Reading

Reading is the best way to learn words as you recognise new ones straight away.

Word books

Something you won't be able to live without when learning a language is your own, personal word book. Create a new section for each new topic that you cover. This way every time you come across a new word, you can write it in your word book along with what it means in English. Just by going over your word book once a day will keep them fresh in your memory, ready for when you need to use them.

Downloads:

Word book (Word doc, 180Kb)
Example of a Spanish word book (Word doc, 99Kb)

To really practice your reading skills, do it for fun. Find something to read that interests you - when reading for fun there are no time limits and no questions to answer - it's just something enjoyable to do! Your teacher probably has some short stories and teen magazines in the foreign language which come with an English translation, what more could you want?

We've also got some great ideas on how to read for fun and how to improve your reading skills. You'll be surprised at how many ways there are to read books and articles in a foreign language without leaving the UK! 

Tips for reading

Handy hint:

“Try reading your favourite magazine in another language, all the big magazines have foreign versions available online or you could always bring a stack back with you from your holidays.”

  • Language learning magazines have a list of translations next to the text, so there’s no need to look in a massive dictionary to find the meaning.
  • Ask your teacher what reading materials they have which you could borrow.
  • Don’t forget to put all the new words that you come across into your word book - and don't forget to add the English meaning too.
  • Try reading your favourite magazine in another language, all the big magazines have foreign versions available online or you could always bring a stack back with you from your holidays.
  • Share any article or book that you found interesting and fun to read with your friends; if you find it interesting, they will too.
  • Change your settings on Facebook, MySpace or Bebo to the foreign language you're learning at school - you’ll come across all sorts of new words and you’ll already know their meaning as it's the same web layout as the English version.
  • Read out loud to practice your pronunciation at the same time.
  • Each day learn 4 new words from your word book - a great way to learn these words is the ‘look, cover, say, write, check’ method. This is a simple, fun way to learn new words that will easily stick in your mind to use later down the line.
  • Only read a few sentences at a time. Focus on understanding what it means rather than reading the whole thing in one go.

These are our personal top tips - we used them when we were at school and our teachers noticed a real improvement in our ability to speak and understand the language. Hopefully, if you try out these tips and mix them with some of your own, then you too will make a real difference to speaking a foreign language!