1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,960 This is Jack from tofluency.com, and this is episode 10 of the To 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,480 Fluency podcast. Learn English with me, Jack. 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:12,960 Now today I'm going to talk about a powerful reading method 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,440 that will help you improve your English. 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,600 And I'm going to go through this step by step. 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,200 So today you're going to learn the difference between intensive 7 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:29,280 and extensive reading, Intensive versus extensive, how to find 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,160 books in English that are going to help you, and a reading 9 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:38,160 method that ensures that you enjoy reading and also that you 10 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:43,440 learn new words and phrases. So this is perfect for you if 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,440 you enjoy reading to learn English, you're not quite sure 12 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:54,360 about the best way to do this, and also you're not sure which 13 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,920 books are going to help you. Now before we talk about 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,760 intensive and extensive reading in the books, etcetera, I do 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,480 want to say if you want to get a free book, then go to 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,440 tofluency.com. There will be a link in the 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,080 podcast description and you can download that for free. 18 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,200 It's going to give you a plan of action so that you can actually 19 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,400 move forward with your language learning. 20 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,360 And also if you enjoy this episode then please share it 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,720 with your friends and if you are feeling very generous, leave a 22 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,600 review below. OK, so let's start with 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,840 intensive versus extensive reading and why this is 24 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:40,360 important because there are two types of reading when it comes 25 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,280 to language learning. In intensive is where you read 26 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:50,200 to learn new words and phrases and you analyse the text and the 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,800 grammar. So you pause. 28 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:58,920 You stop if you don't know a word and look this up, or you 29 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,240 pause. You stop when when you want to 30 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,840 have a look and think about a sentence. 31 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,000 So you're really focusing on the words and the phrases and the 32 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,759 grammar and not the book in general. 33 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:17,640 Now, extensive reading, this is spelt EXTENSIVE. 34 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:23,360 Extensive reading is when you read for fun and you are reading 35 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,600 just to enjoy the story or the book in general. 36 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:30,040 So you don't stop to look up new words and phrases. 37 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,480 Instead you just continue reading like you would in your 38 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,200 own language. So that is a difference. 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,040 Intensive is when you're focusing on the words and 40 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,480 phrases. You're focusing on learning 41 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,640 structures and grammar. Extensive is when you're just 42 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,920 reading a book and you don't stop, so you're trying to get 43 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:53,680 the general meaning of the story or the book in general. 44 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,320 Now you might be thinking, which method is best? 45 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,320 Which one should I focus on? Well, it depends on a few 46 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:07,240 factors, and soon you're going to learn how you can do both at 47 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,120 the same time. But first, let's discuss which 48 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,800 books in English are best for you. 49 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:18,200 Which books you should buy or read to help you learn English. 50 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,520 Now, my answer to this is very simple. 51 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,120 There is no one book that is perfect for everyone. 52 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,360 So there's no book that is going to be perfect for everyone. 53 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:33,440 A book that suits you. A book that is perfect for you 54 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,960 probably won't be perfect for another learner listening to 55 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,120 this podcast. So with that in mind, I 56 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,640 recommend that you find books that first. 57 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:46,600 And there are three categories here. 58 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:52,720 First, books that interest you. Books that interest you. 59 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,200 Don't waste your time reading something that you find boring. 60 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,320 If you find it boring, put that book down and find a different 61 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,000 book. There's no reason to read 62 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,080 something that doesn't interest you. 63 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,680 Because we have access these days to books from all over the 64 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,240 world. We can loan them, we can read 65 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,920 them online, we can buy them. We have access digitally to so 66 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,160 many different books. And we can also think about this 67 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,160 in ways of this could be an article online or it could be a 68 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,760 magazine. So read things that interest 69 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,640 you. And the main reason for this is 70 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,360 that firstly, it's more fun because why read something that 71 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,800 you find boring? But secondly, if you find it 72 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,520 interesting, then you're likely going to use the language that 73 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,560 the book uses in everyday life. You want to talk about this 74 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,080 book. It's on a subject that interests 75 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,960 you, and if a subject interests you, then you're likely to talk 76 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,200 about it. Now #2 find a book that you can 77 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,400 understand. Find a book that you can 78 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,560 understand. There is nothing more 79 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,320 frustrating than reading something that is too difficult. 