Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Reading for Improving spoken English

There is a famous saying that, the thing we take in decides what we give out. Similarly for giving out quality spoken English, we need to take in quality English. It might be in the form of audio or video or written. We are supposed to look out for all the possible means to improve our spoken English. Reading good English is a very good way to improve spoken English.

Try and do lots of reading, so much that you stop translating it to your native language and start thinking in English.

There are many advantages of reading to Improve spoken English. Some of them are mentioned below:-

You get in a habit of reading quality English
This point is very important, as having a habit of reading English is essential to improve your spoken English. If you can't read English properly then how can you speak it. This practice is also helpful when studying books. I remember that in my school days, I was crazy for English novels written by Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. I have done lots of reading for authors like Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte etc. This has been very advantages to me, as when I was gearing to improve my spoken English, my reading habit for English came very handy to me.

You spoken English automatically improves
As you read lots of good English, you slowly start thinking in English. This is important as you will stop translating the English words in your native language. This will be further helpful in gaining fluency in the language. The point to note here is that it is very bad to translate the English words in your local language, because in this process you become very slow in speaking English and fill the gap with words like hmmmmm.., er...., etc. This filler words when used in spoken English proves that you are not very confident of what you are saying and makes a very bad impression.

You awareness about the world increases
Reading always provides knowledge, so it is a very good option if you are preparing for some MBA exam, because in this way your awareness will also improve. Reading does not mean that you just read the lines without understanding them, it implies that you read the lines along with understanding what is written. I remember a small joke which I read some time back. Here it is:-

Jane:- Hi Arnold, you seem to be reading too much.
Arnold:- Yes.
Jane:- But by the way, what are you reading?
Arnold:- I don't know, I am concentrating on reading right now.


The point to understand here is that, it is useless to read without understanding what you have read. Though it will help you with your English pronunciation, if you read loudly. But still you are wasting a golden opportunity to understand those lines.

It is a good pass time
Reading is good fun, it is very good pass time if you enjoy it. I know many of my friends who are avid readers of either newspapers or novels. Use this powerful technique to enhance your spoken English capabilities. This way you will be able to drag the maximum out of it.

Sources of good English reading material could be:-
  • Reading English Newspapers
  • Reading English Magazines
  • Reading English Novels
  • Reading English Books
  • Reading English Poems
  • Reading English Comics

I am done for today, I hope that I was able to make my point clear. Do read English a lot if you seriously want to improve your spoken English capabilities.

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