Comments on: Stephen Krashen on Reading

By: Morticia

Morticia — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:54:07 +0000

This seems to be working for me! Well, not just reading but all kinds of input like TV, music, etc. Basically, a HUGE percentage of my Japanese comes from Takarazuka related things. So…I’ve found that the majority of the words I’m learning are all related to the theatre, music, acting, etc. I know so many words like 初舞台、退団、新人公演、男役、娘役、入り待ち、出待ち、演出、演じる、etc. and then more basic words like 音楽、舞、歌、美しい、素敵、etc.
So I’m able to read bits of anything that is related to Takarazuka, like their magazines/graphs, photo books (which have pictures, heh), programs, fansites, their official sites, interviews, etc.
But if I were to try and read magazines and articles about farming or rocket science or something, then it might be trickier because I don’t know all the lingo、I guess you could say.
I’ve also picked up a ton of regular words this way too, so… it’s all good for now. XD

By: AML

AML — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:23:01 +0000

This suggests my read-only-Harry-Potter-books idea will work!! 🙂

By: Harvey

Harvey — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:08:33 +0000

This is the method they used at IUC in Yokohama. They would literally pound us with article after article on the same topic until we had all the vocab and could discuss it without trouble. It really works when it’s coming at you day after day.

That’s another reason why translators specialize in one subject!

Good stuff.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:39:36 +0000

This made me think that it’s the same with listening comprehension. That is, if you talk to one person all the time you get really used to how they talk, and can more easily acquire new vocabulary that way. So I guess if you want to improve your listening, either pick one person to listen to a lot, or talk to the same person on a constant basis.

By: Alec

Alec — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:37:35 +0000

Really good article and it makes a lot of sense. If I’m reading a book I’m interested in and actually can read, I’ll get through it a lot faster than one I keep procrastinating with.

By: John B

John B — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 22:13:21 +0000

I found this to be true reading my first “real” Chinese novels (chick lit, by 张小娴). She writes in a very straightforward style, and after the first book I found the rest to be pretty easygoing. I still learned tons of vocab and structures (particularly Taiwanese structures that aren’t as common in mainland writing), but overall it was a lot easier.

If only I could make it through even the first few pages of 韩寒…

By: suffah

suffah — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:25:40 +0000

Excellent article, thanks for sharing!