A regular habit
I like reading a book. My perfect time is before sleep because it is a relaxing and low energy activity. The place is definitely on my bed with a comfortable duvet. It is the peaceful time that I can spend with myself.
When I was young, I loved reading. There is a lot of children’s literature such as Harry Potter, Famous Five and a Series of Unfortunate Events on my shelves. Then I stopped reading when I started working. I still bought many interesting books and didn’t read them because I was too busy to. However, I found that I had time to surf the internet and use social media before bed. I should have spent that time doing something else instead. I , hence, put reading before bed on the new year resolution 2020. I tried to do it everyday or at least five days a week.
My strategy is to create an environment supporting my reading. First, the book should be easy to pick up. I put it on the bed. Secondly, the book type should be easy reading. I prefer non-fiction books such as the series of School of Life by Alain de Botton. He talked about emotional intelligence. The novel might be A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway , which is my favourite one. My experience is staying away from thrilling books like Stephen King because these are so exciting that I couldn’t sleep. Lastly, providing sufficient light is good for reading. a lamp is important to read in terms of caring for your eyes and creating a reading atmosphere.
I have read books for one year. It makes me calm and helps me fall asleep faster. It is a good habit that increases my concentration and focuses on one thing. Also, It makes me calm and helps me fall asleep faster.
Getting my news
The first thing I do in the morning is update on the news. I spend about 20 minutes browsing the web on my mobile phone. It is a convenient way to get news through small gadgets that connect to the internet.
In my perspective, social media is an easy way to get the news. It is a powerful news channel these days. There are various channels to get the news from, such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. They contain a lot of information not only in Thailand but also in other countries. It is a benefit to get the news from several sources from different perspectives such as BBC, CNN and The Guardian. They are reliable sources from which people could understand the current situations without bias. However, getting the news from social media is some point of concern. There is fake news that makes people misunderstand information. It is also spreading widely online as well as attracting people by using exciting false information.
I prefer getting my news on Facebook because it contains different sources of news on one platform. Sometimes it provides the reference sources in each topic so that I could get more information. I also like comparing news from at least two sources. I believe that one source is not enough to support the news at this time. Generally, I get common news topics such as economics, business, technology and trends. Personally, getting up to date news in many fields is useful to understand current events and adapt my life.
Zemach's most useful strategy
Dorothy E. Zemach suggested that there are six strategies to improve four skills ,which are reading, listening, writing and speaking, in academic English. It consists of coming to class to learn, asking questions and interacting, practicing, reviewing your work and being an independent learner. All points are important to develop English skills. Personally, being an independent learner is the most useful strategy.
Being an independent learner means finding an opportunity to practice English in daily life. Honestly, learning a new language or a second language like English is challenging. Although there are studying and practising English in the classroom, there is not enough time to get familiar with it. This strategy recommends that people should use English outside the classroom. It means that learning English could be blended into our activities. There are many ways to practice English, such as watching movies, reading books and listening to podcasts. These activities would improve English skills little by little. Furthermore, there are good materials that are available on the internet, such as websites and applications. For example, BBC learning English is a learning English website that provides videos and podcasts from the news. Furthermore, it is important to get used to the English language. Practicing everyday will increase your confidence in English skills. Many people have international friends who are willing to help each other practice English in speaking and writing. Moreover, learning English takes time and requires effort to develop skills. Practicing English consistently gives time for developing English skills such as reading English news everyday.
I believe that independent learning is the key to successful learning English strategies. Practicing different skills in reality would make people more understanding of using English and achieve their goal.
Same as you, Pueng, reading is one of my favourite activities. As you mentioned Harry Potter in your preferred list, the first novel that I received from my family is Harry Potter and the order of Pheonix. It stranged that I started reading the fifth book of this series, but it made me enjoy and want to read more and more until these days. I agree that good reading should come with a comfortable environment. However, although a great surrounding occurs around me, I am still bored to read any educational book.
ReplyDeleteI really like your strategy that you created a suitable environment to develop your habit of reading. I am usually unable to achieve my new year resolution. I admire your strong determination in reading. The books that you mentioned seem to be very interesting. I will read them some day and if I find my favorite book I will share with you.
ReplyDeleteI have the similar situation like you. I used to read everyday when I was in middle school. But, when I went to boarding junior high school, I did not have chance to read. I love to read fiction books. On the other hands, if I read non-fiction books, I will fall asleep later. Just like you, my comfortable place to read is my bed.
ReplyDeleteMy schools were where I learned to love reading. I went to private Catholic schools for primary and high school. In primary school, the nuns were very relaxed, and as long as I was reading something not a comic, they tended to let me get on with it. And I was a very shy child, so often spent my free time reading - everything from poetry to novels to encyclopaedias. When I got to high school, the teachers were a little more strict, but still indulged my wide reading habits.
DeleteOddly, the only things I didn't much like reading in school were the novels we were forced to read in English classes, although they later became some of my favourites! Perhaps when I was a teenager, I just wasn't able to appreciate how brilliant Jane Austen and Patrick White really were, although not even the worst teacher could make Shakespeare's stories full of killing, plotting, sex, violence and betrayal anything less than gripping.