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Why read?

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    Why read?

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    Why Are Books Important?

    lens10758361 1272576281Pile of books image - Why read?

    Why is reading important?

    It is how we discover new things. Reading is vital in developing a good self image.

    Being able to read is a crucial skill in being able to function in today's society. It is important because it develops the mind and develops the imagination.

    A person who knows how to read can educate themselves in any area of life they are interested in.

    Non readers or poor readers often have low opinions of themselves and their abilities. They feel isolated and behaviour problems can surface. As we live in an age overflowing with information, reading is the main way to take advantage of it.

    "Reading, like no other medium, can transform your life in a flash, and you never know which book, at which time in your life, might be the one that rocks your world and inspires you to grow in ways you never thought possible."
    ---Burke Hedges.

    1. Reading is an active mental process that improves your concentration and focus:

    It makes you use your brain; helping you to reason out things which are unfamiliar to you.

    Reading is one of the most enjoyable hobbies a person can have. Although it's saddening to think that the majority of people aren't introduced to the fabulous world of books.

    Since you must concentrate in order to read, this requires you to focus and think about what you are reading.

    If you want to break the monotony of an uncreative and uninterested life, go and grab an interesting book. Turn the pages to explore new worlds filled with information and ingenuity.

    2. Improves your discipline and memory:

    draft lens10758361module98085011photo 1272577178open book image - Why read?Making time to read is something we all feel that we should do, but few of us schedule book reading time every day. But adding book reading to your daily schedule and sticking to it, improves discipline.

    Studies show if you don't use your memory, it becomes more and more difficult to remember facts that you have read. Crossword puzzles are an example of a word game that staves off Alzheimer's.

    Reading helps to stretch your memory muscles and requires you to remember details, facts and figures, plot lines, themes and characters.
    It is really satisfying to look at a shelf of books and say, "I've read every one of those!"

    Not only is the knowledge useful, but it is personally very rewarding as well.

    3. Builds self-esteem and improves creativity:

    The more you read, the more knowledgeable you become and with more knowledge comes more confidence. More confidence builds self-esteem.

    Reading about the diversity of life and exposing yourself to new ideas and more information helps to develop the creative side of the brain and filters innovation into your thinking process.

    So it's a chain reaction. When you are well read, people will look to you for answers. Then your feelings about yourself only get better. Even more confidence!

    Reading about diversity of life and exposing yourself to new ideas and more information helps to develop the creative side of the brain as it imbibes innovation into your thinking process.

    4. Reading improves your vocabulary and reduces boredom:

    When you are reading books, especially challenging ones, you will probably find yourself exposed to many new words.

    Remember when you learnt to read, how you learned to figure out the meaning of one word by reading the context of the other words in the sentence?

    You will get the same benefits for building your vocabulary from book reading. So if you are feeling bored, then pick up a book and start reading.

    If you're bored anyway, you might as well be reading a good book, right?

    5. Gives you a glimpse into other cultures and places of the world, so you'll always have something to talk about:

    Reading gives you an insight into the diversity of ethnicity of people, their customs and their lifestyles. You'll become more aware about different places and their codes of conduct in those places.

    Ever found yourself in an embarrassing situation where you didn't have anything to talk about? How would you know about the life of people in Alaska if you hadn't read about it?

    Want a remedy for this? It's simple. Start reading.

    Reading really widens your horizon of information, so you'll always have something to talk about.

    Ideally, reading should be split between fiction and nonfiction books. Fiction is definitely more exciting, but it does not yield long term knowledge benefits like nonfiction books do.


    Wise Words!


    "Not every reader is a leader, but every leader must be a reader."
    ---Harry Truman.

    "In our new knowledge economy, if you haven't learned how to learn, you'll have a hard time."
    ---Peter Drucker

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    Last edited by 'Abd-al Latif; 02-29-2012 at 11:54 AM. Reason: Correcting some small errors
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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    Re: Why read?

