Guides for learning a language by reading.
Methods that work, explained plainly, with the research behind them.
- 01 6 min read How to learn a language by reading You learn a language by reading when the text is easy enough to follow and interesting enough to finish. Choose material where you know nearly every word, read a lot of it, keep the words worth keeping, and review them on a schedule.
- 02 6 min read CEFR levels explained: A1 to C2 The CEFR describes language ability on six levels, from A1 for beginners to C2 for near-complete mastery. Each level is defined by what you can do with the language, in reading, listening, speaking and writing.
- 03 6 min read Spaced repetition for language learning: how it works Spaced repetition means reviewing something at growing intervals, just before you'd forget it. For vocabulary, you see a word again after a day, then a few days, then weeks, so it moves into long-term memory with as few reviews as possible.
- 04 8 min read Graded readers: what they are and how to use them Graded readers are books written or adapted for language learners, with vocabulary and grammar held to a set level. At the right level, they let you read a lot without a dictionary, and reading in volume is how vocabulary and fluency grow.
- 05 8 min read How many words do you need to know to read a language? To read unsimplified text comfortably, you need to know about 98% of its words. For English, research puts that at roughly 8,000–9,000 word families, but graded and simplified text lets you start reading with far fewer.
- 06 7 min read The intermediate plateau: why you're stuck and how to move on The intermediate plateau is the stage, usually around B1 to B2, where steady study stops producing visible progress. It's common, and it usually breaks when you change what you practice: more input at the edge of your level, and output with feedback.
Read something today. Keep every word.
Free plan, no card. Pick a language and a level, and start with a story written for you.
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