“In my work in language acquisition, I have concluded that we acquire language in only one way: by understanding messages, or obtaining ‘comprehensible input’ in a low-anxiety situation.” — Stephen Krashen
Stephen Krashen is widely known in the language learning space for his comprehensible input hypothesis, where he believes we acquire language by taking in language that is “just beyond” our current level of competence.
Which I kind of believe is true. But…
This is like finding a golden unicorn, and personally, I don’t think it’s particularly practical or efficient, and I’m going to tell you why.
First of all, people all learn differently. I know a lot of people who can learn by simply sitting and observing something. These can be classed as visual learners, who absorb information better through charts, graphs, and pictures, and are often seen taking notes. Auditory learners learn better through listening and benefit more from podcasts, lectures, and group discussions. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing — physically practicing the skill. While most of us have a mix of these learning styles, we often tend to lean toward one in particular.
I am most definitely a kinesthetic learner. Although I do listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of books, I much prefer doing, and I have no issue with trying and failing.
But that’s me.
Now, while comprehensible input may be great for some (it clearly is, as Krashen has done studies on the subject), I really don’t think it works for everyone. What often happens in the language learning community is that learners get hung up on why they aren’t progressing. They scour the internet and YouTube for answers, and what ends up happening is that they find countless videos about why comprehensible input is king. We spend lots of time trying to find comprehensible input and often get bored and fall short of our goals.
Why?
Well, first of all, finding “compelling, engaging, and interesting content” when you’re at a low level in your target language is like finding a needle in a haystack. Imagine you’re a beginner Greek learner and you’re really into chess. Are you going to find content that you can just about understand and be totally engaged with? I’m guessing not. You may be lucky and find some, but I’m guessing that you won’t find a great deal of it, and once you have consumed it, you will be swiftly back to square one.
Olly Richards did a great job creating books of short stories that were engaging and pitched at the right level for beginners and intermediate learners. I have many of his books in numerous languages, and I always recommend them to people. There are also more and more YouTube channels popping up with comprehensible input, which is great, and I will say that I use some of it myself.
But this can’t be all we do. It simply isn’t enough and isn’t an efficient way to use our time.
I seem to spend more time searching for this golden content than consuming it.
Krashen also states that forcing students to talk before they feel ready is a cause of “considerable anxiety.” Now, I do actually agree that feeling anxious inhibits learning, and it’s much more beneficial to feel comfortable and enjoy the process. But in order for us to develop all of our skills effectively, we have to practice all aspects of language learning, not just the ones that are comfortable. We are talking about speaking, reading, writing, and listening.
How many times have you heard someone say that they can understand a language but can’t speak it? This is probably because they haven’t spoken it much. It was much easier for them to consume content without much effort, and therefore their speaking skills fall far behind their listening skills.
If you don’t use it, you lose it, right?
And most of these people consumed content from a young age — easier content aimed at children. Pitched at the right level using simple language for children. Therefore, finding comprehensible input for children is much easier, as children are more engaged and entertained by things like Peppa Pig and Dora the Explorer, whereas adults are not.
So there need to be four characteristics of comprehensible input, and they are as follows:
- It is comprehensible.
- It is extremely interesting (so interesting, in fact, that you temporarily forget it is in another language).
- It is rich in vocabulary — using a diverse and extensive range of words.
- Quantity — it takes a lot of this comprehensibly rich input to make real progress.
So, we need a lot of extremely interesting and engaging content with an extensive range of vocabulary that is understandable to us in a foreign language to make good progress?
Please tell me when you find all this, and I’ll delete this article.
Now, I’m not saying that comprehensible input is totally useless, but I think there has to be an element of study and vocabulary learning before we are able to find and enjoy this comprehensible input. We cannot simply decide that we want to learn a language, go onto the internet, and find content that hits all these criteria. One or more of the characteristics will be missing.
I’m sure that once we get to the stage where we can search and find content on our favorite subjects in our target languages, our levels will skyrocket. I have no doubt. In this situation, comprehensible input is king. But when beginning to learn a language, we have to start with the basics. We have to learn basic language in order to understand things, and some of those things won’t be as entertaining as we would like.
In my opinion, it is much more efficient to spend 2–3 months working through a course (whether it’s a book or online course) and really spending time to understand the basics, mastering the beginner vocabulary, and having the discipline to do it consistently. Using other methods like flashcards or writing physical notes to make sure this knowledge is ingrained in our memories. Practicing pronunciation and even forcing ourselves to have strained conversations to practice. Then, once we have a strong foundation, we can go on the hunt for this silver bullet of comprehensible input. It will be much easier to find now that we have built a solid base, and it will be much more effective.
And this is for languages similar to our own. If you wish to learn a language from a different language family with grammar concepts we just aren’t used to, and throw in some other factors that our native language doesn’t include (like tones in Asian languages, for example), then this initial process will take even longer and will require more consistency and discipline.
I have studied numerous languages and speak some of them very well, but I am currently studying an Asian language, and I feel like I have been a beginner for nine months! I initially started with comprehensible input but quickly realized that I wasn’t progressing — so I have switched up my approach and will be incorporating a lot of output (speaking & writing) in order to use the language more and take a more active approach.
Tell me your thoughts. I am genuinely interested. I have been obsessed with languages for over 10 years, and I am always looking for ways to maximize efficiency when learning anything.
But I do think the comprehensible input bandwagon is flawed, and taking a more active approach is key. There are some strong opinions about this online, and some of them are very hard to argue with.
What are your most effective learning strategies? Are you on “Team Krashen”? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
