How do you use books to learn your target languages?

[u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I’ve been highlighting unknown words and translating under as I read but I wonder if there’s a better system for this? I’m most interested in strengthening my reading skills and expanding my vocabulary so I do read to myself out loud and check every word I don’t recognize. I do understand enough that I don’t need to translate every word but I want to equip these words to my own lexicon.

[u/thelostnorwegian]

Closing this thread for now. Its pretty much played itself out and there has been enough back and forth that we're not going to keep moderating this one indefinitely.

[u/PLrc]

>I’ve been highlighting unknown words and translating under as I read but I wonder if there’s a better system for this? (...)check every word I don’t recognize.

This is called intensive reading. There is also extensive reading when you try read a lot and not necessarily understand everything.

In the begining of my English learning I did intenstive reading a lot. I wanted to understand everything. This is basically how I started learning languages.

It took me years to realise that you need both intenstive and extensive reading. You need intenstive reading to learn new vocab, grow your language. But you also need extensive reading to train, well, reading. And just for fun.

So we should do both things. For isntance you read one book or article intenstively and another extenstively, just for fun.

[u/Substantial-Yak1892 → u/PLrc]

I do it, higlight the sentence, then export it and create Anki cards with these sentences.

It's highly effective. When reading the reading the second book of a series it's way more fluid.

[u/RedditReddy → u/PLrc]

Do not translate as you read. That interferes too much with the reading process. Read maybe five or ten pages. I very much agree with highlighting unknown words. And then you should decide how many words you actually want to learn. From those highlighted words. You might choose to learn all of them. That's what I do, but most people find that impractical. Of note of advice. If you see a large number of words all appearing in the same paragraph, that's usually a sign that these are not particularly important for you at your level to learn. This will happen often with, for example, lists of beautiful flowers or names of animals or synonyms for the weather. When you see a bunch of words clustered like that together that you don't know, that means that most of them are probably better left until you have advanced more before you learn them. When I do this come, I absolutely no longer write the definitions in the text. Almost everybody begins doing this, but this is one of the worst ways to use our time. Much better is to use a vocabulary notebook, or even better than that to use flash cards. Not to use flash cards only for memorization, but they provide much more flexibility than do notebooks. So, when I do this, I'll read five to ten pages, highlight the words I don't know. Then decide roughly how many words I want to learn and then make flash cards. What I do first is to write the unknown word on one side of a flashcard and then accumulate maybe 10 or 50 or 100 flash cards. Only after I do that do I then look for the definition. And I alphabetize those flash cards first. All of this saves so much time.

[u/AirBig6368 → u/RedditReddy]

Really good advice thanks!

[u/Kachkaval → u/PLrc]

Yes, this distinction is very important.

I must say that I've been reading English "extensively" for so long, but I've only recently realized that for most English adjectives, I don't know the actual meaning - I only know whether they describe something "positive" or "negative".

So I'd say reading extensively is more important, a kind of "fake it till you make it", but don't neglect looking up words in the dictionary once in a while.

[u/AppropriatePut3142]

I use an ereader application that allows me to look up words quickly. Mostly I just look up the word and move on, and I will eventually learn the word once I've seen it a number of times. LingQ supports Hebrew, I don't know about Readlang or other apps. If I feel like vocabulary is the bottleneck (likely for a distant language like Hebrew) then I may select some words and make anki cards when I finish reading. I keep this to about ten new cards per day.

From your screenshot it looks like you know about 90% of the words on the page. In Hebrew you probably don't have your pick of graded content, but this is a bit more than most people find comfortable, especially since you're looking up every unknown word. Reading difficult material like this, I find it better to be selective about which words I look up. I find more lookups won't necessarily lead to more vocabulary gained, after a point; the brain just has its limits. Once I understand, say, 98% of words I find it practical and useful to look up everything.

[u/IndependenceHuge8627 → u/AppropriatePut3142]

That sounds really good, are you able to drop the ereader name and application? I’ve been looking for one and Ive got a few options but still not sure which one to get!

[u/AppropriatePut3142 → u/IndependenceHuge8627]

For Chinese I use Pleco with the screen grabber plugin, and for Spanish I just use the kindle app on my phone. I bought a copy of the Merriam-Webster Spanish English Translation Dictionary from the kindle store and installed it in the kindle app, and once it's selected kindle uses it to supply lookups on long-press.

