I completely agree Tracey…even in Italy we have a solid base of classic literature for children…and to follow your thought I can say that obviously even in the case of children’s novels exist a wide range of levels…Nevertheless,thinking over the topic I should say that I get through ideas.
I think if you enjoy reading folk lore, fairy tales, anything of that genre, which is intended to be read to or by young readers, it can be a very good way of learning a foreign language, namely if it has been updated into today’s language. Some people make blanket statements about children’s literature without really getting into the material. Would I, for example, read Hansel and Gretel in my native language, English? Probably not. But would I get a lot out of reading a version of Hans en Grietje in Dutch which has been updated into today’s language? Certainly.
Who is to say whether the content is interesting or relevant to me? Certainly not Olly Richards. He’s just trying to sell you on the idea that his “short stories” are more interesting and relevant to read than children’s books. Asserting that reading children’s books to learn a language is nonsense, is nonsense.
I agree that the Harry Potter series is not good for adult learners of English as a foreign language if they feel it difficult to read.
I think that this classification of children’s books is important.
The Tadoku method is very popular in Japan. Tadoku, or 多読 in Japanese, literally means extensive reading. I agree that extensive reading is important, but if I am not mistaken, leaders of this method seem to propose that even adult learners should begin with reading picture books for children. I don’t know if this is very effective for adult learners of ,for example, English as a foreign language. (If my English is unnatural, it may be because I have not read a lot of children’s books in English including picture books in my life.)
Peppa Pig
Do you think that this kind of videos are good for language learning?
It’s one of the videos that champions of the Tadoku method recommend. I think it’s a good video series for children in English-speaking countries, although I don’t know if it is one of the best videos for language learning of adult EFL learners.
Brucenator, I wholeheartedly agree that the extent to which individuals find children’s literature helpful for language learning depends on the individual – what subjects they are interested in to begin with as well as what level materials they can enjoy comfortably.
However, I must point out what seems to be a misconception by some about folktales, fairytales, myths, legends and the like. Storytelling exists in ALL societies – industrial and preindustrial – in all corners of the globe and has apparently done so for thousands of years. Anthropologists, folklorists and psychologists have all underlined the social, cultural and psychological values of these narratives at the individual and societal levels. Originally all of the stories were orally performed, enjoyed and passed down to members of a society face-to-face, not distinguishing between children and adults. There are several themes that repeatedly occur all over the world – e.g., versions of Cinderella are found in Asia as well as throughout the countries of Europe. When these stories were circulated orally, the characters and settings were not necessarily fantastical as they seem for modern readers. Moreover, the stories included details for the local population.
In the nineteenth century, several Europeans (e.g., H.C. Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault) collected these stories into written editions that were not marketed exclusively for children. (The Grimm stories were for children and “households.” ) Perrault’s stories were circulated to the French nobility – i.e., adults, not children. Widespread literacy for children did not occur in Europe until the late nineteenth century – and even then not everywhere – and the general population did not buy books “for children.” In fact, most European and even American children during colonial times learned to read and write through their religious training – which means through the Bible – which of course contains lots of “stories.”
The marketing of national folklore arose at a time when industrialism was breaking down community ties in rural small villages. It was a way of reinforcing national identity (e.g., the Nazis explicitly extolled German folktales). Over time, the stories were altered, according to local social and political ideals and goals. Often the details became less violent when they became specifically marketed for children. Thus, by the late twentieth century, there developed many versions of similar stories – e.g., richly illustrated picture books for younger children, more detailed textual versions for older readers and films, musical productions and mass-marketed consumer goods to go with the film versions (e.g., mugs, book bags, etc. with Beauty and the Beast or the Little Mermaid illustrations). In short, folklore and its numerous iterations were not originally intended “for children.” There are versions today which are marketed for them but again, there is great diversity in quality and complexity. While some people like this genre, others do not and that’s just fine. In language learning, the most efficient learning occurs when the individual is really interested in the subject matter and the material is largely comprehensible. Moreover, as Steve, others and I myself attest, diversity of genres is important in holding one’s interest longterm.
That thing could cause a stroke and can damage the brain cells .
But why not ?
some books marketed for children are not easy for beginner language learners to read. in english tom sawyer, huckleberry finn are “childrens books” but a person learning english would find these difficult while some might find others to basic and silly for a adult
i do believe that some children books are good for language kearning
I have never read any of the Harry Potter series, but I have watched the movies based on the novel a few times. They were very boring. The world described there was extremely simplistic.
Reading the original novel seems to be less boring. You can enjoy details by using your imagination.
unknown words: giddy
One major drawback of the video is that the subtitles are not correctly synchronized with the what the characters are saying. There is a significant lag in when the subtitles appear after the character has spoken. I can’t see how this would benefit someone learning English who needs to see the text of what the character is saying when it is being uttered. Moreover, personally I often find it more difficult to understand children speaking in a foreign language than adults.
The extensive reading/listening approach can be effective PROVIDED the material is comprehensible and interesting to the learner. This applies to all genres and at all stages of language learning. Ultimately, it is what an individual finds interesting and what he/she can understand that determines whether given materials are helpful in language learning or not.
I generally don’t like childrens books for the reasons already mentioned, but Asterix The Gaul in its original French is just as enjoyable for me as an adult as it was a child. It’s like the Simpsons in how it’s humorous characters and animation transcends all age groups.
I’ve started using an app called Beelinguapp where I listen to children’s stories in L2 and read it in L1/L2 simultaneously until eventually i can understand the whole story without reading anything. I find i am learning vocab quite easily this way plus it is improving my listening big time. I also get to see the words in phrases and sentences rather than on their own so i get the context a lot more I feel.
I have just done about 20mins of stories like 3 little pigs, red riding hood etc and I added up the words and there are around 900 in total (run, ran, running would be counted separately unfortunately) but the key for me is that to revise all these words just means listing to 20 mins of audio where as to do the same with flashcards I feel would take me a lot longer plus no listening benefit.
Anyone else try this method? I think I might try to get up to a few thousand words this way and hopefully listen to a lot more different accents. The app also does non childrens stuff which i think ill try when a bit more advances.
Thanks
Hey