Embedded Lessons

I know that there are quite a few content creators here at lingq who create what I have seen referred to as “Embedded Lessons.”

Do you guys have a specific technique to doing this? Do you utilise frequency lists, or categorical ones? Are grammatical ideas purposefully ‘embedded’ as much as vocabulary is?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I’m very interested in starting to write content for the English library.

I´m not sure that there are “quite a few”. As far as I know, I introduced the term here a few weeks ago, asking if Evgueny would try writing some. He responded by writing a set in Russian and one in German and has said he will do some more (which has made me very happy because I enjoy this type of lesson very much). I believe he tried to write his so that they fit the different levels here at LingQ. Vera has two German series that work together almost like embedded lessons.

Perhaps Evgueny or Vera would like to explain how they approached these lessons…

I can tell you how I prepare them for my students at school. The embedded reading idea comes from TPRS teachers (they probably didn’t originate it, but they are the latest link in the chain) who are all about teaching with comprehensible input as explained by Krashen. They focus more on vocabulary than grammar. They often start with a text which they would like to read with their students, but which is too hard for those students, and simplify it by cutting out about a third of it. Then they write another version by cutting out a third of the second version.

Or they start with a simple story that they have made up in their classes, and by adding details, come up with progressively longer and more complicated stories.

In neither one of these approaches are we trying to make our readings fit into a certain “level” other than the level that we think our students can understand. Some teachers choose their vocabulary based on frequency lists, but others just go ahead with an interesting topic, figuring that words on frequency lists are there precisely because they show up frequently, regardless of topic. And so they write their lessons knowing that those frequently used words are going to show up whether they try to use them or not.

I’ve prepared the second topic in embedded lessons in Russian, but I have to record them and then you can find them in the Russian library.
Only one recommedation: The native speakers try to give too many words at once forgetting that it’s quite difficult for foreigners to u8nderstand all the words and not very useful as well.
So you have to choose the most important words ignorirng the words that are not so widely spread.

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@Jingle and Evgueny

Thanks a lot for the information. I have a couple ideas for some courses, and I might run them by you guys in the thread. I’ll definetly have more questions in a couple days. Right now I’m right in the middle of exam week, so I have barely enough time to think about my language learning.

Please can you give a link or an explanation what “embedded lessons” exactly are? I tried to find something on the net but I was not really successful.

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http://embeddedreading.com/ If you use this link, keep in mind that the examples given are mostly being used to teach high school students - thus the silly stories and the exercises at the ends. Those aspects are nonessential! The basic idea is to have a series of lessons that goes from simpler to more complex.

Vera, your “Annas Tagebuch” and the preceding lessons in “Ab jetzt lerne ich Deutsch! Privat” follow the concept of embedded lessons. If you were to write a version that was in between those two in complexity, you would have “perfect” embedded lessons.

Here is an excerpt from something I posted on another thread:
“Embedded readings are pretty effective from the learning end also. Although some people…would find them boring, I enjoy being the student and sliding right up the scale of difficulty. Along the way I have my anchors, those phrases I know solidly from the easier versions. I also have the fun of stumbling on new facts which are hung on those solid phrases. My students learn well with them too.”

Here is the link to a series of Russian lessons by Evgueny: Login - LingQ

I also have examples of Spanish or English embedded readings that I can email if someone is interested. The English ones are for poems and were written for a friend of mine who teaches a world literature class to high school students (English is their native language.)

I’ve made another 5 embedded lessons for 5 different leves, now about ‘The flat’ and before 5 lessons ‘My family’.
You can find all my embedded lessons in this collection:

Good luck with Russian!

Thank you for the explanation. I understand the concept. Sometimes I find it pretty hard to write lessons on a special level. Usually I write and then I think about the level. Before I would start to write lessons in between I would work on more lessons of Annas Tagebuch. I still cannot do as much as 3 years ago, but slowly I feel better and I would love to create more lessons simply because I love writing.

I’m not sure if it is really useful to have lessons on ALL the levels. More advanced learners probably don’t need them and for beginners the last lessons could be too difficult and overwhelming? I only came accross such lessons in English long time ago. The title of the course was “Think about it”: Login - LingQ (Wow, how difficult it is to find something in the library).

@Vera

I had the idea to make a course where I record a Simple English Wikipedia article, making a Beginner 2 level lesson. I would then expand on it, saying the same thing but in my own, more verbose, words. This lesson would be at an Intermediate level. Perhaps I could incorporate the standard English Wikipedia article as well.

Do you think this idea is appropriate? Do you think that this format is useful?

Here is the link to the collection of embedded German lessons that I’ve made together with Reinhard -two topics with 5 lessons for every one:

I thank Reinhard a lot for his important corrections and record of the lessons.

And here is the link to my first English embedded lessons that I’ve made and recorded together with the English native speaker teacher Nerelle Poroch:

I thank Nerelle Poroch for her cooperation and importsnt corrections.
In January I gonna do some new Russian embedded lessons.

Merry Christmas, happy New Year and Good luck with all your New Year’s resolutions!
Best regards from St Petersburg,
Evgueny

Hi friends!
I’ve written 5 more embedded lessons in Russian from the level Beginner 1 to the level Advanced 1- Мой день(My day).
Francly speaking, it’s for me much more difficult to write embedded lessons than the normal lessons or podcasts.
But I hope that they can help you to learn languages faster.
Here is the link to the first level, but opening it you can receive the opportunity to open also the other levels:
Login - LingQ.

Успехов в изучении русского языка и с Новым Годом!

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Hi friends,
today I can offer to the German learners my new embedded lessons that I’ve made in the active cooperation with Reinhard.
The topic is the same like in the previos Russian set, and namely: ‘Mein Arbeitstag’ from the level 1 to the level 5.
Here is the link to the level 3 (Low Intermediate), but in the course you can find the lessons in other levels as well.
Login - LingQ

Viel Erfolg beim Deutschlernen!

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Thanks a lot Evgueny.

Hi Friends,
now I’ve finished together with my English speaker friend Nerelle Poroch a new set of embedded lessons for the English learners- ‘My working day’
Here I give the link to the level 3 (Intermediate 1) of this set, but opening the course you can find the lessons for Beginner 1, Beginner 2, Intermediate 2 and Advanced 1.
You can write me what topics in embedded lessons in Russian, German or English you would like to have.

Enjoy your English!

I have been studying Evgueny’s embedded lessons in Russian.

I find this way of doing things really good. Some of the most difficult lessons are way beyond me, but I find that I am able to access a few of the more difficult lessons having studied the easier ones.

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@ColinJohnstone: They are fun, aren’t they? I love to work my way up the ladder of difficulty. I find it very motivating to get an easier lesson “down pat” and then to see if I can hear those same phrases in the next level. I also like to see the changes that some words go through as the emphasis is changed.

Hello, my friend Michele Whaley and I are the 'original" developers of the term, and the use of, Embedded Reading in the language classroom. It isn’t really anything totally new, as implied, but it is a way of putting together effective and logical strategies that is very helpful for students!! Our site is www.EmbeddedReading.com is designed to help teachers to find and create these readings for their own students and there are readings there in a variety of languages. If you would like anything from this site to be connected I would be so happy to do that for you! If you have any questions, just email me at lclarcq@rochester.rr.com or post here!

Hi, Lori. I’m the TPRSer who sent you an email about the Russian lessons. Glad you posted here.

@Iclarcq

I think it would be great if you import some of YOUR embedded reading lessons on LingQ. In different languages. j:-)