Ha! Classics
Challenging yourself with beautiful literature
Welcome, aspiring polyglot! If you can read Don Quixote, The Count of Monte Cristo, or Beyond Good and Evil in their respective languages, you can discuss mundane tasks. This is an underlying principle within my language classes and, unfortunately, it is the thing most of my students fight me on over everything else. Irrespective of the method behind the madness, consider this, if you can read at the same level as a native speaker, then the jump to speaking is far less intimidating than it might otherwise be. You just have to start.
FREE audiobooks
Technology has brought with it more than AI girlfriends and scam calls. Those who are interested in reading, particularly the classics, have a huge advantage now. Most of those classics are available for free somewhere. You can find them on YouTube in the form of audiobooks, in several languages. This, during the beginning, is your bread and butter. Transcripts so you can test your comprehension, slow, purposeful orators, and the ability to pause, rewind, and slow down the content make these next level.
Along with your free audiobooks, you always have the option to add in some paid ones. Audible is perfect for limitless audio exposure. Any commute can quickly be transformed into an input session that is targeted and engaging. After all, if it isn’t engaging, you are choosing the wrong stimulus. Take this all to the next level by adding dictation into the rotation to make sure you are actually hearing what you think you are hearing. After that, it’s time to start working it into speech.
Text to speech is perfect for practicing speech before you feel ready to speak with real people. Of course, the longer you wait to make the transition the more difficult it will be, but it is the perfect in between. Test yourself and see if the things you say can be properly interpreted by the robot. Heads up, you will probably have to change your phone’s language in the settings for this to work But, if you are learning a new language, you should have already done that.
Gutenberg press
Outside of audio interpretation practice, you can add free material to your reading rotation through use of the Gutenberg Press website: https://www.gutenberg.org/ where you can download free transcripts from many of the classics and all of the public domain works you could ever want. Since many of these will be in English, you have the opportunity to tackle another portion of language acquisition, quite possibly the most difficult, concerted thinking.
That is to say, when you are reading through these English classics, your goal is to translate, to the best of your ability, all of the English while keeping it as true to the message, not the direct translation, as possible. At first this will be excruciating. 5-10 sentences is an absolute win. Anything more than that and you are cruising at a really good pace. Making it a habit is ideal, but that does not mean you need to do pages at a time. One or two paragraphs a day is more than you were doing before and more than most will ever do.
As you are translating, I urge you to make the first pass through with as little outside help as possible. Really push yourself to find ways to say things, even if those things are not as perfect as you would want them to be. Over time you will improve and having those to look back upon will be important. If you are always using translation help and Google, when you look back at your past work you will actually be disappointed with your new progress rather than inspired.
That said, once it is time to go back and make corrections, break them all out. When you are using resources, you should be doing it to fix your own writing and thinking rather than using it to interpret other people’s work. Over time you will need it less and less, but you should be fighting from the very beginning to use a little help as possible even upon the revisions. Taking this all to the next level involves using physical media.
Dual text books
Parallel text books have two languages on pages that face one another. This simplicity allows you to take the things you know and use them while simultaneously increasingly your vocabulary. The best part is you never need a dictionary because the answers are on the adjacent page. Though I am always partial to using a physical dictionary and looking up each word individually to write down, sometimes you just don’t want to do that and this is the perfect loophole.
The challenge level for this material varies drastically and you could pick up something from Dr. Seuss to Alexander Dumas. Whatever you choose, there are two considerations to make. First, it needs to be something you are interested in to start. This is important because when you look forward to the material you are using it is far easier to sit down for your daily study session. Second, and probably more important, the material should challenge you. Anything between 50% and 80% comprehension is perfect. For more on working above your level check here:
Working Above Your Second Language "Level"
Welcome, aspiring polyglot! Someone the other day told me that there is no way to discuss philosophy after only learning a new language for a few months. While it certainly is not normal, to say it is impossible is just plain wrong. When it comes to second language acquisition, outside of mainstream classrooms the limitations that are placed on you will be placed on you by yourself, not by anyone else.
Many cities also have language exchanges in which you may find a bookclub that is going through material in your target language. Should you not be able to find anything, starting one yourself is always an option. Whether the book is difficult or not becomes irrelevant when you are working through it with other people. The discussions that accompany any reading are priceless for language acquisition and offer a unique opportunity to expand your skills.
The average person does not read. Not in their native language, not in their second language, not in any language. By reading books in your target language, even if it takes you two or three months at a time, you are doing what very few others are willing to do. That will give you access to things very few others have access to in the long run. It may take days or weeks or even years to see the dividends be paid back, but investing in yourself is always worthwhile.
Conclusion
I have always been a fan of the classics. Reading them over the years I have found that each one brings me something different, even the same book has something different for me each read through. When I was a freshman in high school, we read Count of Monte Cristo. This year I reread it in French. Everything was better than I remember it and, perhaps, a large part of that is due to the fact that this time I read it in the language in which it was originally written.
Reading these is exceptionally difficult, but the challenge will provide unparalleled stimulus for your progression. Every aspect of your linguistic abilities will be tested and, therefore, improve simultaneously. Taking this on will be difficult, but you can do difficult things and be great. Prove it to yourself by picking up the most intriguing classic and working through it in your target language. Let me know how it goes, but not until you’ve worked at it for 21 days. I am rooting for you.
Requests
If you have anything you would like covered you can reach out to me on ​X​, ​Instagram​, or at odin@secondlanguagestrategies.com.
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