I consider this range of difficulty (10-20% unknown words) to be an ideal "vocabulary acquisition zone", just like the "fat-burning" or "aerobic" zones that we can achieve when running on a tread mil . I think it is an ideal level of difficulty for a language learner.
Many language learning sites offer a "word of the day" service, which is amusing for learners, even though I do not find it al that useful for learning a language. I mean you need thousands, or even tens of thousands of words. So, at one word a day, it would take a long time to learn a language. What is more, getting words devoid of any meaningful context, I mean meaningful to the learner, is quite useless, so most of these words wil be quickly forgotten.
My wife likes to do crossword puzzles. I sometimes help her, and this morning I discovered that on the same page as the crossword puzzle, there is a Word of the Day item, sponsored by CanWest Canspel and the Post Office! Today's word was Niebelung! That's right, Niebelung, definition "a member of a Scandinavian race of dwarfs."
My wife keeps her old crosswords so I looked up some of the recent Words of the Day, which I list at random below. Either these words are known to the reader, or they are quite useless and wil not be learned. If anyone comes across an unknown word, it is easy enough to search the Web or a dictionary for a definition and examples of usage. In any case, these words have nothing to do with the effort to improve literacy among low literacy people, i.e. those people who have trouble reading.
Niebelung
Weir
Riparian
Osprey
Lunula
Paleontologist
Perihelion
Febrile
Exequies
Fusilier
Ochre
Necromancy
Discrete
Rapscal ion
When trying to increase fluency, it is often best to work from texts which have few rare or difficult words. Often these less formal texts contain more idiomatic expressions. With such texts you can concentrate on the phrases and pay attention to how the prepositions, articles and tenses are used.
The ideal content for this is natural conversation. People use more common words and phrases and fewer difficult words, in conversations. In my experience, conversations and interviews are interesting only if they are genuine and not scripted for learners. Remember interest is key. Look for conversations and interviews, with sound and transcript as ideal content for intermediate and even advanced learning.
On the other hand to increase your knowledge of more difficult words, especial y words needed for academic and professional purposes, or for tests like TOEFL, TOEIC or IELTS, there is nothing better than doing a lot of reading in your areas of interest. If the subjects are familiar or of interest to you, it wil be easier.
It is best to read new and somewhat difficult content on a computer to take advantage of online dictionaries and other new learning technology. Whatever you do, there is no substitute for learning in context through lots of reading and listening.
If you can find audio for these texts you wil find it even easier to read more difficult texts and to remember the new words and phrases.
As I am reviewing one of my old Korean books I am reminded of al the things that textbook authors do to make it hard to learn languages.
Most textbooks introduce vocabulary in categories. The names of the colours, or the parts of the body etc. wil be introduced together. Words that mean similar things or opposites wil be introduced together. So the vocabulary list for each lesson includes no t only what I need to understand the text in a given chapter but a lot of as yet unnecessary words that the author thinks wil help the learner.
In fact this does not help. Research has shown that it is more difficult to learn new items in such categories or associations. We end up confused. The brain does not remember them.
We learn best when we can get a clump of information, or a few new words or phrases together with a lot of familiar material or content. If we know al about flowers and are reading about flowers then a few colors or names of flowers can be absorbed as part of reading and hearing about interesting content.
A long list of the names of flowers or colors, on the other hand, is very difficult to learn.
Most facts or concepts that are taught in a way that is separate from real and interesting language content are not easy to remember. That goes for grammar explanations as wel .
There are courses on academic writing and on business writing. For people who already write correctly and wel , these might be helpful. For people who lack sufficient control over the words and phrases of the English language, these courses are misleading.
There is only one kind of English prose; clear, concise and wel constructed prose. If you control the words and phrases of the language it is easy to learn how to start with a "theme sentence" in every paragraph and the other little conventions of writing that are taught in these special writing courses. Without the vocabulary you do not have the resources to express yourself effectively.
Once you have brought your vocabulary up to the required level, read everything you can find on specialized writing. Start looking on the web where it is available free of charge. Or just buy a book on the subject.
Among the many fads in the world of English language teaching is the idea that English is no longer the language of its native speakers. The native speaker does not matter. English belongs to the world. You should be just as happy to learn Indian English, or Spanish English as American English.
I have real trouble with that one. Being able to speak to the native speaker, or listen to or read authentic native language content, is what attracts me to learning any language. If I am putting effort into learning Russian, it is to be able to speak to Russians, to visit St. Petersburg or Moscow, and have a beer or a vodka with a local. I want to speak an Indian language with an Indian, and Spanish with a Spaniard or Peruvian. Is it so different for learners of English?
Another concept that I do not agree with is the idea that a person need only learn a smal number of words in a language. Or the idea that you can memorize a few key phrases to look after most situations you will meet in the new language. It isn't that simple.
My goal in language learning is fluency. I want to read the newspaper and books. I want to talk to people, not as an idiot, but as an educated person. The most frequent 1000 or so words typical y account for 70-80% of most content. But most of the key meaning is often in the missing 20-30%. Since these less frequent words appear so infrequently, they are difficult to learn, unlike the high frequency words that appear often and are easily learned.
With a strategy of concentrated reading and listening to authentic content, coupled with an intelligent vocabulary learning system, any learner can reach educated fluency.
In golf most teachers emphasize using the large muscles of the back, hips and thighs, rather than the small muscles in the wrists and hands. The large muscles are more stable, easier to control and give stability to the golf swing. The wrists and hands can come later. In many cases they take care of themselves if the big muscles work properly.