Reading is an important process in learning a new language. It helps in grasping the language easily. If you are strong with the basics of a language (alphabets, common phrases and very little grammar), you can start improving your language on your own by constant reading.
Reading, here, doesn’t mean burdening yourself with various grammar or vocabulary books. Reading means referring various sources such as newspapers, comics, stories, literature and other informative and entertaining write ups. This way you will not only generate interest in the learning process, but also are exposed to the real language and its usage.
A language learned is wasted if you do not know its proper usage. Hence, reading the above mentioned resources will expose you to the real application of the language, which is a proper way of enhancing one’s language skills.
Reading also helps in easy learning. It facilitates two ways of learning – implicit and explicit.
Implicit learning is that kind of learning which is inherent. In the process of reading newspapers or articles or comics, you come across certain words or sentences, for which you may not know the exact meaning, but you can understand their meaning, based on the context or situation being described or illustrated (in the form of pictures) in the text. In this way, you learn new words and usage of language naturally as you are reading.
Explicit leaning is precise and exact. When you are exposed to various language usages, you come across some typical and difficult words which you may not know. In those situations, unless and until you know the exact meanings of the words, you cannot understand the whole concept and cannot proceed with reading. Hence, you are then required to take help of a dictionary or other language resources to know the meaning of the sentence, phrase or words to derive the meaning of the context. This way you will learn new words which are difficult and which cannot be learned by inferring the meaning on your own.
Hence, reading strengthens your knowledge of language, as well as improves your language usage skills.