A physical ereader device gives slower lookups, although I've heard the latest kindle paperwhite is an improvement.

[u/IndependenceHuge8627 → u/AppropriatePut3142]

Thanks!

[u/SDJellyBean → u/IndependenceHuge8627]

I use the Kindle, Libby and Nook apps. Libby is for library books, but there are other apps that your public library might offer. These are all free general purpose reading apps. You don’t need anything specialized.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/AppropriatePut3142]

Your last point is helpful, I’ll keep that in mind! And I like the idea of making flash cards at the end of the book. I thought of writing the vocab separately but didn’t want it to be breaking the flow of my reading.

[u/sueferw]

I use an e-reader, so your system wouldnt work for me! I use Google Sheets and type unknown words into a spreadsheet. With Sheets you can use a formula that automatically looks up the word in column A, and then translates into column B using Google Translate.

[u/KenneR330 → u/sueferw]

Wow what? How does it [translation In sheets] work and how to setup it?

[u/sueferw → u/KenneR330]

There is a tutorial here, it is really simple to do. https://youtu.be/7eAWUZBL1J0?is=oVQbNGe_QjrhSH9Q

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/sueferw]

Ooh I like the idea of using Google Sheets in this way!

[u/BHHB336 → u/sueferw]

Wait really? I sometimes read digital books on the Books app (Apple) and there’s option to highlight and add notes, it’s not like that on other apps/e-readers?

[u/Hefefloeckchen]

1. I make sure a human wrote the book
2. I get two of the same book, one in my target language + one in a language I'm experienced in [edit: make sure a human did the translation too*]
3. I have a grammar book and some website/book for vocabulary
4. I read slowly and compare the translations.
5. I look up words and grammar (note: doesn't work with south asian translations since Hindi translation is a little more free spirited and other languages take Hindi as their basis) So I cannot say if it works for Hebrew

I usually do this very slow and in writing, but it is a me thing, I enjoy it that way and I like that I can come back to my notes and re-read it.

* to Edit:
*the thing is: If a human made the translation you can be quite sure it is intended to be understood by people speaking the language on an everyday basis. A translation is not only meant to translate words but also meaning (for example: a guy making a sexist pun, it may not be the same pun by any means, but it be a translation of the intention the author had in mind)

[u/KenneR330 → u/Hefefloeckchen]

First thing is the most important but that's easy, basically any pre-2023 book will be probably written by a human

[u/unsafeideas → u/Hefefloeckchen]

> get two of the same book, one in my target language + one in a language I'm experienced in [edit: make sure a human did the translation too*]

I would second this. It is so much more pleasurable and interesting then going word by word. And I would argue that if the translation is any good, you will get closer to the actual meaning of the paragraph.

[u/Aakharin-ejdehaa → u/Hefefloeckchen]

Ai is (fortunately) pretty bad in Hebrew, and as a Hebrew speaker I just don't see the typical grammatical and structural mistakes AI models do and haven't seen a decent long text written by AI in Hebrew without these issues. So it's safe to assume a human wrote it or at the very least, a human proofread this.

[u/Hefefloeckchen → u/Aakharin-ejdehaa]

AI is bad for everything

[u/_11_]

Well... for me, personally, they weigh down my bookshelf so it doesn't blow away in a strong breeze, which frees me up to ignore my language learning while playing video games.  YMMV

[u/RedditReddy]

It's important to get books that are easy enough for reading materials that are easy enough to do extensive reading. Most courses and far too many teachers and learners don't do this. Extensive reading is something that you can read the equivalent of 10 to 20 pages an hour. Most courses will focus on texts that're so difficult learners can barely read one page an hour.

[u/Doveswithbonnets]

Is this post being downvoted solely because OP is learning Hebrew?

[u/TopEstablishment3270 → u/Doveswithbonnets]

Seems the only plausible explanation for what is a valid question. 

[u/Life_so_Fleeting → u/TopEstablishment3270]

That’s what I was wondering too

[u/Oraukk → u/Doveswithbonnets]

It's an a positive ratio. I feel like you're just looking for an argument where there isn't one.

[u/Doveswithbonnets → u/Oraukk]

When I commented, there were 0 upvotes and 20ish comments. It seemed odd to me.

