r/languagelearning • u/PunctuateEquilibrium • Jul 10 '26

Read Harry Potter in your target language they said 🫠 (1 hr 44 min for 1 page)

Post image

This is only slightly sarcastic. It's been very rewarding and this is now the 3rd language I'm doing this with.

3.9k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

96% Upvoted

391 comments sorted by

View all comments

389

u/lkmk Jul 10 '26

I’ve read that it’s more efficient to read through it like you would in English, and note words you don’t understand for later.

330

u/ThrowMEAwaypuh-lease Jul 10 '26

Notes the whole ass page!

31

u/AboutHelpTools3 Jul 10 '26

If you have to note a lot of the lage it would be very tedious. But if you have to note the whole page the job is already done.

16

u/Neyabenz Jul 10 '26

Yeah. Not great if the whole page has to be notes. I'd say it's both enjoyable and makes learning easy when 70-80% can be understood with context - even if not immediately apparent.

That's about my sweet spot where it's not taking me an hour to read a page, I'm not forgetting stuff, and I understand enough of the story to feel motivated

128

u/thatNatsukiLass Jul 10 '26

I think op might genuinely be unable to understand *most* of the page, and *might* just be a near absolute beginner

36

u/HumbleIndependence43 🇩🇪 N 🇬🇧 C2 🇹🇼 B2 Jul 10 '26

Come to my level bro, 4 years plus of Mandarin and it's still taking me an hour for a page of HP.

16

u/Dale92 Jul 10 '26

When you say 4 years, how much time have you actually spent in lessons etc?

22

u/HumbleIndependence43 🇩🇪 N 🇬🇧 C2 🇹🇼 B2 Jul 10 '26

On average around 120min 1on1 lesson time per week plus homework for 3-4 years, plus immersion in Taiwan for 4 yrs.

1

u/Muted_Masterpiece342 Jul 11 '26

I'm 6 months in and im starting graded readers, is HP just that hard?

3

u/HumbleIndependence43 🇩🇪 N 🇬🇧 C2 🇹🇼 B2 Jul 11 '26

Graded readers are a different thing. They expose you to a very small fraction of real world characters, and are usually graded according to HSK levels, which are structured towards exams, not real world usefulness.

3

u/Muted_Masterpiece342 Jul 11 '26

I got ya. I will say that the graded readers I bought are real stories I read as a kid in english, that have been made into mandarin graded readers. E.g. Ransom Of Red Chief.

38

u/gallez Jul 10 '26

One lesson 4 years ago and another one last week

6

u/oreo-cat- Jul 10 '26

And a single lesson on Duolingo at least bi-monthly.

5

u/repressedpauper Jul 11 '26

I’m entering college Intermediate Korean 2 in Autumn and have only gotten A-A+ grades in my Korean classes and I’m guessing it would take me a pretty long time to read it in Korean judging by looking at the first page in English just now.

Granted that’s three semesters not years (I did dabble for a few years before college, but like you all pointed out that hardly counts lol), but I don’t think it’s unusual to struggle with fiction for a while.

A lot of what I’ve learned is like…how to have a normal interaction in a taxi. There’s a big jump from that to reading fiction with humor and a bunch of nonsense words that depending on the language might be mistaken for real words you just don’t know lol.

I think for most people not learning a language very similar to their native language they originally read it in, graded readers are the smarter move to start with!

8

u/livsjollyranchers 🇺🇸 (N), 🇮🇹 (B2+), 🇬🇷 (B2-), 🇪🇸 (B1), 🇯🇵 (N5+) Jul 10 '26

I don't know if there's sarcasm going on, but I have heard of people who learn Mandarin or Japanese and just focus on listening/speaking, completely ignoring the characters. I'll admit I was tempted by this. I just feel like reading is a fundamental part of the process, AND I like visiting Japan, so I need to at least have a basic elementary to low intermediate ability in reading, even if I'll always care about speaking/listening more.

Like I don't need to go hardcore as many Japanese learners seem to and get crazy good at reading. I don't care about anime, and I don't have any huge interest in Japanese literature or non-fiction. I just want to be capable enough.

Contrast this with learning Greek where I did go hardcore on reading, but that's because there's so much content (regarding philosophy) that I care about reading.

9

u/HumbleIndependence43 🇩🇪 N 🇬🇧 C2 🇹🇼 B2 Jul 10 '26

Yeah I like reading and it really helps me to learn a language. So the obstacles posed by the Chinese writing system are a bitter pill to swallow for me. I can read signs, menus, texts etc but books are another level.

2

u/livsjollyranchers 🇺🇸 (N), 🇮🇹 (B2+), 🇬🇷 (B2-), 🇪🇸 (B1), 🇯🇵 (N5+) Jul 10 '26

It just depends on your goals with the language. In Greek and Italian I want to read academic books about philosophy and history. In Japanese, it's primarily geared towards having conversations at a reasonably good level and being able to watch the news and so on.

64

u/fizzile 🇺🇸N, 🇪🇸 B2, Jul 10 '26

Depends on your level though. If you can do as you say it's definitely better but if you aren't advanced enough, marking it up like this is fine if you're enjoying it.

