Introduction

I wanted to make this as when I first started learning languages, I found it so inspiring to read about other people managing to read 100 books in their second languages, and I hope this page can inspire you too!
It’s important to note that how quickly you progress will depend on many factors, such as: NL and TL, reading abilities in NL, type of reading, study outside of reading, disabilities and so on.
For a point of reference, my NL is English, in which I can read 600wpm, I usually read intensively and do a lot of study outside of reading, and I’m autistic, which is both helpful and unhelpful for language learning.

2023: 2 books (lingq + physical)

Book 1 & 2: Very slow, a lot of lookups, although I definitely sped up a lot throughout reading them.

2024: 8 books (lingq)

Book 4: I was surprised that reading a non-fiction book was actually much easier (for me) than a fiction book. Although there was a lot of specialised vocabulary, I learnt most of it in the first few chapters

Book 8: Reading books in new dialects and with a lot of slang is definitely a challenge. In future, I would stick to reading more standard books in a single dialect for longer.

Book 10: My first physical adult book! I think reading physical books is good practice for learning to read extensively and to learn to guess words from context, which is necessary for both daily life and exams.

2025: 10 books (lingq + ebooks + physical)

Book 15: I read this book in both Spanish and English, and it was so interesting to compare the two translations (from French). It shocked me how different they could be, and it made me grateful to be able to read in another language.

Book 21: After reading a few difficult books in a row, it’s nice to take a break and read something quite simple

2026: (ebooks)

Book 25: I hadn’t been reading much in Spanish this year because I needed to focus on German, and I definitely felt that my Spanish had regressed a bit. I found myself reading slower and needing to look up words that I knew I’d learnt. My speed did pick up quickly while reading, but it made me realise I needed to make more effort to be consistent with all my languages.