Not exactly the side by side reading we are looking for.
One of the most important things to remember as a self directed language learner is to find every available resource to use for your language learning. You may not use every resource, and you certainly won’t use them all at one time, but it is important to take a broad view and make a mental catalogue of what is available. One thing that is available in nearly every language is side by side reading resources. Most of these come in novels or short stories, with English on one page and the target language on the other page. All major languages have these books available and a simple google search or Amazon search will help you find them. Here in Turkey, we even have one section of the Sunday edition, New York Times with a side by side reading section. Milet Publishing* also has a great selection of four to five Turkish authors’ works in side by side format. These are great for Turkish as well as for learning a bit more about the culture. And no matter what language you are studying, there is at least one source of side by side reading - The Holy Bible. It is the most widely translated book in the world and can as well be a great language learning resource.
How do you use side by side reading. I like to read whole sections in English first and then go back and read the Turkish while the English is fresh. I find reading sentence by sentence to be to narrow and I end up trying to figure out word for word what was translated. Likewise, if the story is an unfamiliar one, I find reading the whole thing in English first a bit more difficult because I forget much of the context. I always want to stack the cards in my favor, to control the input, so large chunks of several paragraphs to several pages seems to work best. Check out some side by side reading today.
I also wanted to share that I have begun (because it is a fun diversion and because it may bring more people to the site) to post these tips of the Bi-Week on Youtube. You can check them out at TLL Coaching.
*Scroll down on this page to see the five books they have available - also available at Greenhouse bookstore in Kadikoy.
How do you use side by side reading. I like to read whole sections in English first and then go back and read the Turkish while the English is fresh. I find reading sentence by sentence to be to narrow and I end up trying to figure out word for word what was translated. Likewise, if the story is an unfamiliar one, I find reading the whole thing in English first a bit more difficult because I forget much of the context. I always want to stack the cards in my favor, to control the input, so large chunks of several paragraphs to several pages seems to work best. Check out some side by side reading today.
I also wanted to share that I have begun (because it is a fun diversion and because it may bring more people to the site) to post these tips of the Bi-Week on Youtube. You can check them out at TLL Coaching.
*Scroll down on this page to see the five books they have available - also available at Greenhouse bookstore in Kadikoy.