80 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:13,160 So this means that you should find something, a book that 81 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,760 isn't going to be too complicated. 82 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,200 And this is going into the area of something called 83 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:24,720 comprehensible input. This is where you get input. 84 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,160 You listen to things, you watch things, and you read things that 85 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,360 you can comprehend, that you can understand. 86 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,080 Because if something is going to be too difficult, you're going 87 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:39,600 to be frustrated by reading it. And also, it's difficult to 88 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,120 learn new words and phrases when there are so many new words and 89 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:47,120 phrases to learn or when you're not understanding what is going 90 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,080 on in the story. Now, a quick tip for that is a 91 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:54,360 graded reader. A graded reader. 92 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,240 Now, these are books that have been adapted for learners like 93 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,120 you. So you can say, OK, I have a 94 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,120 lower intermediate level or a higher intermediate level and 95 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:10,840 you can find books that have been written specifically for 96 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:13,120 your level. Now if you want to learn more 97 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,240 about this, just search for graded readers. 98 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,200 And I'll leave these tips in the description if you want to know 99 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,960 how to spell this. And what's important to know is 100 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:28,240 that basic English is good. So basic English is good. 101 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,120 This is how you are going to learn new words and phrases in a 102 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,800 more natural way. So, so far, we have said that 103 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,400 you should find books that interests you, things that you 104 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,160 enjoy, and books that you understand now. 105 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:48,960 The third tip is to find books that are specific to how you use 106 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,880 English now or how you want to use English. 107 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,720 So books that are specific to how you use English now or how 108 00:06:55,720 --> 00:07:00,120 you want to use English in the future, for example. 109 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,000 Here is a very specific example. If you're going to take the 110 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:10,560 IELTS exam, read IELTS sample papers or IELTS reading model 111 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,080 answers because that is what you need to focus on. 112 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,560 Or if you need to learn business English, then find books that 113 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,520 are related to business. If you want to be able to have 114 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,840 good everyday English where you can use small talk and have 115 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,200 conversations, then read books that have conversations in them. 116 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,680 This is just getting a little bit more focused so that you are 117 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,720 really maximizing the type of book that you're going to read. 118 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:44,280 And what I recommend you do as well is go to a website that 119 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:46,720 allows you to have a look inside a book. 120 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,720 For example, I when I'm looking at a book, I go to Amazon.com 121 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:57,000 and it says take a look inside Kindle and e-book. 122 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,120 And I start reading a few pages if it looks good, if it's 123 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,120 interested me, if it's comprehensible, etcetera, then 124 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,400 I'll buy the book. But if not, then I'll move on, 125 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,480 find a different one and get that one instead. 126 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:16,240 So feel free to go on Amazon or whichever website you use to get 127 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,880 audio books and, and ebooks and just start reading a book and 128 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,160 see if it's right for you. Now, I mentioned audio books 129 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,800 there. I think it's also smart as well 130 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:32,280 to find books that have audio books because what you can do is 131 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,720 a few things. You can read the story 1st and 132 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,840 then listen to it afterwards, or you can even read and listen at 133 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,320 the same time. Now, you might not like 134 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,120 audiobooks, so it might not apply to you, but a lot of 135 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,560 people want that audiobook so that they are able to listen and 136 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,480 while they're reading or listen to an audiobook after they have 137 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,400 read the story. OK, so let's now say that you 138 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,600 have your perfect book and you understand the difference 139 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,120 between intensive and extensive reading. 140 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,760 What's next? So how best read a book? 141 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:12,880 This is what I think is a really good way to make sure you're 142 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,960 getting extensive and intensive reading at the same time. 143 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:21,600 And it also cuts down on it reduces the frustration. 144 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,800 So this is a method that will include both both intensive and 145 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,800 extensive reading. And there are three steps here. 146 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:34,400 It is firstly, read extensively. So read the book without 147 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:39,040 stopping, but highlight vocabulary and grammar that you 148 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,080 don't understand or any phrases that you want to learn. 149 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,160 So you don't stop when you're reading, but either on your 150 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:52,240 e-book reader or on a piece of paper, a paper book, you 151 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:56,320 highlight words and phrases that you don't understand or words 152 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:57,840 and phrases that you want to learn. 