earning a language is immensely rewarding, but undeniably difficult.

It’s normal to feel

like your progress is moving too slowly. When you’re feeling frustrated, try reading some
English stories. Commit to half an hour of reading English stories every day, and in no
time at all you’ll be able to understand whole paragraphs with ease. It’s a beautiful
feeling when this starts to happen — no pausing, no translating in your head, just
smooth comprehension! 

See grammar in action

One awesome side-effect of improving your English reading skills? Your grammar will
improve too. 

These days, language teachers often advise learners not to obsess over grammatical
rules. The theory is, that if learners get enough exposure to the language in its natural
forms, they will absorb the rules naturally. Of course, when we were young, we engaged
with a language through fairy tales, myths, and more! Read a lot of English stories, and
you’ll get the chance to learn English grammar in a more organic way. You’ll see the
patterns you have studied in action, and things will start to click fast. 

When we spoke to StoryLearning® creator Olly Richards about how to learn a language

fast, he told us:

If you listen to or read a good story, then the part of your brain
associated with an emotion will light up, as if you’re experiencing it
yourself. What that means is you’re involving your entire brain in the
process. If you’re studying grammar, you’re using just one part of your
brain, but when you learn through stories, you’re activating many
different parts of your brain. That’s when synapses form new
connections, and that’s when memory is formed.

Expand your vocabulary 

Reading stories is one of the best ways to absorb new English words. When you
discover new words within a story, you get a chance to learn them in context. Often,
you’ll have an “a-ha” moment when you work out what a new word means without
needing to look it up, by spotting the clues in the sentence around it. 

Because your brain worked a little harder to find the meaning of this word than just by
checking a dictionary, it is more likely to “stick” in your brain. You’ll also be more
sensitive to the subtleties of how this word is used, which means you’re more likely to
use it correctly yourself. It’s more interesting than using flashcards and immeasurably
more effective! 

Enjoy English in its most beautiful form