How to enjoy reading?

Open Forum
1

i dont enjoy reading at all but i love listening to the language. need help

2

Have you tried reading comic strips/books? That’s often the way children get interested in reading. Perhaps it could help you.

Another good way of beginning to enjoy reading is to follow the “little and often” approach. Find a topic you are interested in and find a book about it and start dipping into the content. Remember it needs to be pleasurable reading :slight_smile:

3

yes i tried to read comics in spanish and i was able to understand more then 90% but i just dont enjoy reading it

4

i am on my 4th language now it is spanish and i have never read before in any of my other languages. i even learned english through just watching tv shows

5

If you are happy with learning languages without reading, why are you asking us to help you enjoy reading?

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6

I think you should respect your own preferences. If you don’t like reading, don’t force yourself to do it. Reading is only good as long as it doesn’t hurt your brain, or depletes your motivation to learn.

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7

How can we enjoy reading?
We need time to read. If we have free time, we can read books that interest us.

8

i think you are right i should learn it like i did before

9

The following is just my opinion as a teacher and student of languages:
I think people who like reading are doing it differently from those who dislike it. That is, the mental approach is different. Essentially, good readers are automatically noting the important points and letting supporting points go with less attention. In other words, they are prioritising the material. In this way they do not get bogged down or overwhelmed with detail. People who dislike reading tend to judge every sentence is of equal importance and get understandably discouraged.

However reading is definitely a great tool for learning so here are some tips for learning to like reading as an adult:

  1. Slow down. AS Yutaka said, say to yourself that you have time.
    2)Pre-read: Have a dialog with yourself before you read. Ask yourself to articulate why you want to read something. Predict what words you will see in the page. Scan the page to see if you are right. Look at visuals. Get comfortable.
  2. If you do not understand something, tell yourself you will read it again and focus on it. You usually will not but at least this will help you go forward; if that doesn’t work try to guess or imagine the meaning— people get uncomfortable with this at first but it is a skill you can learn.

The discomfort comes from the same place as the lack of prioritising comes from— people think the text is all powerful and must be consumed 100% as the author intended. The truth is all texts are just hints to the author’s intentions and even when we think we understand something we are just projecting our biases on the author.

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10

I don’t like readin in my mother tongue. I prefer listening. I may read just to get important information.
Another thing happens to me with foreign languages, especially with LingQ. I listen to the audio and then read the corresponding text to understand the meaning and to mark the known words. It stimulates my reading actvity.
Sounds stupid but true :slight_smile:

11

What a shocker! For me reading is like breathing. It is a way of life. I cannot image living without reading. My house is full of books. I think I have more books that I ever be able to read in what is left of my life. Books open new realities where we touch others souls and know their stories. Books make us larger and richer. Read, read, read till the end of time.

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12

This is good advice. One the one hand I wouldn’t force yourself to read in another language if you don’t like reading, do what you enjoy. But on the other hand it is worth “getting in” to reading, in your own language and in your new languages, because of the worlds it opens up and the way it takes your language abilities to the next level.

13

Yes, I agree with you for 100%, reading makes our life richer and more interesting.
But for example two of my three sons don’t like reading. They believe they have enough information from TV and the Internet. Of course, I make them read something but they do it without any great interest which I had by opening a book.
We have to remember that it was a very long pre-reading time in the history of the mankind, and I’m afrait it would be quite soon an after-reading time as it was predicted in one of the stories by Bradberry ‘452 on Farenheit’.

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14

I suppose you are referring to “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury.
“The people in this society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio on ‘Seashell Radio’ sets attached to their ears.”

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15

Very true. The problem is that reading is the most effective and secure way of cultural communication between generations. Without reading, I think, there is not growth. To speak is not enough, the sign is essential for human kind. Technological advance societies seem to be running on a path of ignorance. However, there will be a price to pay. Those who are ignorant are doom to be ruled by others and to vanish from history. A sad story.

16

I am in the same boat. I literally hate having to sit down and read through things. I thought it might improve with LINGQ but it hasnt. I’ve not really found a way to improve it either. Making your words read target low might help. I went for 1k a day at one point, but it just made me avoid learning all together although I did notice an improvement. I currently looking at other methods that have worked for people to include in my learning of russian.

17

Yes, it is. I read this story 20 years ago, but it impressed me greatly.