1. Scientific research tells us that reading has awesome (very impressive) power to improve your English. Reading is effective (it’s successful and does what it is supposed to do) and it’s also efficient (it works well without wasting, time, money, or energy.)
   

2. Reading will improve your vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension (understanding what you read), your writing, spelling, TOEFL scores, and more.
   

3. If you want to learn more about why reading (and listening) are important, read what Dr. Jeff McQuillan says about how we acquire (absorb, or pick up) language in his ESL Podcast blog about learning phrasal verbs.
   

What should I read to improve my English?

1. •Anything interesting. Your English will improve more if you relax and enjoy what you’re reading. Read for fun and watch your English improve! If you aren’t sure where to begin, look at Online Reading & Listening for English Learners and The English Learner’s Book Room.
   

2. •Books, stories, or articles that are easy to understand. Your English improves when you understand what you are reading.
   

3. Here are two rules for choosing something to read:
   

4. 1. You should recognize at least 90-95% of the words. I often tell my students, “No more than 5 unknown, or unfamiliar, words per page.” You should be able to understand what you are reading without stopping to look words up in the dictionary.
   

5. 2. You should be able to read at least 80-100 words per minute. If you have to read slower than that, you will probably have trouble understanding what you are reading.
   

6. And here are two ideas to try:
   

7. 1. Read several books, stories, or articles by the same author or on the same subject. This is called narrow reading, and it helps make your reading more effective and efficient.
   

8. 2. Read good English translations of books you are already familiar with.
   

How should I read to improve my English?

1. •Read for recreation, for your own enjoyment. If you made a good choice, you will subconsciously (without knowing what is happening) acquire, or absorb, more English. You don’t have to work at it!
   

2. •Read without stopping. If you understand what you are reading, ignore the words you don’t know. Each time you see them in a setting that you can understand, you will become a little more familiar with them. Eventually (after seeing them several times) you will probably acquire them. It is not important or helpful to stop and look up every word you don’t know.
   

3. If you are reading a book or article that you can mark in, circle or underline words you don’t recognize while you are reading, but don’t stop. At the end of the chapter or article, go back and look at them.
   

4. If you still think they are important, try this:
   

5. 1. Read the sentence or paragraph again, two or three times. We often understand something better the second or third time we read it.
   

6. 2. Try to figure out (understand) the unknown words from the context (the sentence or paragraph where they appear). We can often find clues to help us figure out the meaning of words if we take time to look around.
   

7. 3. Look them up in a dictionary. This should be your last choice, not your first! Rereading and looking at the context are often more effective for permanent learning.
   

8. •Slowly increase the difficulty of what your read.
   

How much should I read?

1. That’s easy: as much as possible! The more you read, the more your English will improve.
   

2. In a new journal article, two American language experts estimate (determine the approximate amount) that if you read 20 minutes a day at 100 words per minute for 2 years, you will read about 1,460,000 words. If you do, you will probably acquire (pick up or absorb) the 5,000 most common words in the English language. That’s impressive!
   

3. The 5,000 words represent almost 90% of the words you need for normal conversation and reading (The first 2,000 words represent almost 80%.).
   

4. If you read more, you will acquire more. Some of my students will read almost 1,000,000 words during this school year. During the first three months – September through December – Julian, from Colombia, read 330,000 words!
   

What about listening?

1. Listening and reading provide similar benefits. And, if you read and listen at the same time, there are additional benefits. For ideas about reading and listening, look at Online Reading & Listening for English Learners.
   

If you have any questions or comments, use the “Add a comment” link below or send an e-mail to warren@successfulenglish.com