The Power of (Pleasure) Reading

by AJ

One of the best ways to self-study... perhaps THE best way.. is to read for fun. Reading for pleasure is a powerful way to improve your English skills.

Research studies show that light reading improves grammar, writing, listening and reading comprehension.

Research also shows that reading is superior to direct vocabulary study. You learn more words per minute from reading than you do from studying vocabulary lists!! That should be good news for most students-- because most of us don't enjoy studying vocabulary lists.

So forget the vocabulary books. Forget the grammar books.

Instead, go to a library or bookstore and find something that is interesting to you.

Here are a few ideas:

*Graded Readers: These are simplified (easier and shorter) versions of English books. They come in many different levels of difficulty.
*Popular Novels: Things like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Romances, Adventures, Mysteries,....
*Magazines: Celebrity mags, auto mags, fashion mags,....
*Newspapers: BKK Post, The Nation, USA Today, The New York Times,....
*The Internet: Commondreams.org, other news sites, hobby sites, chat rooms, email,...

Anything will help.

But for the best results, choose material that meets the following conditions:
1. It is interesting to you. You enjoy reading it.
2. It is 90% understandable. You should understand about 90% of the words (or more).

Good Luck and happy reading!!

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