153 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,480 You keep reading for a chapter or a certain number of pages, 154 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:05,200 and again, you don't stop to look anything up yet. 155 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,600 But once you have read a chapter or once you come to a stage 156 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,360 where you think, OK, I'm going to go back now and have a look 157 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,320 at these words. You can go back, look at the 158 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,280 highlighted words and phrases, and then use a dictionary or 159 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:26,120 whatever tool you want to use to understand what these words and 160 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,120 phrases mean. So again, Step 1, you read 161 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,200 extensively, but highlight vocabulary and grammar. 162 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:38,760 You read for a certain amount of time and then you stop, go back 163 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,000 and look up these words and phrases that you don't 164 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,080 understand. So this allows you to read for 165 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,000 fun, but also to learn something new at the same time. 166 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,760 And you're not stopping every time you don't understand 167 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,440 something. Instead, you're reading and 168 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,840 understanding what is happening in the story or in the non 169 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,400 fiction book. And if you find a book that's 170 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:06,520 comprehensible, that's not too difficult for your level, then 171 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,400 this should be relatively easy to do. 172 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,360 So you're reading for pleasure, you're highlighting language as 173 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,720 you go, and then one, once you reach a really good point, you 174 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,520 can go back and look up the words that you have highlighted. 175 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,160 Now this method doesn't stop there because there is a way 176 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,040 that you can remember the vocabulary and grammar that 177 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,440 you've just learnt and a way for you to internalise this. 178 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,160 Now this is my favorite method and I've talked about this 179 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:41,400 before with the LRRC method, but it's more specific, this one to 180 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,200 words that you have written down or read. 181 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,560 And this is what I recommend you do because it's going to help 182 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:53,880 you learn new words and phrases, vocabulary, grammar, and just 183 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,080 English in general. There are three steps to this. 184 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,920 Firstly, you take the sentences that you have highlighted and 185 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,600 copy them. Now you can do this with an 186 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,400 e-book. There's a way to do it if you go 187 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,480 to the description. I have a link where I give a 188 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,680 guide on this, but you can copy and paste them from your kindle 189 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,280 or your ebook. Then you paste them into spaced 190 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:23,480 repetition software and create digital flash cards. 191 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:28,440 OK, so you take the sentences, put them into software so that 192 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,640 you can create digital flash cards and then you repeat the 193 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:39,160 sentences over a few weeks so that you internalize the words 194 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,800 and phrases and therefore the vocabulary and the grammar that 195 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,640 you have learnt. This is a very simple thing to 196 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:51,040 do and it only requires a few minutes of your time every day, 197 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,000 but it will do amazing things for your English. 198 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,280 Now, once you have done this, once you have gone through each 199 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:03,720 chapter, take in the words and phrases, put them into software, 200 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,760 learned them or repeat them over the long term. 201 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,880 Go back in about a month and read the book again and you'll 202 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,960 be amazed at how much you have learned and how much more you 203 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,480 understand. This time you won't need to 204 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,160 stop. You'll be able to fully focus on 205 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:28,280 extensive reading because what you've done is you have taken 206 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,040 the words and phrases that you didn't understand or the ones 207 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,800 that you wanted to learn. You have repeated these using 208 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,280 software. So it's a very efficient way to 209 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,680 do it. And then you go back and you see 210 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,680 these words and phrases and you just know what they mean. 211 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,880 Now, this method, this whole method might sound quite 212 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:52,240 complex, but it's very simple once you learn how to do it. 213 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,640 So again, what you need to do is find books that are perfect for 214 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:01,040 you, read extensively so that you can enjoy the book. 215 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,120 But while you read the book, highlight words and phrases. 216 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:10,640 Then go back after a chapter or two chapters and look up what 217 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,760 these words and phrases mean. Then take those highlights, the 218 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:20,320 highlighted sentences, put them into software, repeat them over 219 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,280 the long term, then go back and read the book again. 220 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,440 This is how you can use one book to learn so much English, but 221 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:31,840 also have fun reading at the same time. 222 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,280 OK, I hope you have enjoyed this episode. 223 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,360 Before you go, be sure to check out the description because I'll 224 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,040 link to the blog post that I wrote on this method so you can 225 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,880 follow it more step by step. And you can read the method too. 226 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,760 And I've also got a couple of videos in there as well. 227 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,160 And then while you're on my website, click the link where it 228 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,800 says free book at the top and download my book, The Five Step 229 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,480 Plan for English Fluency. And please like and share this 230 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,600 podcast and leave a review if you really enjoy it. 231 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,320 Thank you so much for listening and I will speak to you soon. 232 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:07,800 Bye bye.