Reaping The Rewards Of Reading

Reading is a fabulous self improvement resource, that when used as a mental exercise, focuses and strengthens your mind without much effort. It doesn't take much time, and you will find that after getting into this habit, you will be looking forward to your daily read. You will sense the benefits, as your ability to visualize will be increased dramatically; and you will face situations with a logical thought pattern already in place and operating smoothly. - MJ

Take a group of people and you can tell who the avid readers are. People who read a lot think and speak well. They win the admiration and respect of others. Reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it as one of lifes little pleasures, because 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 whatever you are reading. You use you mind to imagine the emotions that a character experiences as the story unfolds. You bring into play the different ideas brought up to you in this blog you are reading.

Reading helps you develop a wide vocabulary through extensive reading. A skillful reader has a wide recognition vocabulary; meaning that you may not know exactly what every word means, but you have a good general idea of the meaning of the sentence.

Reading makes you alert and curious about new words, which may 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 alone.You then refer to the dictionary to find out the accurate meaning..

Reading develops your intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of experiences. 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, of agreeing or disagreeing with the author. Keep your mind open; understand and weigh the ideas you read. This is a practical part of active reading.

Four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

1) Read more and more. Remember - practice makes perfect. Practicing in the correct way makes things perfect.

2) Develop the habit of reading for main ideas. Look for the subject. 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) Budget your time, and experiment with your reading time. Try purposely to read faster. Give yourself a time limit on specific material that you read.

You have a lot to gain by discovering the joys of reading. Grab a book right now.