Read English books without looking up every word

1. Try a few pages first

Pick a book you want to read. A familiar story can help: knowing the plot gives you more room to notice the language.

Can you follow who is speaking and what is happening? Keep going. If almost every sentence needs explaining, try an easier book or a shorter text. You can come back to this one later.

2. Finish the paragraph

When you meet an unfamiliar word, read to the end of the sentence or paragraph. The next few lines may give you the clue you need.

Ask yourself what you are missing: an action that changes the scene, or just a detail? You can often follow a conversation without knowing the exact colour of someone’s coat.

3. Look up the phrase that gets in the way

In FluentShelf, select a word or phrase to see help beside the text.

Take this sentence: “Maya ran into an old friend at the station.” Here, “ran into” means that she met the friend by chance. Checking “ran” and “into” separately may leave you with the wrong idea.

Read the whole sentence again after checking the translation. If it still does not fit, look at the surrounding lines. A translation can be mistaken, too.

4. Keep a few useful words

You do not need to save everything you look up. Try a word you have seen several times or a phrase you would like to use yourself.

The bookmark-plus icon in the translation popup is called “Save word”. It keeps the word with its sentence from the book, so you have something familiar to connect it to later.

5. Come back for the story

Stop after a scene or a few pages, wherever it feels comfortable. Try saying what happened in one sentence. That can help you notice whether you followed the main point.

When you return, carry on with the book. Word practice can be a separate few minutes. You do not have to finish your vocabulary list before reading more.