    10 Ways to Improve Your Mind by Reading the Classics


    The other day I came across some disturbing statistics on reading. According to a Jenkins Group survey, 42% of college graduates will never read another book. Since most people read bestsellers printed in the past 10 years, it follows that virtually no one is reading the classics. Although it’s unfortunate that the intellectual heritage of humanity is being forgotten we can use this to our benefit. By reading the classics to improve your mind you can give yourself an advantage. These examples illustrate 10 ways reading the classics will help you succeed.


    1. Bigger Vocabulary

    When reading the classics you’ll come across many words that are no longer commonly used. Why learn words most people don’t use? To set yourself apart. Having a bigger vocabulary is like having a tool box with more tools. A larger arsenal of words enables you to express yourself more eloquently. You’ll be able to communicate with precision and create a perception of higher intelligence that will give you an advantage in work and social situations.


    2. Improved Writing Ability

    Reading the classics is the easiest way to improve your writing. While reading you unconsciously absorb the grammar and style of the author. Why not learn from the best? Great authors have a tendency to take over your mind. After reading, I’ve observed that my thoughts begin to mirror the writer’s style. This influence carries over to writing, helping form clear, rhythmic sentences.


    3. Improved Speaking Ability

    Becoming a better speaker accompanies becoming a better writer because both are caused by becoming a better thinker. Studying works of genius will teach you to express yourself with clarity and style. By improving your command of the English language, you’ll become more persuasive, sound more intelligent, and enjoy an advantage over less articulate people.


    4. Fresh Ideas

    Isn’t it ironic that the best source for new ideas are writers who’ve been dead for centuries? I’ve derived some of my best ideas directly from the classics. It makes sense when you consider the competition. Everyone you know is reading the same popular blogs and bestselling books. Observing the same ideas as everyone else leads to generic and repetitive thinking. No wonder it’s difficult to sound original! By looking to the classics for inspiration you can enhance your creativity and find fresh subject matter.


    5. Historical Perspective

    I could argue this point myself, but why bother if Einstein has already done it?



    Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best the books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely nearsighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous.

    There are only a few enlightened people with a lucid mind and style and with good taste within a century. What has been preserved of their work belongs among the most precious possessions of mankind.
    Nothing is more needed than to overcome the modernist’s snobbishness.


    6. Educational Entertainment

    Reading great books is fun. The key is getting past the initial vocabulary barrier. It’s actually less difficult than you think. Even challenging authors use a limited vocabulary. After the initial learning curve, you’ll find the classics as readable as modern books and infinitely more stimulating. Classics have endured because of entertainment value. There’s a reason filmmakers keep remaking old books — they have the best content.


    7. Sophistication

    If you’d like to excel in conversation, knowledge of the classics is essential. These are books that keep coming up. They’re a part of human history that isn’t going to disappear in 10 years like 99% of books on the bestsellers list. By reading the classics you gain a deeper appreciation of ideas generally taken for granted. Plus quoting Aristotle or Voltaire is a great way to win an argument.


    8. More Efficient Reading

    I just finished reading The Road by Cormac MacCarthy. It’s so good that it won the Pulitzer Prize. Afterwards I read the first few chapters of Lolita. I was shocked by Lolita’s superiority. Truly great books don’t come around every year. If you only read contemporary literature, you’re drawing from a diluted pool. Why not make the most of your reading time by finding the best of the best?


    9. Develop a Distinct Voice

    If you’re a writer/blogger, ignoring the classics is a mistake. This has nothing to do with subject matter. Regardless of what you write about, you need to be persuasive and develop a distinct voice. The best way to learn is from the masters. I’ve seen several articles recommend examples of good writing — they’ve all been other blogs. I have a feeling most people reading this article already read enough blogs. Spending some time with the classics will give you an edge.


    10. Learn Timeless Ideas

    We like to believe, in our modern arrogance, that technology has changed everything. In truth, it feels the same to be alive today as it did a thousand years ago. The lessons of the classics carry as much weight as ever. They contain information that is directly applicable to your life. Don’t believe me? Try reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography without learning something. Reading the classics develops an understanding of the human condition and a deeper appreciation of modern problems.


