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Willem van den Eijkel

What types of reading exercises would make language learning more engaging and effective for you?

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Hello Everyone! đź‘‹


We're researching how to improve reading comprehension features in language-learning apps based on our own struggles with the disconnected texts often found in traditional platforms. Our vision is to create reading exercises that genuinely connect with learners' real interests, proficiency levels, and learning goals. I won't dive into all the details right now, but we'd love to spark a conversation around this question:

  • What types of reading exercises would make language learning more engaging and effective for you?

Looking forward to your insights—don't hesitate to share your experiences or reach out directly!

@willemvdeijkel @didiervanh @lucasilverentand

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Zagita

I’d love to read stuff that’s super connected to real-life situations—like unfiltered, up-to-date slang and phrases people actually use. I speak Indonesian, English, and Mandarin, and I’m just starting to learn Japanese. A lot of textbooks or self-teaching materials focus on formal language, but that’s not always how natives or teens actually talk in real life. It’d be awesome to learn the everyday, casual side of the language too!

MJ

i think reading/writing as gameplay can works well

i learned most of words just play a games,

and i'm not realy good example, but ...

game also give you an ability to form sentences

if game will be have some lessons to confirm your gueses, it's will be preaty usefull

Leeann Trang
@willemvdeijkel Awesome question! I’d love to see excerpts / passages from books or news. I hate school textbook stuff that feels so made up and fake. I remembered loving learning Spanish with one of my teachers from real things (even songs!).
Willem van den Eijkel
@ph_leeanntrang thanks for your input! This is a very interesting point, I personally also learned a lot reading the news and song lyrics. So I entirely agree that these are effective methods :)
Nika

I can say what works for me.

Anytime I write a sentence, Grammarly underlines it – so it makes me think, about what I did wrong and then, Grammarly offers me a solution/alternative. Something similar could maybe work. I mean – when the reader is required to do some action – e.g. rewrite the word (recall it from the text), it is a form of learning – something active (not passive) :)

Feliciana

I think it's a good idea to use clips from TV shows or movies as reading materials. This way makes the learning content less rigid, more relatable to real life, and adds an element of fun.

Stephen Chow

I firmly believe content matters! If it's written by admired figures like Steve Jobs, it can be truly captivating. Likewise, well-crafted advertising copy is also worth reading.

Yan Bingbing

Love the focus on real-world relevance! My Duolingo PTSD comes from translating "The owl eats bread" for the 100th time 🦉🍞. Would kill for exercises that mirror actual content I consume: Instagram captions from creators I follow, niche subreddits, or even messy group chat drama—with vocab tailored to my obsessions (drama slang > weather reports). Let me toggle between "decipher this meme" mode and "deep dive this essay" mode.