When you look at a page filled with writing in a language you aren’t yet fluent in, the task of reading and understanding it all can be daunting indeed. But if you really want to improve your proficiency and your vocabulary, you don’t have much choice; you’re almost certainly going to have to do some reading. But don’t be scared! There are simple ways to make reading in a foreign language easier and to help you get the most you can out of it.

1. Choose material at the right level

   Seems obvious, right? But it can be hard to do, especially if you’re the only one around to judge. If you’re assigned reading for a formal class, of course, it makes things a bit easier; chances are your teacher wouldn’t give you something to read that was completely beyond you. If you’re picking something out for yourself, though, be careful that it’s not just plain too hard-you won’t understand, you’ll get discouraged, and it’ll just be a bad experience all around. A student of intermediate Spanish, for example, probably isn’t ready to tackle Don Quixote, but should be able to handle children’s books and can probably work through a newspaper article. Use common sense, and remember that when you were learning to read English, you had to work your way up in the same manner. When in doubt, ask for advice. And, if you try to start something and it’s clear that you haven’t learned half the grammar in it, or you have to look up every other word, chances are you should try something a little simpler first.

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   On the other hand, be careful not to underestimate yourself-if something seems too easy, it probably is. You should have to work at it at least a little. If you don’t challenge yourself at all, you won’t get anywhere.

2. Take the time to do a good job

   Deciding to take your French newspaper with you to the doctor’s office waiting room, or trying to squeeze in a chapter of that German novel while dinner’s in the oven might seem like a smart, time-saving idea, but if you’re still learning the language and this is practice rather than pleasure, you’ll want to work on it at a time when you aren’t likely to be interrupted suddenly, not to mention when you won’t feel rushed to finish in a certain (small) period of time. Assume that it’s going to take longer to read something in a second or third language than it would in your native language, and try to set aside some free time accordingly. Patience is a virtue, remember. Read slowly and try to take in as much as you can, instead of hurrying through and only picking up the words you recognize right away. Think about the words you’re seeing and how they fit together, and try your best to really understand. There’s nothing worse than reading something and then realizing you don’t have a clue what it was about-rushing yourself isn’t the only reason that happens, but it’s definitely on the list.

3. Don’t distract yourself

   It’s hard to focus on a foreign language when the TV across the room is yapping English at you, or you roommate feels the need to break your concentration every few minutes to tell you something. You’ll read better without distractions. Ask other people to leave you alone for a little while, or put on headphones to discourage them. Turn off televisions and radios, or, if you’re the type who needs background noise to concentrate, try listening to instrumental music. The goal is to keep words away except for the ones in front of you. Even if (like me) you normally can tune out distractions when you’re reading, reading in another language is very different and it’s surprisingly difficult not to let more familiar sounds like music or a bad movie get into your head. Your brain wants to latch onto what it recognizes better. Your goal is to get it used to recognizing another language just as well.

4. Stay on task

   Just as it’s harder to keep from getting distracted when you’re reading in a foreign language, it’s also harder to keep your mind from wandering. Focus! Really think about what you’re reading. If you catch yourself thinking about something else, force yourself back to what’s in front of you. Back up if you need to; sometimes your mind wanders and your eyes keep reading, the two of them don’t seem to connect. You might miss something important that way.

   If you just can’t seem to stay on track, take a break. Do something else for a few minutes, or just think about whatever’s distracting you and try to be done with it. Then try reading some more. Some people can start working on something and stay engrossed for hours. Some people concentrate better in short bursts, so if you’re having a hard time, don’t be afraid to just read a little at a time with short breaks in between… as long as you’re disciplined about getting back to the next piece!

5. Tackle manageable segments

   Most projects are easier if you break them down into smaller pieces. This is especially true of longer works (think several chapters of a book), but can also help with smaller reading projects, especially for beginners. Work on a page, a paragraph, or even a few sentences at a time. The less comfortable you are with the reading, the smaller the pieces should be. Focus on understanding one section before you move on to the next.

