In this post I want to suggest a plan for learning to read independently, based on the materials that LCP has produced.<\/p>\n
Excursus:<\/strong> I want to\u00a0acknowledge that LCP has placed a lot of emphasis on learning to read and write in this space (and in the resources that we’ve developed). Learning to read\u00a0is only\u00a0one part\u00a0of learning Dari, and it is not even an essential part of it. The recent emphasis on reading has come about because 1) previously there were few resources for learning to read, so we’re making up for that, 2) the lack of resources contributed to an incorrect perception that learning to read was only for advanced learners, and 3) learning to read has helped me a great deal personally, and I think it will help others as well. But none of this is to say that you have<\/em> to learn to read.<\/p>\n We need to begin with a vision of what you want to achieve. This is how I would define success in being able to read: \u201cI will be able to read any Dari text, looking up only words that I do not know, and hesitating only over complex grammar.\u201d<\/p>\n Note that having to look up new words is\u00a0still part of being a mature reader. I still look up words in\u00a0my native language!<\/p>\n The first step is to learn how reading and writing works.\u00a0There are three routes.<\/p>\n Your goal at this stage is to be able to make sense of its spelling. You need\u00a0to be able to look \u0645\u0639\u0631\u0648\u0641 and understand how that is a possible spelling for\u00a0[maruf] \u2018famous.\u2019 You also want to be aware of some of the differences between the spoken and written forms.<\/p>\n Don’t get lost at this stage. Many people get bogged down in the final pages of Let’s Become Literate<\/em>,\u00a0but those are actually the\u00a0least important letters (i.e., the ones you see least often in print). If you get stuck there, move on to\u00a0Stage 2 to shake things up.<\/p>\n Your goal at this point it to start recognizing whole words. You want to see frequent words like \u0634\u0645\u0627 [\u0283\u028am\u028c] and recognize them immediately. You should start to be able to recognize verb endings without having to think too<\/em> much about them.\u00a0This stage might be no more than reading over the Let’s Become Literate<\/em> books over and over. You might want to move on to short passages that\u00a0are familiar to you, such as LCP’s fairy tales, or other familiar texts.<\/p>\n Don’t worry if you’re still struggling over the weird infrequent letters. They will come with practice.<\/p>\n You’re ready to move on to this stage when\u00a0reading\u00a0the same passages over and over is\u00a0easy enough to become boring.\u00a0When you feel that your lack of vocabulary is the limiting factor in your reading, you’re ready to move on.<\/p>\n At this point you need to overcome your limited vocabulary. It’s amazing how many more words there are than the ones you hear and use in the course of your day. It’s also far easier to miss new words in speech than it is on the printed page. All of this means that learning to read will be a nasty reality check.<\/p>\n What you want to do at this stage is to learn a lot of new vocabulary. Working with a set of flashcards<\/a> that are based on Dari (or Persian) script is one way to do that.\u00a0You could also just print off some\u00a0text that you think would be interesting, and go through it with a dictionary, but\u00a0looking up words really slows you down. A good\u00a0intermediate is to use a collection of interlinear texts\u2014such as the\u00a0LCP News Collection<\/a>\u2014which expose you to a lot of new vocabulary without the hassle of looking them up in the dictionary.<\/p>\n Once you’ve got a reasonable base of vocabulary, you’re ready to move into the wide world of texts. Striking out on your own doesn’t mean that reading will be easy, but it should mean that\u00a0your limitations are your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, rather than your ability to read. That is, ultimately your\u00a0time spent learning will become pure language learning time. You’ve arrived at the beginning. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n I suggest forming a reading group\u2014a weekly gathering of two or more people\u00a0at different-but-similar reading levels. I have been involved in several, and it has always been an enriching experience\u2014and it’s resulted in me reading more Dari than I\u00a0would have. The best groups I’ve been a part of have\u00a0involved\u00a0each person reading the same short passage ahead of time, looking up words, and then coming together to read it again together and discuss it.\u00a0Since no one is at exactly<\/em> the same level, more advanced people need to be patient and helpful, and less advanced people need to be patient with themselves and willing to ask questions.\u00a0There is an African proverb: \u201cIf you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this post I want to suggest a plan for learning to read independently, based on the materials that LCP has produced. Excursus: I want to\u00a0acknowledge that LCP has placed a lot of emphasis on learning to read and write in this space (and in the resources that we’ve developed). Learning to read\u00a0is only\u00a0one part\u00a0of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-goals","category-learning-about-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iam-afghanistan.org\/lcp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Vision<\/h2>\n
Stage 1: Learning\u00a0the basics<\/h2>\n
\n
Stage\u00a02: Developing fluency<\/h2>\n
Stage\u00a03: Building vocabulary with guided texts<\/h2>\n
Stage 4: Into the wild<\/h2>\n
Forming a reading group<\/h2>\n