What have you been reading lately? At a meeting, you can soon see who the frequent readers are, since wide readers are often quick thinkers and good public speakers too. They quickly win the adulation, respect, and fellowship of others. After all, reading expands the mind and many people see it as one of the most satisfying pleasures known to mankind, being a combination, as it is, of mental agility and physical relaxation well above the level offered by television or the cinema.

Reading is mostly a mental activity, as you read with your mind and use your imagination to depict the setting of the detective thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pleasure that the main characters in the story are experiencing as the plot unfolds; or you contemplate the different arguments and ideas introduced by the author in that self-help book you are studying.

Being able to read effectively helps you to develop a wide vocabulary through reading different styles of books. A skillful reader recognizes a wide range of vocabulary. The reader may not know exactly what every word means, but he/she will have a general idea of what the sentence means.

The act of reading makes you more aware and more curious about hitherto unknown words. Some readers even develop ‘the dictionary habit’, which means that whenever they come across a new word, they try to figure out what it possibly means by the context. If they are stumped, they refer to a dictionary.

Similarly, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing the reader to different subjects. He/she learns to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. Just as in other kinds of education, he/she is learning by actually doing and while he/she is reading he/she is automatically learning about the subject matter of the book too – a free by-product!

Reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Merely grasping the writers idea is not really good enough, you must have a reply to what you read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Try to develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the writer. Always keep your mind open; understand and weigh the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the development of one’s own opinions.

Now let me mention the idea of speed reading. All of the above applies between three and ten times over, because speed readers can read that much faster than the average reader! Consider that! – Being able to read, comprehend and remember all those books and articles. You would surely become well-read in your subject much more rapidly than others. Just think how that would help you at work, in school or in college …

Now, let me show you the four primary rules for better reading and better comprehension:

1) Try to read more and more every month. Remember the saying that practice 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 a specific text that you are reading.

Reading is a fantastically stimulating mental activity. It expands your understanding and capability. You have so much to gain by discovering the joy of reading. So, go ahead and get down a book right this minute.

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