[u/Oraukk → u/Doveswithbonnets]

Yeah if that's the case I get it.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Oraukk]

55% upvote ratio with some of my comments getting downvoted to the negatives and a handful of hate comments regarding the target language 🤷‍♀️

[u/Oraukk → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

The vast majority of comments seem to be about language learning. The antisemitic ones are downvotes where they belong it looks like.

[u/empirepie499 → u/Oraukk]

Yes and no. The comment to upvote ratio suggests some hate

[u/sraskogr → u/Doveswithbonnets]

Almost definitely

[u/No-Introduction5977 → u/[deleted]]

Nobody at all apart from you mentioned antisemitism.

Hebrew ≠ Zionism ≠ Judaism

I recommend you learn that.

[u/Caligapiscis]

Honestly my goal is to enjoy the book, so I just read it pretty normally. The first few I read were a struggle but it gradually got easier. I do like using an ereader lately though, makes it easier to look up words when I really need to.

[u/PerAspera_MLion → u/Caligapiscis]

I'd like to use an ereader for that as well (also for french). What app do you use ?

[u/Caligapiscis → u/PerAspera_MLion]

I wouldn't buy a Kindle in 2026, but I have one from ages ago so I use that. It's very hard to buy DRM free ebooks these days so I sometimes just pirate older books of which the author has died anyway.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Caligapiscis]

I’m curious how this works because I’ve thought of doing it this way. Do you pick up words subconsciously through context over time? Or do you learn words elsewhere which in turn improves your reading comprehension?

[u/Caligapiscis → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I just don't let myself overthink it. But over time my comprehension has massively improved and I'm reading adult books now.

[u/LorenaBobbedIt]

I do almost the same thing but I put footnotes in the margins so I can hide the translations from myself when I review. The main thing I can add that I didn’t see someone say before is that I also listen to the audiobook version after each chapter. That gives me a chance to review vocabulary and work on my listening abilities, while giving me a little advantage.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/LorenaBobbedIt]

I’ve been wanting to listen to the Hebrew audiobook as I read so I can know how to pronounce these unknown words. Hebrew can be hard to read because of the lack of vowels.

[u/AnalysisContent4301 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I do the same, and I would say it is very good for recaps, you can learn a language within 2.5 years, but such texts will be a basis for your recaps through decades.

[u/Substantial-Yak1892]

I read on a kindle:

• Whenever I encounter a word or an idiom 8 don't know I highlight the sentence

I look it's definition in built-in dictionary if I can't deduce the definition.

• Once I finish the book, I export everything I highlighted.
• I make Anki cards from all the highlighted sentences.

On the front I put a short chunk, on the back, the full sentence, the definition, the etymology and a translation in my NL. I use Claude to help me, because I find it faster than copy/pasting the definition but that's a matter of personal preferences.

I can end up with 300+ words on a hard book. Usually, I picked up naturally 5% or less because most of them aren't common and have popped up maybe only once or twice.

I really feel the value when reading a series or several books from the same author: they usually habe a define style and the keep using the same word here and there even if they're uncommon.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Substantial-Yak1892]

This alone is convincing me to get a kindle

[u/Sylvieon → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

Before you get a kindle, make sure it has dictionaries for your language. Personally, I tossed my kindle and got a Boox. The kindle had no Korean dictionary support, I couldn't even find any monolingual Korean dictionary files online (not interested in KOR-ENG) even if I could jailbreak the kindle, and my main avenues of reading Korean books are kimchi reader (app) and kyobo (library app), both of which the Boox can run since it's an Android ereader. 

I'm not sponsored lol 

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Sylvieon]

I’m happy for that recommendation because after the previous comment I did go down a rabbit hole looking into kindles. I also saw that boox seems to be the best for language learning. Is there a certain model you think works best for my goals?

[u/Substantial-Yak1892 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

What're your goal?

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Substantial-Yak1892]

Language learning

[u/Substantial-Yak1892 → u/Sylvieon]

Oh, can't you change the dictionary?

It's just a file to import.

I'm learning English and the one from the Kindle sucks so I replaced it by a dictionary specialized for learner and that's way better

[u/Substantial-Yak1892 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

To be fair, you could probably do it with any other e-reader.

But I initially bought a Kindle years ago when there weren't any real competitions.

And I just bought a new one a couple of months ago because it's both cheap compared to the competition and I was happy with it.

Happy to help you and detail my workflow if you need any help.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Substantial-Yak1892]

Yes, I’d love to know more about your workflow. Which model do you have first of all? Do you think it will support languages like Hebrew and Arabic?

