What have you been reading lately? In a gathering, you can tell who the wide readers are. Wide readers often think and speak well. They win the admiration, respect, and good opinion of others. After all, reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it one of the most satisfying pleasures of mankind, combining, as it does, mental agility and physical relaxation way above the scale of television.
Reading is primarily a mental activity, since you read with your mind and use your imagination to depict the storyline of the action thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pleasure that the characters in the story are experiencing as the plot unfolds; or you contemplate the various arguments and ideas introduced by the author in that self-help book you are studying.
Being able to read effectively helps you to develop (an extensive|a wide 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 good idea of what the sentence means.
Reading makes you more alert and more interested in new words. Some readers develop ‘the dictionary habit’, which means that every time they come across a strange word, they try to figure out what it possibly means in the context. If they cannot do this, they refer to the dictionary.
In the same way, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of subjects. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. Just as in other types of education, you are learning by actually doing and while you are reading you are automatically learning about the subject matter of the book too - like free by-product!
Basically, reading teaches you to have an active and open mind. Only understanding the writers point of view is not really good enough, you have to have a reply to what you have read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Try to 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 have read. A practical part of active reading is the development of one’s own opinions.
Now let me mention the idea 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! Imagine that! - Being able to read, understand and remember all those books and articles. You would surely become well-read in your subject much more rapidly than others. Just think how that would help you at work, in school or in college …
Let me share four primary rules for effective 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 on a specific piece 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 take down a book right now.