Read, Read, Read

Greetings again. I hope you’ve had a good week.

Friday was the last main day of the Intensive Course in Research Writing. In a presentation that day, guest speaker Susan Aiello gave some tips for increasing one’s English vocabulary. The first tip: “Read in English as much as possible.”

I agree with this tip. In fact, as we then discussed, reading—in one’s native language and in other languages—also tends to make one a better writer.

Of course, reading journal articles helps. So does reading for pleasure—for example, reading novels, biographies, and newspapers and popular magazines. Even without trying, one can thus expand one's vocabulary and strengthen one's sense of how to use language.

Also, reading can expand one’s world. After the recent AuthorAID workshop in Rwanda, my flight was canceled, and my new route home included a long layover in Nairobi. Fortunately, in the Nairobi airport I found an excellent bookstore.

At this bookstore I bought 2 books: the true story The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and the novel Baking Cakes in Kigali. These books increased my understanding of Africa and made a long journey seem short.

Even without a bookstore, one can—through the Internet—access or order good reading in many languages. Thus, reading widely has become fairly easy.

If you have summer vacation this time of year, I hope you’ll do lots of reading during vacation. But whatever the case, I encourage you to read a lot.

Happy reading!  Barbara