WHY BOOK READING IS CRUCIAL FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Many language learners find book reading a Herculean task and try to distance themselves from this life-changing habit of reading. They devote all their time and energy to improve spoken English but fail to realize that speaking practice alone can’t help them achieve their language goals. Many language experts believe that book reading is not only essential for becoming fluent in speaking, but it also improves the other three language skills. Here is the list of some main benefits that make book reading a must for all language learners:

 

Reading is fundamental to boost vocabulary

 

                                 “I don’t know what to say.”

                                  “I don’t find words to speak.”

                          “I don’t have a word for it in English.”

 

Are these sentences familiar to you? As struggling English learners, we often go blank when it comes to speaking English with others. We also tend to take long pauses to remember words during a conversation. These problems occur when we have no or limited word stock. Regular book reading helps language learners to expand their vocabulary which ultimately gives them the confidence to speak without getting stuck.

 

Reading helps you excel at writing

Consistent reading habit provides the English language learners an opportunity to observe lexis and grammatically correct sentences more clearly. This close encounter helps them write vividly and smoothly when they put pen to paper.

 Reading helps making error-free sentences

Extensive book reading helps you construct grammatically sound sentences. Mostly, we have the word bank but are unable to put those words in a sentence correctly. Grammatically speaking, we have little knowledge of collocations. Reading a wide range of books, helps us develop an awareness of collocations and sentence structure which helps us make perfect sentences.

 

Reading makes you a better conversationalist

“Reading is important because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.”   – Tomie dePaola

 

Avid book readers are well-equipped to talk on a variety of subjects. Researchers have found that reading helps English learners to expand their minds and gain knowledge. As they have a lot of information, they are not reluctant to initiate a conversation and talk about any topic spontaneously. This pool of information provides them to be a better conversationalists.

 

Reading helps you improve other language skills

As we know that all four languages skills (speaking, writing, reading, and listening) are interlinked, working on one skill helps you improve the other. In one of the studies, the researchers concluded that the reading skill helps improve listening and speaking in ESL learners. In fact, when we read books we do not only enhance our reading abilities, but we also unknowingly improve our listening, writing and speaking skills simultaneously.