Articles
Guides, research, and practical advice on language learning through reading.
The Moment You Stop Translating in Your Head
Your brain routes foreign words through your first language — until it doesn't. Here's the research on how that detour collapses, and why you can't shortcut it.
Why B1 Is Where Almost Every Adult Learner Quietly Stalls
A 1972 paper named the mechanism. A 1982 paper named the learner. Why the B1 plateau is not laziness — and why the strategies that got you there are exactly what keeps you stuck.
What Learning a Language Teaches You About Cultural Difference
Languages don't just differ in vocabulary — they differ in what they require their speakers to say. About formality, closeness, gender, time. Noticing that is where empathy actually comes from.
Why You Can Read a Language Long Before You Can Speak It
Recognising a word is easier than producing one, and some alphabets are honest while others are not. Two facts that explain the strangest gap in adult language learning — and what to do about it.
The Italian on the Page: A Reading Ladder from Rodari to Lampedusa
A reading ladder for Italian, level by level — from Rodari at A1 to Lampedusa and Gadda at C2 — with the passato remoto wall and the literary-register split most learners discover too late.
How to Learn Romanian by Reading: From Apolodor to Cărtărescu
A Romanian reading ladder for adult learners — level by level, from Gellu Naum's Apolodor at A1 to Mircea Cărtărescu's Solenoid at C2. Real books, honest notes, and what to do when the graded readers everyone else has don't exist for you.
How to Learn Dutch by Reading: A Ladder from A1 to C2
A reading ladder for Dutch learners, level by level — from Nijntje and Jip en Janneke at A1 to Mulisch and Multatuli at C2. Real Dutch books with honest notes on what each one feels like.
From Pippi to Millennium: An Expat's Honest Swedish Reading Journey
The Swedish reading ladder that actually works — real books at every CEFR level, from Astrid Lindgren to Stieg Larsson, with honest notes on what each one feels like.
Extensive Reading for Language Learning: What the Research Found
Multiple meta-analyses covering 74+ studies confirm that extensive reading improves vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and motivation. Here is what the data actually says — including where it falls short.
What CEFR Level Should I Read At?
Find the right CEFR reading level for language learning. Understand A1 through C2, the 95% lexical coverage rule, and how to choose texts that build vocabulary and fluency.