    In closing, I’d like to briefly anticipate criticism. This is not an attack on everything modern. To read nothing but the classics would be as foolish as completely ignoring them. The aim is to combine the wisdom of the past with the innovation of the future. The two are inextricably linked — the best books are yet to be written.


    Also, this is not an appeal to snobbery. Quite the opposite. Reading the classics is a cheap hobby. Used copies can be borrowed from the library or purchased for 1/20 the cost of trendy books that are the talk of high society. Please stop associating the classics with your English Lit. Professor.


    http://www.pickthebrain.com
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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    Re: Why read?

    Jazakallah khair for the information. Very beneficial indeed.
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    Re: Why read?



    English Tuition: Why reading matters!


    English Tuition can provide a very dramatic boost to pupils’ understanding and appreciation of language. The ‘aha’ moments when students realise the value of language and its power to change and shape meaning make teaching an unbeatable and most humbling profession!

    I was once asked by a parent why reading mattered so much. There was perhaps an expectation that good tecahing could do everything and that reading was rather out of date.

    Of course, Tuition can really help boost grades and analyses, but reading REALLY MATTERS I say time and time again.
    And the reason is quite simple. If we don’t read, then our vocabulary remains static, our thinking remains comparatively restricted and even our sense of who we are seems underdeveloped.

    I always remember teaching The Tempest at Bolton School many years ago. The unfortunate ‘creature’ Caliban, is imprisoned upon his own island by Prospero a colonising magician exiled in turn from his own home by a usurping brother. Caliban’s anger at his imprisonment by Prospero is exacerbated by his horror that Prospero has taught him ‘language’, which ironically reveals the depths of his own misery and anger.

    Yet as we read the play we realise that Caliban’s negative version of himself is not the whole story. In fact, Caliban has a facility for self expression which is beautiful and transformative. He has the best lines on the play and probably some of the most lyrical phrases in Shakesepeare. His reading of the world makes him a better character and eventually he regains his island and his linguistic mastery gives him the power to reflect upon his world and to preserve his experience for himself.

    Language is linked always to power.

    Reading makes us more powerful, it gives us a vocabulary by which we may become far greater acqainted with ourselves and our world.

    Finding a book to read may be one of the best actions anyone can do today!



    Source: http://www.tusitala.org.uk/blog/engl...ading-matters/
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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    Re: Why read?

    Brilliant thread. The joy of reading books isn't so popular among those of my age (teenagers) unfortunately.

    I also think people (especially youngsters, in their mid/late teens) should read newspapers. NOT TABLOIDS. I'm sometimes APPALLED by the general knowledge of some people my age. Even with the most simple and obvious things.
    Why read?


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    وبالعـلم ننهض في كل واد

    وهـذي خواطر جيـل البنـاء

    نُـريــد بـهـا رفعــة للـبـــلاد


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    Re: Why read?

    format_quote Originally Posted by *dua View Post
    Brilliant thread. The joy of reading books isn't so popular among those of my age (teenagers) unfortunately.

    I also think people (especially youngsters, in their mid/late teens) should read newspapers. NOT TABLOIDS. I'm sometimes APPALLED by the general knowledge of some people my age. Even with the most simple and obvious things.
    And this is the purpose of my thread. I hope to encourage brothers and sisters to read and enjoy the enlightenment of knowledge and the power of expression.
    | Likes 'Abd al-Baari, N/A liked this post
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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    Re: Why read?

    'The artist is the creator of beautiful things

    To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.

    The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

    The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.

    Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

    Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are cultivated. For these there is hope.

    They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty.

    There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.

    Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

    The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

    The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.

    The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.

    No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.

    No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.

    Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.

    Vice and vertue are to the artist materials for an art.

    From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type.

    All art is at once surface and symbol.

    Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

    Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.

    It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.

    Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex and vital.

    When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself.

    We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intesely.

    All art is quite useless.'

    -Oscar Wilde
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    Re: Why read?



    JazakAllahu Khairan for this thread... I needed the encouragement lol.
    I used to read a lot but recently, I've found my mind drifting off when I start reading, which is weird. Not like me at all. Started reading a book over 2 months ago and I'm still only halfway through
    need to make more time for reading inshaAllah!
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    Re: Why read?