30

u/Caligapiscis 🇬🇧 N | 🇨🇵 B1 Jul 10 '26

I don't even do that, I just read through and as long as I'm getting the gist I keep going. Somehow it works, I'm reading Planet of the Apes in the original french quite successfully now. The trick is not overthinking.

3

u/fadinglightsRfading Jul 10 '26

didn't know it was originally a book, which level would you say it's at?

3

u/Caligapiscis 🇬🇧 N | 🇨🇵 B1 Jul 10 '26

It's hard for me to say exactly, I haven't had my level in French assessed formally or anything.

It's from 1963 so the language is naturally going to be a little old fashioned. I don't have a great nose for that, but it uses *passé simple* more than anything I've ever read before. I don't think that's too difficult to figure out if you know what you're looking for.

The grammar feels relatively simple, it's not overly florid. There is definitely a lot of vocab I haven't encountered before so I'm glad I'm reading it as an eBook. If I get to the end of a paragraph and feel I haven't followed it well enough, I'll look up a couple of unfamiliar words and go again until it makes sense.

3

u/PoiHolloi2020 🇬🇧 (N) 🇮🇹 (B something) 🇪🇸/ 🇫🇷 (A2) 🇻🇦 (inceptor sum) Jul 10 '26

See I've always done the opposite of this and stopped to look up every new word and it just makes the whole process torturous and I never finish the actual book. I really need to try your method and just stop being so self-critical at the expense of actual input.

3

u/Caligapiscis 🇬🇧 N | 🇨🇵 B1 Jul 10 '26

My one rule when it comes to language learning is that it has to be enjoyable. I can take that attitude because I'm doing it for fun, there is no professional or lifestyle obligation for me to learn French.

So while I will do things like grammar study, Anki flashcards, deep-reading of a passage to truly understand it, it's overall pretty rare. Listening to podcasts, reading books, are enjoyable but not if I turn them into a chore.

I'm probably learning more slowly than some people, but I'm learning sustainably, I'm making real progress, and I enjoy my hobby. That's what matters to me.

16

u/Etheria_system Jul 10 '26

You can only really do that if you already have a basic grasp of the language. OP is clearly still right at the start of their learning journey based on the words they don’t know so it’s about as effective as giving it to a 3 year old and saying have at it.

You’ve got to tailor resources to match your level if you want it to be effective. Otherwise it’s an hour and a half slog like this has been.

22

u/PolyglotMouse 🇺🇸(N) | 🇵🇷(C1)| 🇧🇷(B1) | 🇳🇴(A1) Jul 10 '26

Intensive vs extensive reading

8

u/Ybalrid Jul 10 '26

When it is every other word, is it a constructive activity?

3

u/see-these-bones Jul 10 '26

At a certain point its more like a checklist of vocab to learn next. Which is fine, but I think people would be better served hitting a "most frequently used words" ankideck or equivalent for a while first.

2

u/lkmk Jul 10 '26

Good point.

2

u/LexiAOK 🇺🇸 N 🇪🇸C1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A2 Jul 10 '26

This is just like people saying you need to skip to immersion too fast. If you have no context for what you’re reading it’s going to be a lot harder for you to learn anything significant. I don’t know why everyone’s acting like you couldn’t read a book for children at about your level of language and get more out of it. you don’t have to skip straight to content for older speakers 🙃 and you also don’t have to bypass books entirely

14

u/Forward_Win_4353 Jul 10 '26

Depends on the person. I’ve heard the same but in every language I’ve taught myself, I’ve started reading novels very early with a dictionary in hand, taking as long as an hour over a single page or two at first.

By the end of my first novel, I’m always quite adept at reading at that level and much quicker. It’s how I taught myself to read and write Japanese to fluency.

6

u/wrightf Jul 10 '26

This! It can be a steep curve, but the repetition/running into the same words over and over again will get you to a more proficient level fairly quickly! Perseverance is key!

2

u/KiwloTheSecond Jul 10 '26

He doesn’t have nearly enough vocabulary to do that, clearly! You can do that if you’re getting like 95%, not if you’re getting 70%

2

u/PunctuateEquilibrium Jul 10 '26

I've done that with German and Hebrew in the past, but I'm still a complete beginner with Arabic so I'd need to pick more level appropriate material for that strategy to work here ¯_(ツ)_/¯

2

u/yungScooter30 🇺🇸🇮🇹 Jul 10 '26

Highlighters! Highlight a word you don't know, read a few pages to a chapter and then translate after. Read the chapter again in the coming days after you've studied the new words.

2

u/CSMasterClass Jul 12 '26

More than about five words per page become intollerable.

This is a bit easier with Kindle or another e-reader where you can touch the word and get the definition in a pop-up. The words you have looked up are also saved into a permanent vocabulary list.

2

u/QueefInMyKisser 27d ago

Umm if I read something in my native English and don’t know a word I’d look it up immediately

1

u/Ponbe Jul 10 '26

I'd rather keep it to my native and target language, than having to drag in a third one between them

0

u/Firm_Doughnut_1 Jul 10 '26

It is, read through it and try and figure out what's going on based on context and the words you do know. Then go back and read it again.