Language Tales1/ Video with great language learning insights that gives tips for writing graded readers (books with simplified language that uses a limited amount of words): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yMxca0SEM8
Next: summary of the key points 👇
YouTube
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* How many new words?
* Intensive reading (slowly and thoroughly): Up to 10% of the words can be new.
* Extensive reading (more quickly and for fun): About 2% new words.
* For his book, the author went with 5% new words.
* New words should be repeated multiple times. That gives you spaced repetition but with the added bonus that it happens in different contexts.
* Abstract verbs require more repetitions than concrete nouns.
* How many new words?
* Intensive reading (slowly and thoroughly): Up to 10% of the words can be new.
* Extensive reading (more quickly and for fun): About 2% new words.
* For his book, the author went with 5% new words.
* New words should be repeated multiple times. That gives you spaced repetition but with the added bonus that it happens in different contexts.
* Abstract verbs require more repetitions than concrete nouns.
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* Be aware of distractors (similar but different words). Those should not be introduced together. Wait until one of them has been planted firmly in the reader’s brain.
* Avoid thematic chapters – e.g. a chapter on food, a chapter on colors, a chapter on animals, etc. Why? They are also distractors. Instead, introduce “red” when you talk about fire trucks, “yellow” when you talk about the Sun, etc.
* Be aware of distractors (similar but different words). Those should not be introduced together. Wait until one of them has been planted firmly in the reader’s brain.
* Avoid thematic chapters – e.g. a chapter on food, a chapter on colors, a chapter on animals, etc. Why? They are also distractors. Instead, introduce “red” when you talk about fire trucks, “yellow” when you talk about the Sun, etc.
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* No grammatical sequencing: Confining certain grammar rules to specific chapters limits your storytelling. Additionally, introducing a rule late means that you can’t repeat it much. However, the initial chapters in the author’s book used simpler grammar, but later chapters did not.
* Make sure the story is exciting.
* No grammatical sequencing: Confining certain grammar rules to specific chapters limits your storytelling. Additionally, introducing a rule late means that you can’t repeat it much. However, the initial chapters in the author’s book used simpler grammar, but later chapters did not.
* Make sure the story is exciting.