Comprehensible input works. Finding it is the hard part.

I've learnt languages in a lot of ways. The one that worked best, by a long way, was comprehensible input. This post is about why it works, and about the problem that stops most people from using it: finding the right content.

What comprehensible input is

The idea comes from the linguist Stephen Krashen. In Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition (1982) he argued that we acquire a language by understanding it, so the best content to learn from is content that is comprehensible. That is where the name comes from: input is the language you read and hear, and comprehensible means you can follow it.

You don't need to know every word in a sentence to understand its general meaning, because there is plenty of other context to help. That context can come from the words you already know, from a familiar situation, from visual cues such as pictures and hand gestures, and more.

Why finding comprehensible input is so hard

Three things make the right content hard to find.

Everyone is at a different level. The words you know are not the words I know, even if we have both been learning for six months. A text that is perfect for one learner is far too hard or insultingly easy for the next.

Everyone has different reasons to learn. I'm not learning Polish and Greek in the abstract. I have specific situations I know are coming, and specific people I want to talk to. Generic content about "a day at the market" doesn't touch any of that.

Interest is what keeps you reading. Input only helps if you do a lot of it, and you only do a lot of it if you care. A text can be at exactly the right level and still be so dull that you stop after one paragraph.

So you end up trading one thing against another. Content written for learners is often at a level you can read, but it is bland. Real content is interesting, but it is far too hard when you are starting out.

What I tried

With Spanish I got lucky. I already had an intermediate level, so I was able to find a lot of good comprehensible input. It's why I became such a believer in it.

Then I started Polish and Greek from zero, and finding comprehensible input was much harder.

• Reading real texts was interesting, but the level was never quite right, and I spent more time searching for something to read than reading it. A wall of unknown words is exhausting.
• Nothing matched my reasons for learning. Whenever I had something coming up that I wanted to prepare for, like a trip or a wedding, I had to hunt for material about it, or go without.

The wedding

This year I went to a wedding in Poland. I wanted to follow conversations and not stand there smiling blankly. I struggled, because I hadn't learned the right vocabulary. All I knew was basic introductions, and I wanted to have more interesting conversations.

Afterwards I used Polylengua, the tool I've been building, to learn the words I had been missing, with lessons about weddings written around the vocabulary I already knew. I'm now learning Polish more effectively than ever, picking up vocabulary that is both interesting and useful to me. I'm looking forward to my next chance to speak Polish.

What I built

Polylengua works like this: you choose any topic, and it writes short texts at your level. It keeps track of the words you know, so every lesson gives you enough context to understand it, and introduces new vocabulary for you to pick up along the way.

Pictures and natural-sounding audio add even more context, so you can work out the new words as you read and listen. Over time, you build up your vocabulary and become more confident using the language.

Summary

• Comprehensible input is one of the most effective ways to learn a language. You learn by following the meaning of a lot of language you can understand, even when you don't know every word.
• The hard part is finding content that matches your level, your reasons for learning and your interests. That is why so many learners give up.
• Polylengua writes short texts on any topic you choose, using the words you know plus a few new ones, with pictures and audio to give you extra context.

If that sounds like your problem, I'd love you to try Polylengua. It's free to start: sign up, pick a topic you care about, whether that's a trip, a wedding or a hobby, and generate your first lesson.