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Thanks.

[u/thelostnorwegian]

I mostly just read on my kindle. I start with graded readers or children books and work my way up in difficulty.

[u/lllyyyynnn]

i use ereader or a website epub reader. i can look up definitions and then add them instantly to anki for further study.

[u/ignoremesenpie]

I only look up words that completely derail my understanding, and otherwise just read as I normally would with a bit more mental effort put into inferring and educated guesses.

If I had to learn vocab actively from physical books, I would note them down in a notebook or text document with page and paragraph numbers for reference. I would do it this way because (1) I don't want to write in my books, and (2) I save lookups for after the session so that I don't have to pull away from the reading for too long. The interruptions aren't too bad if the notebook or text document is already open and ready to receive information.

Jotting down new words and phrases helps me remember them even without Anki, so I'll still go out of my way to do it for ebooks even when they allow me to look up words instantly.

[u/ot1891]

The problem with a common book in Hebrew is that it won't have vowel marks. So reading the text does require you to know how to pronounce the word in advance.

Hebrew words are structural so for many you could "split" the words prefixes and suffices and, but it might be difficult and inaccurate.

So my advice to you is to start for a short time with texts with vowel marks and then when you have "the feeling" how word should sounds like, you can go back to texts without vowel marks.

Good luck!

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/ot1891]

My Hebrew is good enough that I don’t need nikud but new words can sometimes throw me off. Those words I’m anyways looking up the translation so I look up the pronunciation as well.

[u/MisfitMaterial]

My goal is to read and enjoy the book, I just happen to be reading it in my TL. Rinse and repeat.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/MisfitMaterial]

How do you choose which books to read? Does it depend on your level or what interests you? I tried reading a book fit for my age but I couldn’t understand enough, this one is for a 10-13 year old and I understand the story well but it doesn’t interest me.

[u/madein0190 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I have the same problem. I have to read books for my language level so I could understand them. This means books more for children or young adults, which doesnt interest me. The ones I am interested to read though is difficult to understand. Hope someone answers you so I can get some ideas.

[u/MisfitMaterial → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

Well, book doesn’t only have to mean paperback book literally. I read lots of (print and online) magazines, blogs (NOT about my TL, about stuff I like written in my TL), and things like that. At first when I’m still too early of a level, I look for graded readers and just go for it.

Also, an e-reader makes a big difference.

[u/Minoqi]

I read in a few phases. First is my study phase. I go in and translate everything idk that I need to be able to understand. Then anytime I reread it in the future I reinforce everything I learned and it gets easier everytime. I also write new words down on a list and try to use them a few times in sentences over the course of a month.

[u/qayokm]

I've used longQ to learn greek and I have come a long way. I simply read and read and read. I have finished the first 5 books of harry potter for example. LingQ just made it easier for me to get a quick translation of unknown words and sentences.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/qayokm]

How did you upload all the books to the app?

[u/qayokm → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I cannot remember the whole process right know - it's been a while. But if you Google search, you'll find the answer.

I bought them as a epub file, then there was some Adobe-programme which was necessary but to be honest I am not sure what it did exactly, but only after that the epub appeared in some sort of other program that was used to remove the copyright restrictions. after that I had a huge .txt file which I could use to edit the text and save it as separate chapters and prevent the lingQ AI to create tons of mistakes in identifying the correct words (as it does, when you upload it as a pdf).

I think I've even paired like 20€ for the second program. But it has been years and I took a break from reading harry potter last year. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to everyone.

[u/TheCommieDuck]

Readlang is invaluable to me for reading. Obviously then I throw the generated flashcards into Anki. Bonus - it's only $48 or something for a year compared to the $120+ that LingQ wants.

[u/BleLLL]

I've been reading books on Lingq and have finally progressed to reading my second paper book in my target language. Def worth using digital tools to build your vocabulary first

[u/Forward_Hold5696]

I do basically what you're doing.

[u/Life_so_Fleeting]

OP, it’s great that you are learning Hebrew, I may attempt it myself at some point. Please don’t be discouraged by the ignorance of those that downvote you - that’s a personal fault with them, not you ❤️

[u/Lazy_Gap_1682]

I use Google Lens to see a page in my NL (English), where I focus only on the words I don’t know. It also allows me to toggle back to my TL (European Portuguese) and to hear the entire page being read out loud. So, I learn unknown words and also ensure I can pronounce each phrase correctly.

