What have you been reading lately? At a meeting, you can soon see who the wide readers are, since frequent readers often think and speak well too. They win the admiration, respect, and fellowship of others. After all, reading expands the mind and many people consider it one of the most satisfying pleasures known to mankind, combining, as it does, mental agility and physical relaxation way above the scale offered by television.
The act of reading is primarily a mental activity, since you read with your mind and use your imagination to depict the setting of the action thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pleasure that the main characters in the story are experiencing as the plot unfolds; or you contemplate the different arguments and ideas theorized by the author of that self-help book you are studying.
Being able to read effectively helps you to develop an extensive vocabulary through reading different styles of books. A skillful reader recognizes a wide range of vocabulary. The reader may not know exactly what every word means, but he/she will have a general idea of what the sentence means.
The act of reading makes you more aware and more curious about hitherto unknown words. Some readers even like to employ ‘the dictionary habit’, which means that whenever they find a strange word, they try to work out what it means in the context. If they are stumped, they refer to the dictionary.
Likewise, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to different subjects. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. As in other forms of education, you learn by actually doing and as you are reading you automatically learn about the subject matter of the book too!
Reading teaches you to have an active and open mind. Merely understanding the writers idea is not enough, you must make a positive response to what you read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the writer. Always keep your mind open; understand and weigh the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the drawing of conclusions.
Now let me tell you to the concept called speed reading. All of the above applies between three and ten times over, because speed readers can read that much faster than the average reader! Consider that! – Being able to read, comprehend and remember all those books. You would certainly become well-read in your subject much more quickly than others. Just think how that could help you at work or in school or university …
Now, let me show you the four primary rules for better reading and better comprehension:
1) Try to read more and more every month. Remember the saying that practice makes perfect. 2) Develop the habit of reading for main ideas, ie look for the subject and predicate – the main ideas 3) Learn to read with focus and concentration. Think of what you are reading. Good readers read with understanding. 4) Learn to budget your time. Experiment with your reading time. Try purposely to read faster. Give yourself a time limit for a specific text that you are reading.
Reading is a fantastically stimulating mental activity. It expands your reality and capability. You have so much to gain in discovering the joys of reading. So, go ahead and get down a book right now.
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