    I used to read a lot but then I kind of gave up reading books for a while and now my brain is just everywhere, I can't pay attention to what I just read and I have to read it again.
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    Re: Why read?

    Jazakallah for this thread, I love reading. Whenever i pick a book, i just can't leave it until it's finished. I truly believe reading helps you widen your vocabulary and general knowledge. It makes you a lot more aware of things around you and it also helps connect you r ideas with those of others.

    Keep it up!
    | Likes ~Raindrop~ liked this post
    Why read?

    ‘Say: He is God, the One and Unique;
    God, the Eternal source and support
    Of everything;
    He begets not, and neither is He begotten;
    And none is His equal.’
    (al-Ikhlas 112: 1-4)
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    Re: Why read?

    jakazallah khair for the thread..
    seriously I don't know what i would do w/o books!! I just ordered Midaq alley by an egyptian nobel prize winner and after reading a few chapters managed to find two more of his used on amazon for great prices.. I'm reading Love Inshallah, a book of forty Hadeeths and several books on the kindle.
    I have trouble just focusing on one book... it was a great skill when i was at the university... lol.. I do find it a shame that even people my age will wrinkle their nose when i mention a book I'm reading... and not because of the subject matter.... but because... oh wow.. its a BOOK.. and at times ones w/ lots of pages.... I wish some of those people would remember the things in the earlier posts....

    Serena
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    Re: Why read?

    Speed Reading


    Learning to Read More Efficiently


    Think about how much reading you do every day.

    Perhaps you read the newspaper to catch up with what's going on in the world. You browse countless emails from colleagues. And you then read the books, reports, proposals, periodicals, and letters that make up an average day.

    When you look at it, reading could be the work-related skill that you use most often!

    It's also a skill that most of us take for granted by the time we reach the age of 12. After all, it seems that if we can read and comprehend textbooks, then, surely, we must be good readers?


    Maybe not. And, given the time that reading consumes in our daily lives, it may be a skill that we can, and should, improve.

    But what does becoming a better reader involve?

    It means getting faster and more efficient at reading, while still understanding what you're reading. In this article, we'll look at how you can do this, and how you can unlearn poor reading habits.


    How We Read


    Although you spend a good part of your day reading, have you ever thought about how you read?

    How do your eyes make sense of the shapes of the letters, and then put those letters together to form a sentence that you can understand?

    When you actually think about it, reading is quite a complex skill. Previously, scientists believed that when you read, both of your eyes focused on a particular letter in a word. Recent research shows this isn't the case.


    Scientists now believe that each of your eyes lock onto a different letter at the same time, usually two characters apart. Your brain then fuses these images together to form a word. This happens almost instantaneously, as we zip through pages and pages of text!


    Advantages of Speed Reading


    Many people read at an average rate of 250 words per minute. This means that an average page in a book or document would take you 1-2 minutes to read.

    However, imagine if you could double your rate to 500 words per minute. You could zip through all of this content in half the time. You could then spend the time saved on other tasks, or take a few extra minutes to relax and de-stress.

    Another important advantage of speed reading is that you can better comprehend the overall structure of an argument. This leads to a "bigger picture" understanding, which can greatly benefit your work and career.

    top460grey 1 - Why read?
    Note:

    Speed reading is a useful and valuable skill. However, there might be times when using this technique isn't appropriate. For instance, it's often best to read important or challenging documents slowly, so that you can fully understand each detail.




    bottom460grey 1 - Why read?



    Breaking Poor Reading Habits

    If you're like most people, then you probably have one or more reading habits that slow you down. Becoming a better reader means overcoming these bad habits, so that you can clear the way for new, effective ways of reading.

    Below, we cover some of the most common bad reading habits, and discuss what you can do to overcome them.

    Sub-Vocalization


    Sub-vocalization is the habit of pronouncing each word in your head as you read it. Most people do this to some extent or another.
    When you sub-vocalize, you "hear" the word being spoken in your mind. This takes much more time than is necessary, because you can understand a word more quickly than you can say it.

