Our life is an ongoing story for which you’re the main character. It has its ups and downs. Some parts are exciting. Some others are discouraging. But no matter what happens, it keeps on moving forward.

Now imagine if your language-learning journey could be that way as well?

That’s what short stories can do. They can make your journey move forward faster than before. They can help you increase your confidence. While I think we should all stop trying to run away from grammar, I also think we should all read more stories. And, in particular, short ones. Here’s why they are so amazing.

I hate memorizing wordlists in a new language. They plague the language-learning community by letting new learners believe they have to plow through one or two thousand words before they can do anything in a language.

Short stories provide a context for all the words to converge.

Words you come across in short storybooks are a good supplement for when you struggle but I’d still say it’s better to look up the words in an online dictionary since you can get more examples for the same word and strengthen your understanding of it.

As the story progresses, words that matter will appear again and again, and such words get wired in our neuro network. By reading many short stories, we would have cemented our knowledge of many words and expressions without ever actually spending time scratching our head while repeating it to ourselves. Context gives meaning. Context shows nuances. Context aids remembering. In short, context matters. A lot.

Short stories will revolutionize our learning journey.

It will show you that you don’t need to become fluent in a language to enjoy stories. It will show you what it’s like to get lost in a story in a new language. It will teach you many more words — that you’ll remember in the long run — than any wordlist could ever.

Start short and easy and build your way up to longer and more complex stories. Stay consistent and time will take care of the rest while you’re having fun with the language.