Can Reading Books Improve Vocabulary?

Being an avid reader, I obviously enjoy reading books as well as writing. Ever since I was little, I was quite gravitated towards the language classes especially English as compared to other subjects. It’s not uncommon for my friends to ask me to read over their essay’s and other writing assignments because they think I’m quite “good with words”. I will attribute my knowledge of English language and vocabulary to reading books, a lot of them every year. Although I prefer reading books for my personal enjoyment, I cannot deny the fact the I get to know more about different people and their cultures, which helps me to stay grounded and open up my understanding towards the bigger world surrounding me.

My habit of reading books has through the years helped me to decipher the words and pick up on contextual clues easily. However, is someone presented me with a math problem with a complexity transcending beyond simple addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, then I would be at a loss to find a solution. My struggle or inability to find out the solution to the math problem may possibly have nothing to do with my intelligence instead it could be because of less exposure to that type of material.

That is why I accredit my vocabulary to the habit of reading that I had from my childhood days. This habitual reading has helped me to improve my vocabulary as well as the cognitive reading skills such as reading, spelling, word recognition and critical thinking. No doubt, the number of years I was engrossed with reading books has helped me with my academic growth as well. To put it across in other words, the time spent on reading books and the level of my cognitive skills has a correlation.

There was a study conducted by Anne Cunningham and Keith Stanovich in the year 2001 which was designed to test whether or not reading novels have an impact on the advancement of a person’s vocabulary over time as well the type of medium in which children were exposed to most words. In this study, the first-grade students were asked to write how often they read every day in a journal. The scientists then followed up with the same group of students when they reached the eleventh grade and had them complete the tasks involving reading comprehension and vocabulary. The scores from those tasks were then compared to each of the students’ journal from first-grade to find a correlation between the number of hours each child documented when they were in first grade and the score of the tasks in current grade i.e. eleventh.

  

The results showed that being exposed to reading at an early age helps to predict those children who will be likely to read more over the years. Because the longer experience with reading books these children did show an increased vocabulary and cognitive reading skills. The scientists also proved that reading novels exposes children to more words than any other source such as magazines, television, conversations, etc.

So, this study proves my point accurately, that consistently reading books does improve vocabulary irrespective of inborn intelligence. However, the above study doesn’t mention about the difficulty level of the novels that lead to an increased vocabulary. Also, it doesn’t explain how these students learned the new words, I mean by using a dictionary for the definition, searching online, asking someone about the meaning of the word, or by using contextual evidence to make an inference. Also, does a formal or informal definition of a new word help a child to commit the word into their memory. 

Did You Know? 

An average American has a vocabulary in thousands. Whereas Indian children are rarely guided by their parents to form reading habits. I don’t want to underestimate anybody as we Indians have a lot of variety when it comes to reading books, I mean we have books being published in different languages other than English or even our official language Hindi.

  

So, without ranting about why few Indians are in to the habits of reading books, I’ll discuss below about how we can try to get into the habit of reading books. 

1) Read books to your children or use your tablet to read books

This will be beneficial for both parents and children as it will improve your vocabulary. This winter, read bedtime stories snuggled under the covers. According to the professor of Childhood and Literacy Education at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at the New York University, Susan Neuman, “The words present the in most children’s books are usually beyond the realm of an adult’s daily life, which is why even parents can learn more words by simply reading it to their children.”

Reading books on your tablet or Kindle will provide you with an altogether different experience. Next time you are reading an e-book and come across a word you aren’t familiar with, try highlighting it with your finger and the built-in dictionary will come to your rescue. The best part is you won’t lose your place or have to switch between googling the meaning of the word and your novel. 

2) Join a book club 

Book clubs are a wonderful strategy to help you learn new words. It will not only force you to set aside time in your day to read, but it’s a good way to discover new books I mean new genre of books that you might not be normally drawn to which in turn will expose you to new words thereby improve your vocabulary. 

3) Read, Read and Read 

I can’t stress enough but try making a little time every day to read. According to Neuman, “Reading on a regular basis is tied to improved cognitive functioning throughout life because you are always learning.” Even if you stop looking up every single foreign word, chances are that you can simply improve your vocabulary by figuring out its meaning based on the context they are used in or by coming across them again down the line. 

Share your thoughts and experience of book reading so far.

Until next post, this is Nyasa signing off. 

Reading a Paper Book Vs. an E-book: Which is Better?

With the advance of smartphones and tablets and they being quite affordable these days, e-books and e-readers have become quite a popular standard for reading. With dedicated e-reader, you can easily download and buy new titles. You can store thousands of books on a single SD card and read them in the dark without an external light. Still, there is something about the feelings you get while reading a book from the old-fashioned paper.

In this post, we’ll look at which is better- reading a paper book the old traditional way or an e-book. 