    To turn off the voice in your head, you have to first acknowledge that it's there (how did you read the first part of this article?), and then you have to practice "not speaking." When you sit down to read, tell yourself that you will not sub-vocalize. You need to practice this until this bad habit is erased. Reading blocks of words also helps, as it's harder to vocalize a block of words. (See below for more on this.)

    Eliminating sub-vocalization alone can increase your reading speed by an astounding amount. Otherwise, you're limited to reading at the same pace as talking, which is about 250-350 words per minute. The only way to break through this barrier is to stop saying the words in your head as you read.

    Reading Word-by-Word

    Not only is it slow to read word-by-word, but when you concentrate on separate words, you often miss the overall concept of what's being said. People who read each word as a distinct unit can understand less than those who read faster by "chunking" words together in blocks. (Think about how your eyes are moving as you read this article. Are you actually reading each word, or are you reading blocks of two, or three, or five words?)
    Practice expanding the number of words that you read at a time. You may also find that you can increase the number of words you read in a single fixation by holding the text a little further from your eyes. The more words you can read in each block, the faster you'll read!

    Inefficient Eye Motion


    Slow readers tend to focus on each word, and work their way across each line. The eye can actually span about 1.5 inches at a time, which, for an average page, encompasses four or five words. Related to this is the fact that most readers don't use their peripheral vision to see words at the ends of each line.

    To overcome this, "soften" your gaze when you read – by relaxing your face and expanding your gaze, you'll begin to see blocks of words instead of seeing each word as distinct unit. As you get good at this, your eyes will skip faster and faster across the page.

    When you get close to the end of the line, let your peripheral vision take over to see the last set of words. This way you can quickly scan across and down to the next line.


    Regression


    Regression is the unnecessary re-reading of material.

    Sometimes people get into the habit of skipping back to words they have just read, while, other times, they may jump back a few sentences, just to make sure that they read something right. When you regress like this, you lose the flow and structure of the text, and your overall understanding of the subject can decrease.


    Be very conscious of regression, and don't allow yourself to re-read material unless you absolutely have to.

    To reduce the number of times your eyes skip back, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, or a pen or pencil. Your eyes will follow the tip of your pointer, helping you avoid skipping back. The speed at which you read using this method will largely depend on the speed at which you move the pointer.

    Poor Concentration


    If you've tried to read while the TV is on, you'll know how hard it is to concentrate on one word, let alone on many sentences strung together. Reading has to be done in an environment where external distractions are kept to a minimum.

    To improve your concentration as you read, stop multitasking while reading, and remove any distractions. This is particularly important, because when you use the techniques of chunking blocks of words together and ceasing to sub-vocalize, you may find that you read several pages before you realize you haven't understood something properly.

    Pay attention to "internal distractions" as well. If you're rehashing a heated discussion, or if you're wondering what to make for dinner, this will also limit your ability to process information.


    Sub-vocalization actually forces your brain to attend to what you're reading, and that's why people often say that they can read and watch TV at the same time. To become an efficient reader, you need to avoid this.


    Approaching Reading Linearly


    We're taught to read across and down, taking in every word, sentence, paragraph and page in sequence.

    When you do this, though, you pay the same attention to supplementary material as you do to core information. (Often, much more information is presented than you actually need to know.)

    Overcome this by scanning the page for headings, and by looking for bullet points and things in bold. There is no rule saying that you have to read a document in the order that the author intended, so scan it quickly, and decide what is necessary and what isn't. Skim over the fluff, and only pay attention to the key material.


    As you read, look for the little extras that authors add to make their writing interesting and engaging. If you get the point, there's no need to read the example or anecdote. Similarly, decide what you need to re-read as well. It's far better to read one critical paragraph twice than it is to read another eight paragraphs elaborating on that same concept.


