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Are English reading skills important?

English reading skills are as important as other skills of learning English language. Reading is considered important even if you use your own language, because it can bring entertainment and education, it can open new worlds, enrich your life, it can improve improve social skills .

But to learn a foreign language, especially English, reading has important additional benefits, which can help you learn the language faster and more completely.

Reading is an essential skill for language learners. As your reading skills improve, your listening, speaking, and writing skills will also improve. Here are some specific reasons why English learners are encouraged to read in English:

Repeated words and patterns in reading help you learn and remember vocabulary and grammar structure. Reading helps you familiarize yourself with the rhythm of English. Over time, it will start to become natural and you will notice when a sentence or phrase does not seem correct.

Unlike talking, reading is something you can do yourself.

Reading is inexpensive and often free.

 Good reading skills can enhance your other language skills. You need to learn to read before you can write.

Reading is the best way to learn and remember the correct spelling of words.

Listening and reading can help you improve your pronunciation skills.

If you want to improve your English, you must learn to read in English. The best readers usually get the best grades, jobs, and opportunities.

Importance of English reading skills

Extensive reading is essential for improving vocabulary and also helps develop all other English skills. As you read, you can identify and reinforce what you have learned. Although reading is important as part of learning, reading is also important when not studying. Just as interacting in English as much as possible helps improve listening and speaking skills, you should read as much as possible. You should read for happiness instead of worrying about understanding every word. Relaxation helps your mind absorb what you read and cultivate language awareness.

Reading is a kind of thing we often think of sitting down and reading a book. Not everyone likes this. Some of them rather prefer to do something else than sitting at one place and reading. They may like to go with some sporting activities or some sort of physical activities.

Find out why you should read

Finding the right reason for reading can help motivate you to read more in English. If you like Films, you can try reading the English version of the Filmy magazine instead of your own language. This motivates you to find new vocabulary and keeps you interested in this topic. If you like to travel, find out where you want to go on the website in English. All these little things add up to a lot!

Remember, it is not always important to understand every word we read. Even when we read it in our own language, sometimes we don’t recognize a word and we have to find out what it means. This is a very important skill, firstly because sometimes we just don’t have a dictionary available; second, it interrupts the reading process and stops at every unfamiliar word. We all need to be able to infer meaning from context and from our own understanding of the world.

 Types of reading

Reading is a receptive skill. Like listening, we can read intensively or extensively. The combination of the two will give you the most benefit.

Intensive Reading

Intensive reading means that we read and expect to fully understand all aspects of the content that we are reading. This is the kind of reading we do while studying in class or answering comprehension questions. It focuses on goals such as understanding vocabulary and seeing organizational patterns in text.

 Intensive reading is often difficult for your level to help you develop strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words, phrases, or grammar. The intensive text should be fairly short and at the correct level.

Extensive Reading

In extensive reading, we don’t have to worry about understanding everything we read. This type of reading can help us develop cultural and linguistic awareness. Extensive reading is reading as much as possible; Through practice, develop reading comprehension and reading speed. You should read at a level you are omfortable with for fun or information. Reading a lot will also help you develop word recognition skills.

 Word recognition is part of extensive reading where your attention is not on recognising each letter of the word. Extensive reading can help you build up the number of words recognized in this way.

The combination of two types of reading helps you develop your English knowledge from the bottom up (intensive reading) and top down (extensive reading).

We have different styles of reading depending on the purpose and the end results that we expect from that reading.

1. Skimming

Skimming is the ability to read text quickly and understand the general meaning. This type of reading can help you find the information you need quickly. A good way to practice fast reading is to read as much text as possible within a minute. Then, after another minute, try to read more of the same text. If you repeat this operation regularly, it will make you accustomed to flipping through the old information in the text to familiarize yourself with the new information. Over time, this activity can greatly increase your reading speed.

2. Scanning

Scanning is used for searching for keywords in the text. We do not read to understand the meaning of the text. This is the opposite of skimming, where you try to understand the general content of the text, but when you examine it, you only look for words rather than meanings. For a good scan, remember: don’t read from left to right, because if you start reading from left to right, you will automatically start reading the meaning, not just scanning individual words. Don’t start from the beginning, because the word you are looking for can be anywhere in the text.

What to read

 Are you overwhelmed by the existing reading material? You can read printed text (books, magazines, library newspapers), online materials (websites and blogs), and e-books (on your mobile device) without spending a penny.

 Think about what you like to read in your native language. Can you find these materials written in English?

 When deciding what to read, there are two important things:

 It should interest you so that reading is fun and not boring.

 should not be too difficult for your Level

 Here are some types of reading materials to try:

 books (children’sstory books)

 newspapers

 online news articles

 online blogs on topics of interest to you

 movie subtitles

 short stories

 Poems

 Proverbs

 Cartoons and jokes

 Recipes

 brochures

Reading Tips

Read at a level slightly below your comprehension. You should not be searching too many words in the dictionary. Just look up a few words.

Let reading become a ritual. Choose the time and place to read daily or weekly.

Read what you are interested in.

Find free reading materials.

Visualise what you are reading. Some people try to imagine that they are reading instructional films or videos.

 Listen and read. Find podcasts or videos with transcripts and read them silently. You can also read aloud through the recording.

Reading Strategies

The following are some strategies to improve comprehension.

Scan – Read specific details or specific reasons.

Skip: If you don’t understand a word or part, keep reading. Go back to the part or word again and try to figure out what it means. If necessary, use a dictionary.

Read aloud: Children read aloud the first time they begin to read. you also can. Get comfortable hearing your voice in English.

Create a timeline or chart-rearrange what you read in a different format.

Illustrates: If you think you are a visual learner, please draw pictures or infographics related to what you are reading.

Use a pen or ruler-some people find it easier to read with a pacemaker. A pen, ruler, or fingertip can help you fix your position and prevent your eyes from wandering around.

 Reading level

 Reading articles at your level is very important. It is neither easy nor difficult.

 You need to know what your personal reading level is.

If you have to look up many words in the dictionary, the text is too difficult for you. If you don’t have to search for any words, the text is too easy for you. Try lower or higher levels.

 Designate a time and place to read every day. Your reading level will improve over time.

Dear friends, hope you got an idea of how to improve your reading skills through this blog.

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