. The Russian dialoques were OK, but I did not like the fact that I could not look up individual words and had to read a translation of the text to find the words I needed. I also found most of their notes and explanations unnecessary. I found the Korean Assimil boring and did not use it.

I, not surprisingly, prefer to start with LingQ. Much depends on the quality of the beginner content in our various languages. I would still buy a small book with some grammar rules for occasional review.

In an ideal world we could offer Assimil, or Teach Yourself or Colloquial texts at LingQ. I have approached them all, and have been turned down. If we were bigger they might be interested. They would just make their audio and text available, with a link to their site. I think many people would still buy their books.

[Steve Kaufmann]

Katie,

You are just as keen to restate your positions as anyone else, including me. I do so, not to convince Benny of anything, but because this is a blog about language learning, and what is more, it is my blog. Therefore, I will continue to write about my views and to challenge approaches that I think are not effective for many people, especially when these are offered as panaceas.

[Anglophobe Jones]

Have you tried Linguaphone, Steve?

They're somewhat smaller than Assimil, but they've been ailing in recent years, and have been concentrating more on English training for foreigners.
However their foreign language courses were/are roughly as good as Assimil. (Some have been discontinued in the last couple of years - so I don't really see what they would have to lose by selling you a cheap license to upload copies at LingQ.)

[Steve Kaufmann]

I used Linguaphone for Italian some years ago and enjoyed it. It was quite expensive though. I will check them out. Thanks.

[Anglophobe Jones]

You might also like to have a look at Prof Arguelles' review of Linguaphone over at Youtube?
The thing is, Steve, there was also an earlier generation of Linguaphone dating from the 1960s. But all of these (apart from, I believe, Japanese) are now long discontinued - so I really can't see why Linguaphone wouldn't want you to have them at LingQ? Really, what on earth could they have to lose?

I myself own several of these 1960s Linguaphone courses (Russian, Greek, Icelandic, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Latin American Spanish, Japanese, and a couple others.) And I have made copies of most of their audio in MP3 - so it'd be a very quick task to upload it to LingQ! :-D

[Steve Kaufmann]

AJ,

I went to the Linguaphone website. I see they are still very expensive. I have spent a fair amount of effort to interest the other companies and do not think it is a realistic proposal. We do not have enough learners to be of interest to them.

[olekramo]

Você pode baixar "Linguaphone" ou "Assimil" na internet...

[reineke]

Because boring content kills enthusiasm and requires constant effort. Boring might be useful and adults can overcome these issues. Often they shouldn't bother :)

[Steve Kaufmann]

olekramo

Onde se pode baixar Linguaphone ou Assimil? Obrigado.

[Chris]

The Linguaphone Chinese course is insane. The first lesson has you learning about pomegranate trees. I think once my level is a bit better, I'd use it as a reader, but to start off with it's pretty dense. The Assimil course, by contrast, was almost infantile in its simplicity. I finished the first volume and saw the second wasn't much more advanced. Disappointing.

[chris/blindside70]

I've not heard great things about Assimil for Asian languages, I'm using it on and off for Japanese and it's alright. I think where it really shines is the European languages. The posters above who said lingq starts where assimil ends are absolutely right. Listening to long content or the staged short content at lingq isn't very effective to me as a beginner. Once you get through an assimil course then jumping onto to lingq (especially the lingq podcast conversations) are great and really what makes learning the language fun...

[Chris]

I agree also that LingQ is perfect after Assimil. I've followed that approach with both Spanish and Swedish. Get a grounding with a course, then polish with LingQ, that's my approach.

[Anglophobe Jones]

@Steve

Haven't you ever heard of Ebay, Sir!?

You wanna get Linguaphone or Assimil for a tiny fraction of what they cost new? Ebay this very day!

BTW I don't know if you were 100% with me in what I said in my last post, Steve? I was talking about Linguaphone courses from the 1960s which have been DISCONTINUED. As I said, I really don't see what the heck Linguaphone would have to lose by allowing folks to upload these at LingQ? Surely it'd be worth writing them a letter to ask permission?

(Or...er,well...there is the Tim Ferris technique of asking for forgiveness rather than permission, I guess...:-0)

[Anglophobe Jones]

(Of course I know people can already upload them for personal use - but I mean put them in the library to share.)

[Chris]

Jones,

I doubt they'll agree anyway. Uz-translations.net, a storehouse of scanned and photocopied language-related books was recently sent a letter by Assimil demanding they remove all the Assimil courses that had been uploaded (some 20+). The ones currently in print were removed (and fair enough), but they wouldn't allow the out-of-print ones to remain for whatever idiotic reason concerning copyright. They're indefinitely vergriffen, so what's the problem? Quite infuriating.

[Chris]

I should probably add my point was that even out-of-print books still often have existing copyrights, so if one company won't allow it, it's possible and likely another won't either, even though Linguaphone has nothing to do with Assimil. They're both pretty large and popular companies, so I wouldn't hold my breath personally.

[Anglophobe Jones]

I guess you've got a point, Chris. Copyright law can be really dumb.

On the other hand, the Tim Ferris thing about asking forgivness rather than permission can sometimes be an effective way of kicking open doors.

An example of this in action: I recently read about a young guy here in the UK who wanted to start a business selling physically enhanced iPods (coating them with real gold, encrusting them with diamonds, stuff like that.) Well, everyone told him he could forget it, and that Apple would sue his ass! But he just went ahead and did it anyway. And in the end, Apple were so knocked-out with the results that they offered him some kind of special deal.

If Steve could find a way whereby Linguaphone or Assimil would be making a little money from stuff which they have actually discontinued, how could they refuse?
(Plus it would be good advertising for them among language keeners. It would have to be a win-win, if you ask me...)

[chris/blindside70]

Even though they wouldn't be available in the library users can,away from lingq of course, share material and then put it on privately also...

[chris/blindside70]

Even though they wouldn't be available in the library users can,away from lingq of course, share material and then put it on privately also...