    Keys to Speed Reading Success


    Knowing the "how" of speed reading is only the first step. You have to practice it to get good at it. Here are some tips that will help you break poor reading habits and master the speed reading skills discussed above.
    • Practice, practice, practice – you have to use your skills on a regular basis. It took you several years to learn to read, and it will take time to improve your reading skills.
    • Choose easy material to start with – when you begin speed reading, don't use a challenging textbook. Read something like a novel or travel-writing, which you can understand and enjoy with a quick once-over.
    • Speed read appropriately – not everything you read lends itself to speed reading.
    • Legal documents, the draft annual report, or even the letter you receive from a loved one in the mail - these are better read in their entirety, sub-vocalizations and all.
    • If you need to understand the message completely, memorize the information, discuss it in detail, analyze it thoroughly, or simply enjoy the prose the way the author intended, then speed reading is the wrong approach. (Here, it helps to choose an appropriate reading strategy before you start.)
    • Use a pointer or other device to help push your reading speed – when you quickly draw a card down the page, or run your finger back and forth, you force your eyes and brain to keep pace.
    • Take a step back and use the material's structure – this includes skimming information to get a feel for the organization and layout of the text, looking for bolded words and headings, and looking for the ways in which the author transitions from one topic to the next.
    • When you start speed reading, it's wise to benchmark your current reading speed. This way you can tell whether your practice is paying off, and you can impress your friends and family when you tell them that you can now read faster. There are many speed reading assessments online. One such assessment can be found at ReadingSoft.com.
    top460grey 1 - Why read?
    Tip:

    There are many other strategies that you can use to improve your reading, as well as your comprehension.

    See our articles on SQ3R and Review Techniques to learn how to improve your reading retention; that is, how long you remember the information you're reading.

    Also, having the right information is just as important as knowing how to read it. Learn how to gather information more effectively in our article, Information Gathering.


    As well as this, you may want to work through our Read Smarter! Bite-Sized Training session.




    bottom460grey 1 - Why read?

    Key Points

    Speed reading is a skill that can be learned. It mostly involves breaking poor habits that you may have developed since you learned to read. Simply becoming a faster reader isn't the point, either – you want to become a more efficient reader.

    There are some great techniques that you can use when practicing speed reading, including reading blocks of words, and breaking the habit of sub-vocalization.

    Whichever techniques you apply, you must always be aware of the purpose of your reading and decide whether speed reading is the most appropriate approach.

    When applied correctly and practiced diligently, speed reading can significantly improve your overall effectiveness, as it frees up precious time and allows you to work more efficiently in other areas.






    http://www.mindtools.com/speedrd.html


    | Likes Haya emaan liked this post
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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  16. #13
    Haya emaan's Avatar Full Member
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    Re: Why read?

    " books are not limps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves" GILBERT HIGHET

    JazakAllah for sharing. A very beneficial thread
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    Why read?

    HIJAB IS MY PRIDE
    my hijab2 v01 by yip87 1 - Why read?
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    Re: Why read?

    Do you need to read books to be clever?

    Article of Thursday, 10 January 2008
    999999 1 - Why read?

    It's the National Year of Reading. Just as well, as one in four adults say they haven't read a book in at least a year. With so many other ways to get information these days, do we still need books?

    When did you last pick up a book to hunt out a nugget of information instead of Googling it? Or read a novel instead of powering up the PlayStation or the telly?

    Some time ago, quite possibly, especially if you're a man and aged 16 to 24 - half haven't read a single book in the past 12 months, making this group the least likely to read books, according to government statistics.

    The rest of us aren't much better. And some, including Victoria Beckham, claim never to have read a book at all.

    Yet books are hyped as life changing and a way out of crime, poverty and deprivation by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who launched the National Year of Reading on Wednesday. Quite simply, they have the potential to open up new worlds for the reader. So why don't more of us make use of these repositories of knowledge and, with so much information to be gleaned online and from the TV, do we need to read books any more?

    "They're vital to learning. Half the population don't go to football matches but that doesn't make football any less important," says Professor John Sutherland, who has chaired the Booker prize judging panel.

    Books are essential because at their very heart is the storage of information, he says.

    "The best storage system we have is the book. Few artefacts have lasted as enduringly - and few will. If you dropped Chaucer into the middle of Oxford Street today he wouldn't have a clue what was going on, but if you took him to a bookshop he'd know exactly what they were, even be able to find his own work."

