A letter to the learners of English: 5Reading, the best way to learn English [Archives:2007/1074/Education]
Prof. M.N.K.Bose
Professor of English,
Faculty of Education, Taiz
[email protected]
Dear learner friends,
In my last letter I said reading is the best way for Yemeni learners to learn English. Listening to and speaking involve at least two people and you may not get a willing partner to converse with, but reading is a personal activity and you don't need another one. Speaking in English in public places may annoy some people. One of my students narrated this incident: when he and his friend were discussing something in English while travelling in a bus, one of the co-travellers was so much annoyed that he put his hand on the jambiah; my student got the message and discontinued his talk. But no one can stop you from reading as much as you like and as and when you like; you don't annoy anyone while reading silently, do you?
Start with simple, well written stories in English or comics with a lot of pictures and slowly move on to difficult ones. Every time you read something new, recollect it after you have finished reading it. Better, tell the story to one of your good friends; you can tell the story in Arabic once a while. You can form a readers' circle with like minded people and share your stories among yourselves. Have you heard of the Outlook Listeners' Club of the BBC? Most of the Radio Stations encourage such clubs; Yemen Radio must also have such clubs. Form Listeners' Club, listen to the English news bulletin everyday and discuss the items in your club. I also suggest that you write down the new words you come across and their meaning in a pocket note book to prepare your personal dictionary; more importantly, use those words in your writings often till the words become a part of your own vocabulary; this will enrich your word power.
Go on reading. Don't despair if you don't understand what you are reading; in the first instance you may not understand what you read, but if you read it for the second time some of what you read will be understood and the third time more. When you read something next time you will be getting more of what you read. Reading like any other skill is learnt only through practice. Who has learnt to drive a car at one attempt? So, don't despair if you don't understand what you read for the first time; go back to the same material after sometime, you will get more from it. Good luck. Happy reading!
Yours affectionately,
Dr .M.N.K.Bose.
Like a spring in the desert, let your learning be the fountain of your knowledge.
(Kural 396)
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