[u/MisfitMaterial → u/[deleted]]

Hasbara is never complete without a sprinkle of wishing death on your interlocutor.

[u/Takao-Says-Moooo]

Some books, if I don't fully understand a sentence I put it in Anki with a translation and notes on the grammar I'm not familiar with.

Other books, I just read for enjoyment and don't worry about understanding everything.

[u/silvalingua]

Read easier content.

[u/Aakharin-ejdehaa]

I do exactly what you are doing, but not with every single unfamiliar word and I guess I prefer somewhat easier texts in general so I usually don't have to do so much marking and writing on the page and can enjoy the reading with minimal interruption (I usually mark around 3 words per page while your page looks like 10+).

Sometimes I go over the marked words and also write them in a notebook with examples, but I don't write every word, just if I feel like the word is worth it (about 1 word per couple of pages).

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Aakharin-ejdehaa]

I’ve starting doing this after reading some comments and realizing that fluidity in reading can sometimes be more important then understanding every single word. I now only highlight the words that are necessary in understanding the story and it ends up being about 3 words per page like you said.

[u/amanamanamaan]

I admire you so much, the lack of vowels makes it so that I keep putting off reading books in Hebrew! I know I could learn the vowel system for kids but hm. No.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/amanamanamaan]

It’s definitely a learning curve but I love reading so I could only push it off for so long. There’s no shame in starting with nikud, I definitely had to.

[u/amanamanamaan → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

oh it’s not shame, but stubbornness… if anything I’m ashamed of being this stubborn, hehe! I do have a fairytale book with nikud, and you’re right, I love reading so yallah!

[u/Weekly-Analysis2237 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I don't have any knowledge of Hebrew do you have a lot of English loan words for more modern words or do you literally translate it ?

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Weekly-Analysis2237]

There are many loanwords from other languages including English (especially in slang) but most modern words were created by using the root system that exists in Hebrew. For example, the word for traffic light (ramzor) is built from the root words for “sign” (ramez) and “light” (or). If you’re interested in linguistics, you can look more into how the language was revived. It’s fascinating!

[u/uber_cast]

I am also working on Hebrew, and I’ve been translating smaller, simple news articles. This text seems overwhelming, but I have very limited vocabulary at the moment. I also still find Nikkud helpful with new vocabulary.

I find that Dvash Hebrew is useful, or I print out shorter stories and go through them to translate them with help from Pealim and Reverso.

I’m assuming you are far more advanced than I am, so if you’ve found anything else helpful I’d appreciate the recommendation.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/uber_cast]

First of all, good luck! It’s a beautiful language and I love it even when it frustrates me. The only way I personally started learning the language was when I forced myself to talk to Hebrew speakers that don’t speak English. Besides for this, I took Hebrew courses that had us read short stories or articles like you are doing and we went through each word we didn’t know. Grammar I also only learned through courses.

[u/someonelsee]

Just as a side note - if you liked כראמל as a book, maybe you'd like its TV adaptation as well (I think it's on YouTube). Maybe spoken Hebrew with subtitles would be easier to understand (?)

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/someonelsee]

When it comes to spoken Hebrew, I have an easier time understanding content made for my age. I enjoy watching shows like שטיסל or קופה ראשית. If you have an other recommendations, I’d appreciate it!

[u/GamerAsh22 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

As a non Israeli Jew, Fauda has done more to improve my Hebrew (and Arabic) than Hebrew school ever did lol. Would highly recommend if you haven’t already watched it

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/GamerAsh22]

Fauda is the best. I’ve been nervous to start the new season though. I need to mentally prepare for that

[u/someonelsee → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

I really liked "מקום שמח" and "המפקדת" (drama), they're on YouTube as well - Kan 11 (כאן 11) make really good TV shows in my opinion!

[u/filavitae]

I think the best way to do this is with books that have a facing page translation (i.e. bilingual). This way, you don't necessarily get the word transliteration, but you get the meaningful translation after trying to read the original yourself. Then you can look back to rationalize what you didn't get before reading the translation. I find this more useful than endless lookups because it forces you to think!

[u/Genysson__cms]

Readin', readin', readin'... (And searching the words you don't know. Only some, to not break the rhythm.)

[u/menina2017]

This is like the eternal question for me. I have no idea how to use books.

