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This wiki is intended to provide a list of resources for people hoping to learn a language using comprehensible input.
Comprehensible input is the key element for language acquisition: we acquire language when we understand what we hear or read a natural communicative context (A situation like "Teacher holding a pen and asks student what it is" is not communicative). The concept of Comprehensible Input comes from Comprehension-Hypothesis of Stephen Krashen in the field Second Language Acquisition[1]. But it's not invented by Krashen, as he admitted it[2]. Sometimes, comprehensible input is missunderstood as a method. In fact, it's a necessary, if not sufficient, element to acquire language.
Comprehensible input based language learning is characterized by listening to or reading content in the target language, at or slightly above the level where the learner can understand everything that is being said.[3] Ideally, no use of the learner's native language is used or needed. Visual cues, such as pictures or hand gestures, assist the learner in connecting words with their meanings. The focus of the method is on input (listening, reading) rather than output (speaking, writing). Speaking practice can come after the learner is fairly comfortable with understanding what they hear. Likewise for practicing writing after becoming comfortable with reading.
As opposed to more traditional language learning methods (for example grammar study, rote memorization, etc.), comprehensible input closely resembles the natural language learning of children in their native language, and thus may be more effective and efficient for acquiring new languages. It is certainly easier and more fun than most other methods, as the learner is engaging with content that they almost completely understand already.
This is a wiki, so if you feel like it, you have the power to improve the website in various ways.
- You can add a page for a new language if it doesn't exist here yet (use the input box on this page so that the correct format is preloaded for you).
- You can add links to comprehensible input resources on the language page (for example, Youtube channels or podcasts focused on Comprehensible Input).
- You can add other relevant information or links on a language page (for example Chinese has information about the language itself). Or create a page that provides details about a resource (for example, see You Can Chinese).
- You can write articles related to comprehensible input (for example, a page that discusses the research behind comprehensible input). Just enter the name of the page you would like to create in the search box at the top of the page, hit enter, and as long as the page doesn't exist yet, a link will be provided to create a new page with that name.
- You can improve the wiki in a more "meta" way, such as by improving the visual style of the website, changing the organization of language pages, or creating a more welcoming Main Page for new visitors.
- You can provide suggestions or feedback, or ask questions, at CIW:Community Portal.
If you are at all familiar with the way Wikipedia works, you'll notice that this website runs on the same software as Wikipedia (called MediaWiki). So editing content works the same. Formatting can be added to pages with wikitext or HTML. No need to create an account to edit if you don't want to, although that's useful for keeping track of previous edits, and an account lets you add comments at the bottom of pages.
If you want to add links to a language that you see on this page (Main Page), do it on the language's page, not here. The Main Page will automatically display the links from the language page (it may take up to five minutes for the Main Page to catch up).
To add a new language, type the name of the language below and press Add New Language.
- Videos | ![]() | - Audio | |
- Text | - App | ||
Multiple Languages
American Sign Language
Arabic (Standard)
Armenian
Basque
Biblical Greek
Biblical Hebrew
Bulgarian
Cantonese
Catalan
Chinese
ALG Mandarin Online on Magic Ship
Diane Neubauer 杜雁子 Chinese learning & teaching
Learn Mandarin in Mandarin with Huimin
Mandarin Companion https://mandarincompanion.com/
Czech
Czech by the Nature Method - Ayan Academy
Czech-in (Czech comprehensible input)
Danish
Dutch
English
English Comprehensible Input and Vocabulary Review of Most Commonly Used Words
BITS - English Language Learning: Listen & Read
English by the Nature Method by Arthur Jensen - Ayan Academy
English Comprehensible Input for ESL Beginners
Esperanto
Finnish
French
A Slow French podcast: LanguaTalk (with interactive transcripts)
- French Dialogues with facing English Translation
- French by the Nature Method (Le Français Par La Méthode Nature): All Chapters
Frenchpresso - Slow, Easy French
German
Greek
Hindi
Indonesian
Italian
Learn Italian by the Natural Method
TG7 LIS With accurate subtitles and LIS
TG7 LIS Sports with accurate subtitles and LIS
La Biblioteca di Alessandria Storia e videogame
Vanilla Magazine è un progetto di divulgazione storica e culturale. Many have subtitles.
Learn Italian with Teacher Stefano Instruction and CI.
Japanese
Essential Japanese Grammar and Vocabulary in Use - Nihongo con Teppei
Japanese Podcast for beginners (Nihongo con Teppei)
Nihongo con Teppei Original Archives 1-700
Korean
Latin
Beginner Latin A - Comprehensible Input
Learn Latin through Conversations with Caesar - Ayan Academy
Norwegian
Occitan
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Russian Accelerator - Learn The Russian Alphabet
Comprehensible Russian with Max
Sanskrit
Sicilian
Slovak
Spanish
Adriana Ramírez - Teaching Spanish with Stories
Dreaming Spanish (Youtube Channel)
Española: Comprension - Ayan Academy
StoryLearning Spanish (New home of Fabulaudit)
How to Spanish Lessons and Podcast
LanguaTalk Slow Spanish podcast
Small Town Spanish Teacher - Simple Stories in Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Tagalog
Thai
Toki Pona
Tunisian Arabic
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Welsh
Yoruba
References