How to choose understandable input

Check the task

Decide whether you want to follow a story, understand a conversation or notice a language form. Each task needs a different kind of material. A passage can be useful for one task and too difficult for another.

Use a short sample

1. Choose a passage about a subject that interests you.
2. Use pictures, captions or a transcript if needed.
3. Explain the main event without looking at the text.
4. If you cannot, add support or select an easier passage.
5. Return later and check whether you can follow it with less support.

For example, a beginner may understand a cooking clip from the ingredients and actions even when some words are unfamiliar. A fast discussion with no visual context may need a transcript or a different choice of material.

Consider the limits

Known words do not guarantee that you understand fast speech, jokes or a speaker's accent. Captions and translations may also be wrong. Interest matters: a short passage you want to revisit can be more useful for practice than a longer one you avoid.

We make Jibber Jabber. Its interactive captions and lookup can help with video, but it is not a book library or a replacement for a conversation partner. See our product profile and how to use captions.