Comprehension is key. Communication is possible without perfect grammar or the richest vocabulary. However, to achieve a level in which it is possible to have meaningful conversations, comprehension is non-negotiable. Communication will break down without solid language comprehension.
How Do We Build Up Our Language Comprehension?
Well, this is counterintuitive. To improve our comprehension skills, we need to accept ambiguity. In other words, it is okay if you do not understand or you keep forgetting what something means. It is frustrating to not fully grasp a text or constantly forget a word, but this is part of the language-learning process.
Naturally, we may become frustrated, confused, and discouraged. However, to improve our language comprehension, we have to build up our tolerance and patience. We must accept that, more often than not, we will not understand a text or a conversation fully the first time. We’ll need lots of repetition, and our initial understanding will not be very thorough.
A Helpful Metaphor: Language Comprehension and Mowing the Lawn
German neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer once said that “the brain needs repetition, but it also needs novelty”. To illustrate Spitzer’s idea and its connection to language learning, I use the analogy of mowing a lawn.
When the grass is long, it will take multiple passes in order to achieve the correct length. When approaching a text in another language, allow the language to enter your brain. The initial goal may be for your brain to simply familiarize itself with the language. When mowing a lawn, you may have to start with the blades at a higher level.
Sure, you may think that this will set you back. Why waste time and mow the lawn twice? Well, if you set your blades too low, you may encounter too much resistance, forcing yourself to push through grass that is just too high. When learning a language, your brain will naturally want to encounter a variety of texts. Give yourself this variety. However, keep in mind that each of these texts merits more than one read-through.
The idea is to execute a difficult task in multiple passes. To improve your language comprehension, you must accept that you will not perfectly understand everything in one go. The goal is not to understand completely the first time you study something, but rather to persevere and understand more in subsequent sessions. Do not force yourself. Take a break, move on to new material, return to previous material later, and accept that you will not understand everything.
Keep Your Expectations Reasonable
This analogy of the lawn mower can be used in many different contexts. Nothing is going to be perfect the first time we do it. In fact, demanding perfection from ourselves the first time sets us up for failure. When writing an essay, the first draft is meant to capture the gist of what we are trying to say. It’s not yet at the level of quality we expect in a final product. The text is still in a raw form, and we’ll need to look over it many more times before we’re satisfied. That is okay.
We can’t let the desire for perfection interfere with the process of working toward our goals.
The desire to understand immediately is a major obstacle in language learning. Building up our language comprehension is a gradual process. Be easy on yourself, and do not expect perfection right away. Simply continue to move forward. When we are studying a language, it is easy to fixate on what we do not understand. Don’t beat yourself up about it!
Build Your Comprehension Skills with LingQ
LingQ is designed to help you listen and read to your target language more smoothly. You’re able to move through a text with less friction, as you can automatically translate new words and save them for later review. LingQ helps you develop the mindset of gleaming a text stress-free, and you can visualize your progress when you review the lesson. The number of unknown words may be lower and you’re able to jog your memory more quickly.
Do this with anything in your target language. A podcast? Sure. A video from your favourite YouTuber? Why not? An entire book? Absolutely. You can even study the video at the beginning of this blog post as a lesson on LingQ.
Final Thoughts
Forward movement is the most important thing. Be resilient and show perseverance in your language learning. Language learning should not be an overly stressful or painful experience. Real learning comes from spending time with a language, and it’s more sustainable when you enjoy the process. Everyone learns at their own pace.
There are ups and downs in language learning, just as there are in the pursuit of any challenging endeavour. The main thing is to not quit because we are discouraged. We must instead acknowledge the fact that we are not perfect and we will not pick everything up right away. To build our language comprehension, we have to stay motivated when we do not understand.
Simply move along and continue down the path of growth in your language learning journey. Once you have removed the expectation that you must understand what you are listening to or reading immediately, you allow the language to seep into your mind subconsciously. Do not fixate on one word or sentence and halt your progress to spend five minutes on one word or phrase. Let the language wash over your mind. Immerse yourself in it. Gradually, you will see great progress in your language comprehension and your intuition with the language will develop over time.
