Reading and vocabulary in a new language
Read and understand words, phrases and short passages in a new language; enjoy its stories, songs and poems; and broaden vocabulary by working out new words from familiar material and checking them in a dictionary
What a learner can do afterwards
- Read short familiar sentences in the new language and show understanding (e.g. matching captions to the right pictures)
- Work out an unfamiliar word from surrounding words or a lookalike English word (e.g. guessing 'chocolat' means chocolate)
- Use a bilingual dictionary to find or check a word (e.g. looking up an animal name for a poster)
1 · Read
Use familiar words, nearby words and pictures to help read a new language. A word that looks like English may give a clue. Clues suggest a meaning, but may not tell you everything. Match each part of a sentence to its meaning. For a short passage, check each sentence before choosing a summary.
Ana sees 'chocolat' in a French story about a bakery. It looks like 'chocolate'. She tries that meaning and checks it in a French-English dictionary. The entry confirms her guess.
Leo has learned that French 'poisson' means fish and 'nage' means swims. He reads 'Le poisson nage': 'The fish swims.' He matches it to a swimming fish. 'Poisson' does not look like English 'fish'; he uses words he has learned.
A bilingual dictionary gives meanings in another language. For a French word, use the French-English part. For an English word you want to say in French, use English-French. Find the entry and read its meanings. A word may have several meanings, so choose one that fits the sentence.
Some lookalike words have different meanings. These are called false friends. Spanish 'actual' means 'current', not English 'actual'. Treat a lookalike as a possible clue. Check the sentence and a dictionary before deciding.
For these sentences, le chat means the cat, le chien means the dog, le poisson means the fish, est means is, petit means small and grand means big. Keep the animal and its detail together. For example, 'Le poisson est grand' describes a big fish. Match both parts when choosing a description.
To read several sentences, check each one separately. Use le chat for the cat, le chien for the dog, est for is, petit for small and grand for big. Keep each size with the animal named in that sentence. A summary that swaps their sizes does not fit, even if it contains all the same words.
Use familiar words and nearby clues. Treat lookalikes as guesses, then check the dictionary meaning that fits the sentence.
Original reading and vocabulary lessons, questions and cards written for this dataset.
Four original reading activities and six vocabulary cards written for this dataset.
More to read
What does your clue tell you?
Read a short line in the language you are learning. Mark the words you recognise. Say what those words tell you. Notice what you still need to find out.
A picture may help with a guess, but may not show every detail. Recognising an animal word does not tell you what the animal is doing. Check another word before adding an action to your guess.
Match words and pictures
Choose a few food words from your class list. Write each word on a card. With your teacher's help, draw or find a picture for each word.
Mix the cards and match each one to a picture. Check against your class list. Put aside a word you want to practise again. The matches give you a record of which written words you recognised.
Check a short passage
Ask your teacher for a short passage using familiar words. Read one sentence at a time. Tell a partner what each sentence says.
Give a short summary, then check it against the passage. Did you include what each sentence tells you? If one part is unclear, choose a useful word to check or ask for help.
Choose a dictionary meaning
Keep the new word and its sentence together. Find the dictionary part that starts with the word's language.
Read the meanings in the entry. Try them in the sentence. Write the meaning that fits beside your word. If none seems to fit, read the sentence again and ask for help rather than choosing at random.
2 · Watch
به انگلیسیTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Optional connections
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.