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As an avid language learner I am always on the hunt for new and interesting ways to increase one's grammar and vocabulary in the "target"  language chosen to learn.  I recently read an article that said a great way to achieve new vocab and grammar structures is by reading a book in that target language.

In order to use this system to your advantage it is imperative that you choose a book that you would normally read.  Something that interests you, maybe something  by your favorite author.  The biggest trick to this is that after you have chosen what you want to read you buy two books, one in English,  your primary language,  and another in Spanish, French, Italian....whatever your  "target" language is.  Have a dictionary on hand in the language you are learning and make sure you include a notebook for your studies as well.   You're gonna need it!  :)

Set yourself an achievable goal.  Plan to maybe tackle 1/2 or 1 whole chapter a week.  Depending on your familiarity with the language already,  you may read more or less. Don't be discouraged if you only do a few sentences a week.   Remember, this will be a lengthy process, so have patience and by all means remember this should not in any way be your primary language learning tool, but a supplement to whatever method/program you are currently using.   This is simply a way to add a vast amount of new vocab and grammatical structures that are most commonly used in "real time" conversations.  This method will not teach you pronunciation.

Every time you get to a word you do not know, or a grammar structure you are unfamiliar with, write it in your notebook, then go read the same line in your english version and write down what the translation is.  It will be necessary to turn to your dictionary at times because you will find that things are not translated exactly to what the english text says.

I am on this journey with you.  Though I already have a solid background in Spanish,  I have chosen to do this project in Spanish.  The books I have chosen are Richard Castle's "Heat Wave"  &  the Spanish version, "Ola de Calor" .

Leave comments if you have tried this, are trying now, or if you have other methods which work for you,  please share!    Learning a new language is an adventure, and for those of us who do not live in a country where they speak our target language we must break the mold when it comes to learning tools.    Happy learning!