In today's post in the Language Learning in 2025 series I am focusing on reading practice, considering what to read and how to find those materials. As always, I have no paid affiliation with any of the resources mentioned in this post; I am only suggesting them as options that have worked for me. They may not suit everyone's learning style.
Reading
Reading is an extremely useful component of language study. It allows you to build vocabulary and see grammar and sentence structure in context. Depending on what you are reading, it can also provide cultural insights. The main difficulty is finding suitable reading materials to suit your level, so let’s consider that now.
Beginner
As a beginner, the best place to start (if they are available for your target language) is with graded readers. These will have short stories aimed at your level, with translations in your native language, vocabulary lists and explanations. They offer a light introduction to reading that won’t feel too intimidating.
Budget Tip: Seek websites with free-to-view graded reading material. Some may also include audio. Use the text alone or turn on the audio too for bonus listening practice.
Intermediate
At this level you may also find more advanced graded readers, but by this stage you can start to pursue native content. To start with, try some comics/graphic novels before progressing to middle-grade/YA novels. If you have a particular area of interest, also try looking at websites and social media pages based on those topics to learn key vocabulary in the areas you love.
Budget Tip: Seek free-to-view comic/webtoon platforms, as well as native-language blogs.
Advanced
At this point, the world is your oyster. Dip into newspapers and official media on the non-fiction side of things, or novels on the fiction side.
Budget Tip: Seek free-to-view news websites, web novel platforms and blogs.
Extensive versus Intensive Reading
Intensive reading, on the other hand, is a slower and more focused study method in which you really zoom in on the language.
As a beginner, you will naturally be doing more intensive reading at first until you build your vocabulary and grammar knowledge. But once you reach intermediate level, you can start trying to build in some extensive reading as well. Once you reach an advanced level, switch to mostly extensive reading as this will provide the greatest benefit at that stage.
Choosing Reading Materials
The biggest pitfall with reading likely to cause students difficulties is picking the right text. It’s very easy to end up with something too far above your level. I have fallen into that trap myself in the past.
On my first trip to Seoul in 2023, I went to Kyobo bookstore to buy some Korean books so I could elevate my reading in Korean from graded readers to native content. I had seen online recommendations for ‘picture essays’ — non-fiction essays but set out with a predominance of illustrations, rather than too many solid pages of text — and this seemed to me to be a good place to start.
Many books in Korea are shrink-wrapped, making it hard to flick through and assess them, but I found one that wasn’t. I was in a hurry that day as my husband was waiting for me in the bookstore café. He’d said to take my time, but he wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t want to make him wait too long. I therefore only flicked through the book carelessly, noted there were a few pages of pure text but mostly cartoon-style images, and decided to give it a try. I did not look closely at the subject matter.
When I returned home and started reading, I discovered this was a book about getting into the housing market in Korea — interesting perhaps in terms of subject matter, but full of highly specialised vocabulary and real estate jargon.
For several months I struggled on, having to look up multiple words every page despite the small amount of text, and I felt more and more unhappy. I wasn’t enjoying the book; it simply made me feel inadequate when I could understand so little.
On the same trip I had also bought a couple of YA novels. I’d figured they were too advanced for me at present but that I could read them in the future. After deciding to give up on the real estate essay, though, I picked one up and started to glance over the first chapter. To my surprise, I could understand a fair chunk of it. This book was actually easier to read than the one full of pictures, despite being full pages of text without a single illustration.
This YA novel thus ended up becoming the first book I finished reading purely in Korean (not a graded reader). Although at first glance it looked like it would be harder than the picture essay, the opposite was true because a lot of the language was everyday vocabulary, and it was set in the life of a high-school girl, so it also featured familiar situations and scenarios. I had to look up some words, but only generally two or three per page, so I was able to read faster and feel like I was actually enjoying the story as well as studying.
If you have to stop to look up words too frequently you will read at such a slow pace it will become disheartening and you may feel defeated and give up. When you find material at the correct level, you should be learning new things while still feeling generally comfortable and able to read at a decent pace.
No matter what level you are at, when assessing a text as potential reading material, look at a sample and see how much you can understand. Ideally, it should be 75-80%. You don’t want to be looking up more than a handful of words per page, and, when engaging in extensive reading, only stop to research a word or grammar point if you cannot infer the meaning from the context. You can always mark it and return to the book later to do intensive reading and really home in on the new words and grammar you came across.
Bonus Tip: As you move into higher-level content such as novels, you may sometimes find the text available in both your target language and your native language. If this happens, and you have the funds and ability to do so, it can be useful to obtain copies of both. That way, you can compare your comprehension against the official translation.
Finding Reading Materials
While you can certainly go out and buy books to read from, this isn’t absolutely necessary, especially if you are on a tight budget. Look for websites aimed at language learners that offer free graded reading material if you are a beginner. Meanwhile, intermediate and advanced students can also begin to seek out native-language materials online. Many websites for webtoons and web novels have paid subscriptions, but quite a few will also release some limited chapters or even full volumes for free, so if money is tight you can jump between those; although it may mean you don’t get to complete a full story, only first chapters of different works. Blogs are another good place to find free-to-read material, and some news channels will also have at least a portion visible without subscription.
If you like having hardcopy materials but find new books too expensive, check out second-hand bookstores to grab a bargain. Often postage costs are the biggest deterrent to purchasing books from your target language’s country, but if you manage to go there on a holiday, check out some new and second-hand bookstores while you are there and stock up. Just watch you luggage allowance!
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