Why is it so tiring to read a book in another language?

Because your brain has not yet learned to recognise the words automatically. In your first language, reading a word is effortless, which leaves your attention free for the meaning. In a new language, a large share of your effort still goes to working out the words themselves, so there is less left for the story, and that competition is what you feel as tiredness.

Is it normal for reading in another language to be exhausting?

Yes. Reading in a second language is slower and more effortful than in your first, and feeling worn out after a short stretch is the normal starting point, not a sign you are doing it wrong. It eases as word recognition becomes more automatic with practice.

Does reading in a foreign language get less tiring over time?

It does. The more you read, the more words your brain recognises without effort, so more of your attention is free for the meaning. It helps to read a book you can follow and to keep going when a sentence is not fully clear.

How can I read in another language without getting so tired?

Pick a book you can follow. Keep going when a sentence is not fully clear. Read for a short time most days rather than for a long time once a week. And make each lookup quick, so you do not lose your place on the page.

Why Reading in Another Language Is So Tiring at First

I grew up speaking Swedish, and I had read books in English for years. Then I started learning Dutch, and the first book I tried to read in it was Harry Potter. I had the paper book in one hand and Google Translate on my phone in the other. Every word I did not know meant unlocking the phone, typing the word, spelling it right, and finding my place on the page again.

A page later I would look up the same word again, because there were too many new words to remember. It was hard work and not fun at all. I could not follow the story, so there was nothing to enjoy, and I gave up after a couple of pages.

If that sounds familiar, it is not because you are bad at languages. Reading in a language you are learning is more tiring than reading in your own, and there is a clear reason for it. It also gets easier the more you read.

Why it is so tiring

In your first language, you do not notice yourself recognising words. You see a word and you know what it means. In a language you are still learning, that part takes effort, and it uses up attention you need for the story.

In 1974, the researchers David LaBerge and S. Jay Samuels described reading as two jobs that share a limited amount of attention: recognising the words and understanding what they mean. When word recognition is automatic, almost all of your attention goes to the meaning: the plot, the ideas, the jokes. When it is not automatic yet, most of your attention goes to working out the words, and little is left for the meaning.

Cognitive load theory, from the psychologist John Sweller, explains why that amount is limited. Working memory can only hold a few things at once. While you read, it holds the word you are working out, the sentence so far and what happened on the last page. Every word you have to work out takes space that would otherwise go to understanding.

Looking words up adds to it. Each lookup takes you out of the sentence, and when you come back you have to find your place and start the sentence again. That was my problem with Harry Potter: every lookup meant the phone, and I kept looking up words I had just looked up.

So the tiredness is real, and it does not mean you are doing it wrong. It is what reading feels like before word recognition is automatic.

It gets easier as you read

Reading is also what makes word recognition automatic. Each time you see a word in a sentence, you recognise it a little faster. After enough of those times, you read the word without effort, and that attention goes back to the story.

That is why each book is easier than the one before it. You learn new words, and you also get faster at the words you already know. I wrote more about this in how every page makes the next one easier.

So when a page wears you out, pushing harder does not help. What helps is reading in a way that is easy enough that you open the book again tomorrow.

What helps

Pick a book you can follow

Choose a book by how much of the story you can follow, not by how impressive it would be to finish. If you can follow the story, your effort goes into reading it. If you cannot, your effort goes into working out every line, and that is what wears you out. A book that feels a little too easy is a good choice. I wrote about how to choose one in how to pick your first book in another language.

Keep going when a sentence is not fully clear

You do not need every sentence to make complete sense to follow the story. If you understand what happened, move on. The words you missed will come back in other sentences, and you will understand them better each time. More on this in you don't have to understand every word.

Keep sessions short and regular

The tiredness comes from attention, not willpower, so it works like any tiring mental task: do less at a time, more often. Ten minutes most days does more than an hour once a week that leaves you not wanting to open the book again.

Make each lookup quick

If lookups are most of your tiredness, as they were for me, make each one take less time and stop looking up the same word twice. In Simply Fluent, you translate any word or phrase on the page and see the meaning it has in that sentence, without leaving the book. A translation you save is shown above that word in every book you read after that, so you do not have to look it up again.

Whatever you read with, a quicker lookup leaves you more attention for the story.

In short

Reading in a new language is tiring at first because recognising the words still takes effort, and that effort uses attention you need for the meaning. It gets easier as you read, because reading is what makes the words automatic. Pick a book you can follow, keep going when a sentence is not fully clear, keep sessions short, and make lookups quick.

When a page wears you out after ten minutes, stop for the day and open the book again tomorrow.

Questions fréquentes

Why is it so tiring to read a book in another language?: Because your brain has not yet learned to recognise the words automatically. In your first language, reading a word is effortless, which leaves your attention free for the meaning. In a new language, a large share of your effort still goes to working out the words themselves, so there is less left for the story, and that competition is what you feel as tiredness.
Is it normal for reading in another language to be exhausting?: Yes. Reading in a second language is slower and more effortful than in your first, and feeling worn out after a short stretch is the normal starting point, not a sign you are doing it wrong. It eases as word recognition becomes more automatic with practice.
Does reading in a foreign language get less tiring over time?: It does. The more you read, the more words your brain recognises without effort, so more of your attention is free for the meaning. It helps to read a book you can follow and to keep going when a sentence is not fully clear.
How can I read in another language without getting so tired?: Pick a book you can follow. Keep going when a sentence is not fully clear. Read for a short time most days rather than for a long time once a week. And make each lookup quick, so you do not lose your place on the page.

Cet article t'a été utile ?