Pick up the reading habit
THIS year, Kuala Lumpur is named Unesco World Book Capital (KLWBC 2020) although, disappointingly, a Malaysian reads an average of two books a year.
We spend almost 14 hours a day on the phone and browsing the Internet. In fact, almost a quarter of our day is spent on social media.
Despite technological and digitisation advances affecting and changing the way we search, process, use and share information, we must promote the reading culture across the nation, at home and in schools.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 2018 Programme International Student Assessment states that when reading, we must be able to understand, evaluate, use and reflect on and engage with texts in order to achieve goals, develop knowledge and potential, and participate in society.
Hence, mastering reading skills is essential.
Here are some tips to be a better reader. Find a quiet place to read. When reading, stop thinking about problems or anything that may distract you. Focusing on the content will help with faster comprehension.
Vocalising words when one is reading slows down reading speed and affects brain assimilation capabilities.
Set a goal on the quantity of material to read per day. Increase it as time goes by.
By knowing your reading speed through measuring quantity of words read per hour, you will know how much progress you are making.
Do not read words one after another. Read words in groups. Apply skim reading technique by scanning topics and subtopics of pages, paragraphs and chapters. Scan key words and try to determine the content through experience.
If you have children, read to them. The reading habit is best cultivated at a young age to ensure that they will be readers when they grow up.
When my siblings and I were young, our parents had no time to do so but they converted a room for reading, with bookshelves, and encouraged us to buy books.
Until today, we still select the books that we like to read.
Education is lifelong learning. We should endeavour to educate ourselves all the time and there is no better way than finding knowledge in books.
Abraham Lincoln once said: “All I have learned, I learned from books. My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.”
So put down the phone and pick up a book.