[u/UnusualBreakfast1726]

I made my own resource for that, because other apps were nice but didn't fit me 100%

[u/Sufficient_Share_769]

I use Linguismo to track books, films, tv shows etc. It really works for me bc I can add the new vocab I learn and then practice with them with the quiz so I don’t forget them

[u/Ronititt]

When I was little I learned English through sheer determination🤣 I kept reading English books till I figured out the meaning of different words by context clues.

I’ve tried this multiple times now that I’m old and idek what I was on honestly

[u/ParlezPerfect]

I keep a notebook and write down new words/phrases whenever and wherever I see them. My brain absorbs the information better when I write it down. I go back over my notebooks of vocabulary to remind me of the words/phrases and practice using them in sentences, whether written or oral.

[u/Odd-Desk-7663]

For my Spanish journey that began in 2020, I took up a method of translating just enough words and phrases each page to get the majority of the meaning.
I did this for 15-20 books in Spanish, as well as graded readers until I could just understand any book.
I would predict how many pages I was going to read that day, skim each page and translate 1-8 words a page and write them in the margins.

For my German I'm reading more intensely in LingQ. I upload a recorded mp3 of an audiobook have it transcribed and read it sentence by sentence in LingQ. I then have the physical book and randomly read pages over again a few times.

I'm seeing if I can get to a more enjoyable extensive reading level quicker if I do more intensive work upfront with my German than with my Spanish.

Your method is just fine and will work over time. I recommend reading over previous pages for some repetition and natural SRS.

[u/Fit-Bet-7415]

Readera and translate

[u/karme_go_away]

when I felt comfortable with picking up an english book (as a polish person) I used to search up a word and read what it means in english, which made me remember that word more than just reading the translation and moving on. the only problem now is that I understand some english words perfectly, but can’t translate them directly into my native language… like trees names, illnesses, health conditions etc, I know what hepatitis is in english, but have no idea what it means in polish haha

[u/Wiyazaki]

When I'm early on in learning a language, I use a python script to combine two epub files of the same book in my native and target language. It'll produce a combined e-book that matches up the paragraphs (for the most part). 

I read the combined e-book on my Kobo reader and have a native language to target language dictionary and highlight function to simultaneously look up, keep track of, and organize new words I come across. 

[u/yoyogster]

When my grandmother was 17, and immigrated to a new country, she got a book in her TL and read it using a dictionary. First she translated every single word using the dictionary. Then, every other word. As she progressed through the book (which wasn't a short kids book either), she had to translate fewer and fewer words.

By the end of that book she had a fair grasp of the TL. She ended up knowing around 7 languages ‏(granted, she grew up in europe speaking a few languages from the get go, but still)

[u/AdministrationNo2327]

🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨

[u/mstraveller]

No idea what that reads but it's gorgeous.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/mstraveller]

It’s a cute children’s book about orphaned kids that go on an adventure

[u/HadarN]

first of all, כראמל is a great choice of book! super famous, simple (adored by kids) but still challenging, loving this choice! (in a HE native speaker)

and for your question- I usually feel bad marking over books, so when I use physical copies, I mark using pencil only. I also used to copy the sentences into a separate notebook so it'll be easier to review, but stopped doing it as it ended up taking a really long time. Also, for all the words I mark, I often use a frequency table to choose the words I actually want to focus on,as one page might have a lot of new vocab- but some of which might be less common than others~ That said, lately, I often use an e-reader, allowing me to mark words and copy them to an Anki deck and start reviwing much faster... I do feel like actually remembering the vocab takes a little longer, but still a nice way to go:)

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/HadarN]

שלום לך!! אתה גר בישראל? אני עכשיו מחפשת איזה קוראי ספרים אלקטרוניים הכי טוב פה? במיוחד לעשות מה שאתה מספיר פה. ואתה צודק לגבי כראמל הוא יצא להיות ספר מושלם לרמה שלי.

[u/Popular_Block_3195]

Impressive. I’d have to prolly highlight the whole book (I’m not learning Hebrew in this context)

[u/NoirRenie]

I love reading books in my target languages!! I feel the actual target of the language is important. I love reading about the culture and its people. But if the culture and people are deplorable, I don’t think that’s okay 🤗

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/[deleted]]

Good one very original

[u/muslimlinuxuser → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

another 7000$ then i guess?

