Learning The Rewards Of Reading

What have you been reading lately?

When was the last time you read a book?

Are you a wide reader?

In a gathering, you can tell who the wide readers are. Wide readers think and speak well. They win the admiration, respect, and good opinion of others.

Reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it as one of the satisfying pleasures of humans, for it involves physical as well as mental activities.

Reading is primarily a mental activity. After all, you read with your mind and use your imagination to paint the setting of the detective thriller you are reading. You use you mind to imagine the pain that the main character experiences as the story unfolds. You bring into play the different arguments and ideas brought up by the author in that self-help book you are holding.

To read effectively, reading helps you develop a wide vocabulary through extensive reading. A skillful reader has a wide recognition vocabulary. He may not know exactly what every word means, but he will have a good general idea of the meaning of the sentence.

Reading makes you alert and curious about new words. Other readers develop the dictionary habit. Every time they come across a strange word, they try to figure out what it can possibly mean by the context. If they cannot do this, they refer to the dictionary.

Likewise, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of materials. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. As in other forms of activity, you learn by actually doing.

Reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Merely grasping the writer’s 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 author. Keep your mind open; understand and weigh the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the drawing of conclusions.

Allow me to share four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

1)   Try to read more and more. Remember the saying that practice makes perfect. Practicing in the correct way makes perfect.

2)   Develop the habit of reading for main ideas. Look for the subject and predicate. Do not waste time on details or little words.

3)   Learn to read with focus and concentration. Think of what you are reading. Do not let your attention wander somewhere else. 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 specific material that you read.

Reading is a stimulating mental activity. It expands your reality and capability. You have so much to gain in discovering the joys of reading. Go ahead; grab a book right now!

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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Comments

Sean North   Business not to mentoin the inspiation that can also come from reading, great post Marvin May 18th 2011 08:51

Marvin Williams   Success4Life.ws Thank you Sean... May 18th 2011 09:01

Paula van Dun   Retired What a great article and I agree. I read a lot also, most of it online since I want to learn and develop some skills in various aspect of marketing online. Reading a lot also helped me to become a better writer. I started writing in English about a year ago. Words and expressions come more easy now as when I started. Reading this gave me a lot of new insights. What Sean says also applies to me, I also often get inspiration from what I read. In my vacations I love to read books strictly for entertainment. My favorite genre is SFI, thrillers and fantasy. May 18th 2011 09:11

Cheryl Baumgartner   Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance I'm actually a true speed reader. I read fast with comprehension. If you have every seen the Book Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard I read it start to finish in two days. However Technical stuff I have to truly wade through. So I suggest that people find things that interest them specifically to read because even fiction can teach us things. Don't get caught up in Oh I have to read this book because it is self help. Don't bog yourself down like that. Yes read your self help book but when you are done reward yourself by reading something that you truly enjoy reading. May 18th 2011 09:18

Helpenn C.   SEO I agree that reading has its rewards. I am a huge fan of books. But not all books are good. Some books can corrupt especially the young minds of this generation. May 18th 2011 10:59

Philippe Moisan   Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer Good point, Helpenn, it's a challenge to try to determine how much influence books have on our children. May 18th 2011 11:02

Gillian G.   INTERNET MARKETER I love this article, it is very informative as well as helpful. I must at admit that reading helps you throughout life. It is really important when you get to college having to read a variety of texts and write a number of essays and dissertations. Indeed, reading quality material has its own rewards. May 18th 2011 21:32

Selya Rollins   Creative Imagery Like my teacher use to say "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body". May 21st 2011 20:17

Marvin Williams   Success4Life.ws “The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” May 22nd 2011 22:16