How to read in a second language
Extensive and intensive reading, text selection, and how reading speed actually improves.
Reading is the highest-volume input most adult learners can realistically get, and it is also where the most time is wasted. Almost every failed reading plan failed for the same two reasons: the text was too hard, and there was not enough of it.
These articles cover the mechanics — how easy easy should be, how to check a text in thirty seconds, and why the techniques that promise to double your reading speed do not work.
- Reading method
- CEFR and levels
- Vocabulary
- IELTS and TOEFL
Reading Speed in a Second Language: What Actually Works
Speed comes from automatic word recognition, not from eye tricks. How to measure your rate and the training that actually moves it.
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How to Learn Vocabulary from Reading (Without Making 4,000 Flashcards)
The evidence on incidental learning, the spacing effect, and a filter for deciding which of the words you met today are actually worth reviewing.
Read the articleIELTS Reading Time Management: A Realistic Plan for 60 Minutes
Sixty minutes, three passages, forty questions and no transfer time. A concrete timing plan, plus the two rules that recover the most marks.
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How to Choose Reading Material at Your Level
Most reading plans fail because the text was wrong, not because the learner was lazy. Here is how to pick correctly, in about thirty seconds per text.
Read the articleExtensive vs Intensive Reading: How to Split Your Time
Two reading methods, two different jobs. A practical guide to what each one actually gives you and how much of each you need.
Read the articlePractise on passages at your own level
LingoRead generates reading passages at the CEFR level you choose, with comprehension questions and a vocabulary list built from the passage itself — so the difficulty stops being a guess.
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