This article was archived on 2021. 09. 30 the pieces of information were correct when the article was published, but now they may be outdated.

Reading is one of the most important tools  (an effective instrument) of language learning

Books and websites are among the appurtenances of reading; reading is one of the most important tools (an effective instrument) of language learning.    
According to language teachers’ opinions and by literature of methodology, reading in foreign languages can assist anyone in learning languages in many ways. 
On one hand, vocabulary can be improved and enlarged by reading, as new words in read text can be learned in an efficient way because words are recurring within the text; on the other hand, known words can be repeated.
Reading in foreign  languages can develop grammatical and lexical knowledge; it also improves skills in reading comprehension.  

A reading girl in front of the book shelfSource: CANVA


Some important viewpoints with respect to reading: 
  • We should read books we are interested in. Doing so we keep being motivated in solving the task and read through the book. Since reading is an offline activity, new words can be searched back within the text (and you can repeat them), you can go back to grammatical structures of sentences or to previous pages in order to learn expressions in the context.
  • We should read texts that match our own knowledge level. If we are on beginner level now, it is better to choose texts of children’s books because they contain short paragraphs, short sentences and dialogues. 
  • Short readings for graded readers are also good choices because they cover vocabulary by knowledge level including different numbers of words regardless of language. Penguin Readers, Dominoes and Bookworms Readers series are higly recommended to learners of English language. Dominoes book series is written and edited for younger age-group by topics and structures, the publications of Bookworms are written for older age-group. These books are available electronically, they can be downloaded to mobile phones.
  • While reading, you do not have to lexiconize all unknown words, however, it is important to consider the context in order to understand what they mean. The key expressions should be lexiconized and they can be memorized easier within the context.  
  • When we have practice in simple stories, we can step further and go on with novels. It is better to choose a novel that we know, we saw on film or read it in mother language. 
  • If realistic works are closer to us, we can choose newspapers or blogs in foreign languages.  
  • Last but not least, learners who cannot read stories in a foreign language can listen to audio books. The shortened readings recommended above can be downloaded from publishers’ websites or they are available on CDs. Listening to them we can increase vocabulary and improve 
  • our pronunciation as well.  
Come on, let’s read! 
 
Novels and other publications available in foreign languages in the library 
You can acquire information about our novelties of belles-lettres available in foreign languages on the library website as well as on the 
site of Further Education Guidance Service and our Facebook sites.
Relevant Facebook site:
Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library
Some relevant websites:
Open Library
Project Gutenberg
LibriVox
Oxford Graded Readers
Penguin Readers