Reading a Paper Book 

1. Traditional Books or Paper Books are More Tactile 

Clearly, the traditional books or paper books are more tactile in nature. They have a heft in the hand that feels entirely different compared to holding an e-reader. There’s a certain feeling that comes with smelling the paper in the books, turning pages, and seeing permanent words emblazoned on pages. Basically, the paper books feel good for those readers who enjoy physically collecting things or prefer a more sensory experience.  

Paper books aren’t just tools that help you to access information, but they are also decorative objects. Who hasn’t been warmed by a home full of booklined shelves? If you are still curious about my blog, check out What is Nyasa's Book Shelf. 

Being around your favorite volumes invite you to go grab them and browse through the pages. It is so easy to get lose in the world of book if they are all around you. 

2. You Learn More Easily with the Printed Books 

Retaining information can be quite easier with paper books. As per a Norwegian study that tested a group of readers on Amazon Kindle and another group that read the traditional paper-bound book, when both were quizzed post reading those who read the paper book fared better. 

This is because there is a sort of feeling that comes while reading paper books which actually fire a different set of synapses in our brains. Moreover, we are so accustomed to skim-reading the digital media that it’s hard to read with the same focus while we read from the paper books. 

3. Reading a Paper Back Wins Over E-Book When It Comes to Lighting 

Another possible negative experience from reading from tablets or smartphones is linked to their lighting strength and power. Though they boast of strong backlights, this high level of screen luminosity sometimes convinces your eyes that it’s daylight outside which may keep you awake all through the night for unnecessary amounts of time. The artificial light exposure causes a lot of sleep scientists and doctors to recommend reading from regular paper books over digital books. 

4. Some Readers Prefer the Feel and Utility of Paper Books 

When it comes to reading experience, I personally think the weight and feel of a paper book is hard to beat most of the time. Most people are still used to read the traditional books are they are a total paper book lover. It’s so satisfying to curl up with a book, the smell of the pages and the heft of the book. Also, it allows us to see immediately how far we are really in a book. Whereas, in case of e-book it may still show that we have read 84% of the book when the book ended as the remaining 16% are excerpts from the author’s other books, his/her interview and a discussion guide. 

5. Some Readers are Just Nostalgic Reading from Paper Books 

I may be one of those weirdos that likes the smell of a paper in a traditional book. But not everyone thinks the same way. The feel of the book is an advantage for some readers as we have been used to read the paper books. 

Reading an E-book 

1) E-books are Great for Reading on The Go 

A significant benefit of reading e-books is their small form factor along with their ability to store them without needing bookshelves. Whether you are a minimalist or a traveler, e-books are the ultimate portable way to enjoy reading. It needs not be filled in your suitcase as with a dozen heavy hardcovers. Simply slip your Kindle in your bag and you can have thousands of books on tap. 

2) Search and Navigation is Simplified with E-books 

With e-books search is super-simple, you can scroll the text with your finger to navigate easily through the texts. Eminently, e-books shareable; you can email an e-book to yourself or a friend easily. Not to mention storing e-book is a breeze.  

With e-books you can perform a text search within every single book in your e-library. Try doing that with traditional books! You’d have to first have every page scanned and put into a database before being interpreted. The chances of that happening is quite slim unless you are at a high-end research facility or a University library. 

3) E-books Have Visual Benefits 

E-books can be awesome for people with poor eyesight and who are dyslexic. This is because of all the e-readers or tablets have the ability to change the size of the text that makes it easier to read. You also have the option to change the brightness levels which not only alleviates the problems of screens being too bright at nighttime but also allows for easy reading in bright environments.  

4) E-books Have Audio Options 

E-books can be easily synced to the audiobooks which allows you to enjoy your favorite stories and volumes in the care or while you walk back and forth to your work. I must say listening to audiobooks is an all-together different experience but can be quite valuable, especially when you are listening to them as a way to make use of the time spent commuting to work. In my next post, I’m going to discuss about Reading a Book Vs. Listening to an Audiobook: Which is Better?  So, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog. 

5) Easy to Publish E-books and are More Affordable Than Paper Book 

Another important factor in the debate of e-book versus paper books concerns publishing. It is rudimentary and sometimes free to publish your book in the digital formats. This means you don’t need to find an agent to secure a book deal with a publisher.  

Whereas, if you want to self-publish a traditional book it may not be particularly as cheap as publishing an e-book. This limits the release of information in traditional media to people with money and resources for such an undertaking. 

Conclusion: Which is Better? 

To wrap it up, there’s not really any need to choose which is better between reading a paper book and e-book these days. As we have already discussed about both the pros and cons with reading a paperbacks and digital form of books such as Kindle, deciding which is better will differ as per the reader’s choice. Not many people start reading e-books and turn their back completely on their beloved, dog-eared paper books. 

It is better to consider both forms of reading have their own advantages and drawbacks, which is why can’t we just enjoy both of these forms.  

So, read on and enjoy! 

What do you prefer? Reading from a paperback or an e-book. Leave in your comments.