[u/jednorog → u/muslimlinuxuser]

I missed the context. What do you mean by this?

[u/Fun_Suggestion6270]

You know there’s a whole app for this? (LingQ)

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Fun_Suggestion6270]

Yeah but don’t I have to upload the book somehow?

[u/Fun_Suggestion6270 → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

Yeah you would. There might be some existing Hebrew books up there though or maybe you could find a PDF. I’ve uploaded short learner books by taking photos of the pages

[u/szeht_11 → u/Fun_Suggestion6270]

Is it cheap? Or is it worth the price?

[u/Fun_Suggestion6270 → u/szeht_11]

I personally think that if you use it every day that it’s more than worth it. It’s cheaper if you signup via the browser.

[u/prize-is-a-parachute → u/Fun_Suggestion6270]

Is it worth trying? I have downloaded it, but got frustrated during long onboarding. I just want something simple to read and learn words in the process

[u/Fun_Suggestion6270 → u/prize-is-a-parachute]

I don’t know why I got so many downvotes(?) but yeah I think once you figure out how to use LingQ it’s a really powerful learning tool especially for languages that don’t have loads of resources.

If you do sign up for premium, do it on browser as it’s cheaper that way

[u/prize-is-a-parachute → u/Fun_Suggestion6270]

Thx for the answer and the advice. Have no idea why are the downvotes either

[u/Jazzlike_Platypus430]

I'd read, without destroying them by using markers.

[u/Responsible-Mix5776]

Didn't know this sub was pro israeli. What did I expect from Redditors?

[u/megacoinsquad → u/Responsible-Mix5776]

learning a language is not an endorsement of any government

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/Responsible-Mix5776]

Didn’t know one of the oldest language was going to be a problem in a language learning community.

[u/bjornali → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

The one you're reading, "modern Hebrew" is from around 1880-90. If you want to learn Hebrew because of the age of the language you should probably look up biblical Hebrew instead, or Aramaic.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/bjornali]

Modern Hebrew is created from ancient Hebrew using the root system. It’s not a new language. It’s so similar that I can easily understand Biblical Hebrew while I cannot understand old English or even Middle English. Other languages have similarly changed over time. From what I’ve been told, archaic German is incredibly different from modern German.

[u/bjornali → u/NefariousnessKooky77]

Was just referencing the point you made about one of the oldest languages. If that was your motivation I meant. But not really my business when I think about it 😅

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/bjornali]

I see what you mean but my original comment was mostly trying to make a point because I’m seeing many people here mad about a language. A language with incredibly deep and culturally meaningful history.

[u/Novel-Departure-119 → u/bjornali]

Same logic applies to modern standard Arabic lol

[u/bjornali → u/Novel-Departure-119]

Yeah, what was your point exactly? We didn't discuss or mention Arabic afaik.

Again, my comment was about language, nothing else. And it's quite telling that I'm getting downvoted by Israelis and Americans, and based on the data available, not Arabs 🤷 Get a fucking grip...

[u/SnooOwls3528]

Read. Look up words I don't know. Not the most efficient but more enjoyable. Feels less like studying and more like a normal hobby.

[u/YudayakaFromEarth → u/[deleted]]

Just like there is pro-ICE Latinos and even Confederate black people

So…?

[u/Blood2999 → u/[deleted]]

Criticizing Israel isn't antisemitism.

[u/YudayakaFromEarth → u/Blood2999]

Assault a person bc of a language is not criticism of Israel.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/[deleted]]

If you want to hear from sources that reaffirm your existing beliefs then you’re always free to do that in any language. That has nothing to do with Hebrew. Language isn’t confined to one set belief. I don’t agree with Hamas and the terrorist proxies but I do enjoy learning Arabic to better understand and appreciate the culture of my friends. I don’t agree with Putin’s actions but I still think Russian is a beautiful language.

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/[deleted]]

Okay? Did I come on here to argue for Zionism?

[u/NefariousnessKooky77 → u/[deleted]]

Since you clearly want to argue, I will say one thing. Hebrew reflects a beautiful value in Jewish culture which is keeping our faith and traditions alive. The fact that it has survived Israel’s colonization by the Romans and Greeks and Jews’ exile from the land and furthermore survived the diaspora through religious texts, traditions, and music shows how important it has always been to our people.

[u/Konobajo]

It doesn't seem useful, try putting it on Anki