3) Your Learning is Portable
You can learn a language anywhere: listen to a podcast while you’re driving or washing the dishes, read while you’re waiting in line or at the bus stop. It’s easy to take your learning with you. Your learning isn’t limited to a classroom.
With LingQ, for example, I can read on my computer, phone, or tablet. Everything is automatically synced, and my learning is suddenly portable. Why limit your learning to a classroom when it can be incorporated into your daily routine? It’s not only more efficient, but more consistent to spend time with the language wherever you go.
4) You’re not making mistakes
A lot of people are afraid to make mistakes. If you’re forced to speak, you’ll make mistakes. Well, this doesn’t apply to listening or reading. Sure, you might misunderstand something. But this doesn’t matter. You’re just in the stage of learning which the brain is becoming more and more familiar with the language.
You’re not prioritizing accuracy in listening and reading as much as just ensuring that you’re consistent. Again, I recommend moving past the beginner material or material designed for language learners, as it’s often not very interesting. You can’t go wrong working with material that you find fun and engaging.
While learning Czech, I was able to learn so much about Czech history, the history of Central Europe, and the political situation in the Czech Republic. When I got to Prague, I had all this wonderful background knowledge thanks to my comprehensible input.
You can’t go wrong with reading and listening to comprehensible, interesting content. When in doubt on what to read, I find mini-stories on LingQ helpful. The mini-stores use shifting points of view and circling questions to help jumpstart my grasp of a language and help me access more compelling input sooner. It’s never a waste of time.
5) Learning via an input-based approach is cheaper
You don’t have to spend much a lot of money for comprehensible input. Go to the library. Find content on the internet. And of course, you can use LingQ. There’s so much material out there that can be used to learn a language. You don’t need to invest in expensive courses or materials to make great progress.
Sure, language classes can provide social benefits and feedback. But the real means of learning a language is consistent, ample amounts of listening and reading.
Final Thoughts
Learning a language is a gradual, but simple process. Comprehensible input is the main ingredient for successful language learning. Find content that sparks your interest, stay consistent with the language, and you’ll see great progress in building vocabulary, your feel for the language’s structure, and your overall fluency.
Listen and read the transcript on LingQ. Try it for free today and improve your language ability.
