How to Become a Better Reader

How to Become a Better Reader English Learning Isn't Just for Kids and Foreigners, Everyone can Benefit ChaptersTeaching English Reading To BeginnersHow To Improve Reading SpeedThe Benefits Of Daily ReadingHow To Get Children To Read MoreThe Best Classic English LiteraturePoems To InspireReading in any language is very important to improving your overall ability to communicate in that language. However, it is especially important to read in your native language to help you to improve in key areas such as vocabulary, spelling, grammar and writing.A very important language skill, reading can additionally expose you to a new variety of words,  widening your vocabulary and your understanding of a broader range of materials.Reading is classed as a basic skill therefore reading comprehension is first taught to us as young children. During these early developmental stages, a child is getting to grips with word recognition, a skill that is absolutely vital to being able to decode words and phrases written down or read out to them.Naturally, children are encouraged to express themselves with sp eech before acquiring writing skills. Yet fluency in language is just one of the building blocks required on the way to effective reading.The first texts children are introduced to are often stories, nursery rhymes or folk and fairy tales and the reason for this is that they feed the youngsters’ rapidly developing imaginations. Stories play a vital role in their growth as they additionally help them to understand feelings, how to cope with them and how to express them using language.Find a renowned English tutor GCSE here.The first texts we come across as children are fairy tales or folk stories. Photo credit: Internet Archive Book Images via Visual HuntAlthough many adults would say that they are able to read, there is a big difference between being a basic or 'passive' reader and being able to call oneself a skilled or 'active' reader. Passive readers may simply read the words on a page without interacting with the text on any level.Active readers, however, don’t just read a t ext, they connect to the text in an intellectual and imaginative way, using strategies to extract information from the formulation of words and interpret the story visually. This heightened attention to detail in turn makes the reading experience more enjoyable and on the whole more beneficial.Whether you are already a keen reader looking to improve your reading skills or you are a novice seeking tips to help you to better engage with the written word, there are many ways in which you can become a more active reader. English lessons with a particular focus on reading can improve the speed at which you currently read and can offer you tips on how to further enhance your reading skills whilst presenting you with some of the best and most inspiring texts to tackle along the way.Go through the many English tutors featured on Superprof. Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And l ike a thunderbolt he falls.Naturally, those who are not familiar with this poem (as we were not) will come up with themes such as suicide, depression and despair. Yet, on revealing the title of the poem, just like that we realised that our teacher had taught us a valuable lesson in understanding the power of words â€" the poem is called ‘The Eagle’, written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and was in fact intended to be a positive poem about freedom. Even so, I still like to think of the poem in the way that I understood it at the start, as that was my initial interpretation.Tennyson's 'The Eagle' is a poem about freedom that could be misinterpreted if read without its title. Photo credit: jbylund via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-SABeing inspired by poetry is not always a direct correlation with the content presented, it is about how we interpret the given story and apply it to our own understanding of the world. Everyone can relate to poetry in some way because, ultimately, poems are writte n by humans like ourselves and are broadly focused on themes that are ever-present in today’s society like romance, friendship, deceit and many more.