Reading, it really works!

I just wanted to share my recent experiences with dramatically increasing the amount of reading that I've been doing in my target language (French). I've been learning it since 2021, and am probably around a B2 for speaking, maybe B2/C1 for listening and reading.

Last year I read a decent amount in French (12 total books), but my reading wasn't consistent throughout the year.

For this year I set a more aggressive goal of reading 24 books and I've started out (right after Christmas) reading more per day, and more consistently than in any stretch of 2024. Over the last four weeks I've read a minimum of an hour a day - every day, with some days approaching 2 or 2.5 hours.

Without a doubt I've noticed a significant improvement in my reading speed and a boost in comprehension, but I've also noticed improvement in my listening and speaking skills. During my last Italki conversation, for example, the language just felt like it was "flowing" out of me!