My adult ESL students frequently hear me say,

“When you read or listen to English that you can understand, you acquire – you pick up, or absorb – more English. The more you read or listen, the more you acquire.”

Most of my students know that reading and listening to English is important. But they often forget that the English they read or listen to must be easy to understand. Many of them choose books that are too difficult. When they do, they have to read slowly and stop frequently to look words up in a dictionary. This defeats the language acquisition process.

How can we be sure that the texts we read and listen to are easy enough to make language acquisition possible? First, you must be able to easily understand what you read or listen to. You don’t have to know all of the words, but you should be able to easily follow the story or ideas.

Second, when you read, you should be able to read smoothly and at a comfortable speed. If you have to read too slowly, you may not be able to follow the story or ideas and you might become bored or even discouraged.

Some of my students have heard me say, “Remember the title of that book. Write it down. You can read it next month or the month after that. But for now, find one that is easier.” They are rarely disappointed when they do.

When you read or listen to easy-to-understand English, you acquire more English. The more understandable English you read or listen to, the more you acquire. Your ability to read and listen to more difficult texts grows gradually and naturally. And all aspects of your English – your reading, listening, speaking, and writing – improve.

If you have a question or comment about this subject, use the “Add a comment” link below. I would like to hear from you.

Warren Ediger

warren@successfulenglish.com