6. Don’t translate

   No, seriously. To really be fluent in a language, you have to be able to think in it. Think about how time consuming it is to think of the word you want to say, figure out the equivalent word in the other language, and then say it-you waste just as much time seeing a word in that language and finding its English equivalent in order to understand. One of your goals in practicing your reading skills is to build an understanding of what the words mean on their own, without relying on their English counterparts. (And hey, some words and phrases just don’t translate.)

   It’s not easy, and it won’t come naturally. If you’re in the very beginning stages of learning a language, it may not happen at all-yet. Practice is the only way to get to that point. When you read, go slowly and think about the words without changing them. Picture what they mean. Focus on concepts. Don’t worry about what it would say if it was English. It’s not. And the less you use English as a go-between, the more automatically you’ll understand your new language.

7. Use a dictionary

   Of course, if you run into a word you just don’t know, you’ll need to translate it, so keep a bilingual dictionary handy when you read so that you don’t have to go hunting when you’re stuck. (Although the truly bold who are also proficient enough in the language might want to invest in a monolingual dictionary and thus continue to avoid translation.) If you don’t have a dictionary and you’re struggling with Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese, try http:www.wordreference.com; it’s a great resource for both single words and phrases. You can find reliable online dictionaries for many other languages as well. Whatever you do, don’t use an internet translator. They’re wrong or misleading the vast majority of the time.
   However, you shouldn’t use your dictionary as a crutch. Don’t reach for it the instant you don’t recognize a word. First, finish the sentence, or even the paragraph if it seems reasonable. Often an individual word doesn’t affect your understanding that much, and it might be more disruptive to your reading to stop a look it up than to go on without it. If it’s an important enough word that you do need it in order to understand what’s going on, finish the sentence anyway and see if you can figure it out from the context. If you still don’t get it, then it’s dictionary time. If you get the gist and still want an exact definition, or if you’ve decided to skip that word for the time being, make a note of it and come back later. (It’s a good idea to read with a pencil in hand.)
   Even when you read in English, chances are you come across an unfamiliar word every now and then, but you probably don’t rush to look it up immediately unless it’s really important. Try to approach foreign language reading the same way. If you have a pretty good understanding of the sentence without that one word, it can wait.

8. Don’t expect to understand everything

   Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, I know that’s the point. But remember that you’re still learning, and if everything you read was going to be clear as a bell you wouldn’t need to be reading this. You’re almost guaranteed to run into words you don’t know, grammar structures you haven’t learned yet, and idioms that don’t make any sense because you can’t use a dictionary to translate them. It’s okay not to understand everything perfectly the first time you read, or even the second time. If something just doesn’t make sense for you, don’t let it keep you from understanding as much as you can of what’s left. Chances are you’ll get the basic idea even without that particular detail or two (or three or four…). Write down what’s confusing and puzzle over it later instead of wasting time on it now. Ask someone for help if you need it. But first, keep reading! You can always come back to it and piece it all together once you do understand.

9. Take notes

   I said it a few times already, but so many students neglect to do this that it bears repeating. When you run into a word or phrase that you don’t know, either copy it down or mark the page so that you know to come back and work on it later. After all, you won’t learn anything if you don’t even keep track of what needs to be learned.

10. Read it again

    Pretty self-explanatory. The first time you read through something in another language, you’re puzzling out what it means as you go. When you’re finished and sort of know what it all said, you should read it over again. Chances are you’ll be able to read faster and you’ll understand it better than you did the first time. You might even pick up on something you missed the first time around.
    If you have a list of things to look up, do that before rereading so that you can fit those words in as you go.

    If you’re reading something in segments (tip #5), it can also be helpful to read each individual segment twice before moving on, for pretty much the same reasons. First time to understand the words, second time to really fit it all together.

Good luck and happy reading!