I started reading Harry Potter in Russian at around 5,500 known words. I’ve now finished books 1 and 2 and I’m in book 3 (chapter 5) with about 9,000 known words.
My comprehension fluctuates. In some chapters I understand around 80–85% after the first pass, but in others (especially earlier in book 3) it drops and there are many new words again.
I always read with audio in LingQ and usually go through each chapter twice. I also listen several times without text. In addition, I regularly re-listen to books 1 and 2 in full while walking, cleaning, at the gym, etc.
My question is:
After finishing book 3, would it be better to reread the first three books in LingQ again to consolidate (since they likely contain slightly more basic language and I’m still around 80–85% comprehension)?
Or should I simply continue forward to book 4 and rely on continued exposure instead of rereading?
Based on how we recommend using LingQ, I’d continue forward to Book 4 rather than doing a full reread of Books 1–3 in LingQ first.
We generally recommend moving on when you understand ~70–80% of a lesson (and ~80% is a great point to move on.
The most efficient review tends to happen naturally as you keep reading/listening and keep meeting the same words again in new contexts, rather than trying to “lock in” everything via intensive rereads.
It’s normal for comprehension to fluctuate by chapter, especially when a new book introduces new settings, characters, or plot elements (and therefore new vocabulary clusters).
If you feel your comprehension in early Book 4 drops too low, use a light “mix it up” approach:
Continue progressing in Book 4, but occasionally dip back into an easier chapter from Books 1–3 for confidence/flow (instead of a full restart of all three books).
In Greek, I move on. At certain points, I seek simpler texts. Balance comprehension and interest and ideally have both. You could ask Lynx AI for summaries, discussion, a quiz etc. in Russian about the books in simple Russian in sentences of about 8 words each (AI seems to be able to do this). Then import it as a lesson if you want sentence mode.
I’m in a similar situation, I’ve just finished book two in japanese and I moved onto book three yesterday
Like you my overall level of comprehension fluctuates, I would say that on average I understand between 80 to 90%, but occasionally it drops lower when new topics are introduced or multiple complex statements occur in close succession.
My plan is just to keep going, I haven’t really felt the need to re-read anything thus far, not even the most difficult bits.
Once I’ve finished my first pass and already made an effort to understand what is written, I trust that whatever difficulty I encountered will come back later and give me another chance in a different context.
When I try to re-read something I find that it often leads to me spending more time than I should on a single passage, and isn’t even garanteed to make a difference. This time is better spent staying in the flow and reading new material in my opinion. For this same reason I would not re-read the entire book even with the objective of consolidating what I already know, since I feel that this will achieved in a more productive, albeit more challenging way by reading the next volume.
But from my perspective that’s also because I’m only using Harry Potter as a temporary crutch, my objective is to finish it as quickly as I can before moving on, not to achieve 100% comprehension for that book series.
When I first upload a book on lingQ I usually end up having to sync the audio (I like my audio sync to be perfect). So while I am syncing the audio I am also reading quickly, Once done with the sync, I then read the chapter normally usually in sentence view/mode. So I kind of get 2 reading each chapter.
For reading a whole book properly a 2nd time I tried it with one book (a trilogy) after some time later, I think was a month later. The cool thing is noticing how easy that book is now.
During my school days, I don’t remember having to reread books. Usually the teacher assigned us a book to read and after reading the book we had to write a summary. I have to revisit (reread) different parts of the book to write that summary, so there is a bit of re-reading.
Writing summary might be something that could be useful. Practicing output. A way to practice writing using all the words learnt from the material consumed. I have not tried it yet though.
I read novels intensively. I check every word and expression I don’t know and write them into a notebook. I want to understand and appreciate the novel.
I know that’s not what most people do or advise, but it feels right to me. I enjoy it and I have made good progress. I can now read a mystery novel unassisted by LingQ with about 95-98% comprehension.
Learning a language is a marathon. The most important thing IMO is to stay motivated and stay in the language.
I am also in a similar situation . Reading the books in Ukrainian and currently halfway through book 2 reading intensively. I’ve thought a lot about the best approach but I have landed on the best decision is usually always to simply follow your interest. Most likely you will find the thought of rereading boring and so you will naturally be less engaged. The fire of interest helps to push through content that realistically may be harder than “the optimum % for learning”. The optimum content for acquisition is not optimum if you don’t stick to it because it’s boring - if that makes any sense
I move on. And then, after having read the whole series and perhaps a couple other series too, is when I would re-read it all from the beginning if I still wanted to. If, as in HP, the series has a movie, I would watch the movie either before or after reading the book too (before helps with general comprehension and memory, after helps like checking your answers after a test).
I also try to stick to books with the same author, at least at first, because they are more likely to reuse the same words and phrases across all their books in general, even if it’s a different series.
You learn a language by seeing the same word in context in many different sentences and situations, not by re-reading the same sentence 10 times. So I feel it is always better to move on and encounter the new / confusing stuff again in a different context which is hopefully easier to grasp. Then you can come back a year or two later and try again on what was difficult before.
Graded input has two requirements. Firstly it is graded to your level, no surprise there. Secondly, words should be repeated throughout the text, not just appear once. If your input satisfies both requirements, then just read it through. If many words are not repeated, then reread or find more suitable input.
Thank you everone who responded. It was valuable information, and I will continue pushing through. I just finished chapter 11 and the known words are up again.
Once I’m done reading a text (intensively). I go back to its beginning and quickly review all the yellow words. I often do that again a few days later. I also do that with the books I read on Kindle.
That’s why I suggested a summary page/mode that would just display those words in context (=their sentences):
Man I don’t really reread anything at all. I’m reading Dune Messiah in Ukrainian and there’s a lot of complex vocab but it comes back up over again to the point where I feel like I don’t need to go back to review it in a previous chapter. All I do is read the page and listen to it at the same time. Then I try to read the page out loud until I can say each sentence like a native speaker, then I do the vocab test, and then I listen to it again. Then I move on. Either that or I listen to people playing video games so I can hear casual conversation in various settings, but once I finish something I don’t really come back to it.