    Sum of knowledge

    And every book has a part to play in our accumulation of knowledge, right down to autobiographies by the likes of Peter Andre and Kerry Katona.

    "Books are an eco-system, the bad ones make the good ones possible," says Prof Sutherland. "Victoria Beckham's autobiography pays for likes of Andrew Motion." But while books have great cultural value, others argue that you don't have to read them to be intelligent and knowledgeable.
    "I didn't read a book last year and don't know when I will read one," says Jamie Sharp, 37. "That doesn't make me illiterate or stupid, I just get my information in other ways.

    "I read a paper everyday and use the internet. That probably makes me better informed than a lot of book readers out there. They may read a book but it's just as likely to be David Beckham's autobiography as it is Shakespeare."

    And reading involves intellectual snobbery, he says. "It always has to be about certain types of books. Often people just read them because they think they should, not because they want to. Sometimes they pretend to have read them to look intelligent."

    He has a point - 40% of people admit to lying about having read certain books, according to a study published last year by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. And half read the classics just because we think it makes us look more intelligent.

    Musty tomes


    Basically, not everyone is a natural reader. Books have also lost their "chic", according to some.

    "If you try and sell your house, estate agents will tell you to get rid of the books, they are viewed as tired and middle aged," says Prof Sutherland. Despite this, book sales in the UK are huge and on the rise. Last year we bought an estimated 338 million books, at a cost of £2,478m. This was 13% higher by both volume and value than five years ago, according to the Book Marketing Limited's latest Books and the Consumer survey.

    It appears that while books might be disappearing from our homes, they are still a treasured part of our culture.

    "Britain produces more titles per person than any other country in the world," says Prof Sutherland. "That's the real measure of how important they are to us."

    Books are important, but it's reading itself is an essential skill, says Honor Wilson-Fletcher, project director for the National Year of Reading. "It's not for nothing that books have been burned over the centuries," she says. "They are repositories of ideas and ideas empower people and broaden their horizons.

    "But because the cultural landscape is changing so much we need to recognise every variety of reading and acknowledge being able to read has never been so important.

    "No medium is less important than any other, be it a classic novel, Scott's last message from the North Pole, one of Morrissey's lyrics or graffiti on a wall - they can all educate and change lives. This is not a year of worthiness, it's a year of reading."

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7178598.stm
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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  19. #15
    Ramadan90's Avatar Full Member
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    Re: Why read?

    Thank you brother, just what I needed. I asked a question hereconcerning being wellspoken few weeks ago. May Allah give you reward from this.

    Salam
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    Re: Why read?

    The 26 Major Advantages to Reading More Books and Why 3 in 4 People Are Being Shut Out of Success

    I read a Associated Press-Ipsos poll revealing that 1 in 4 adults read no books last year. Yes, that’s 25% of the adults out there are reading zero books. This is sad.

    I knew intuitively the number of books read each year had gone down but to zero? Ridiculous!


    And what about the adults who are reading more than zero books a year. How many are they reading in all? One? Five? Actually, the same poll reveals the average adult reads only four books per year. Half of those people read less than four.


    If you are one of the non-book readers who feels you “don’t need no stinking books”, here are 26 great reasons to start the habit…before you are left behind!


    1. Reading is an active mental process
    – Unlike TV, books make you to use your brain. By reading, you think more and become smarter.


    2. It is a fundamental skill builder
    - Every good course on the planet has a matching book to go with it. Why? Because books help clarify difficult subjects. Books provide information that goes deeper than just classroom discussion.


    3. Improves your vocabulary
    – Remember in elementary school when you learned how to infer the meaning of one word by reading the context of the other words in the sentence? You get the same benefit from book reading. While reading books, especially challenging ones, you will find yourself exposed to many new words you wouldn’t be otherwise.


    4. Gives you a glimpse into other cultures and places
    – What is your favorite vacation spot? I would bet you read a lot about that destination. The
    more information the better. Books can expand your horizons by letting you see what other cities and countries have to offer before you visit them.


    5. Improves concentration and focus
    – Like I pointed out before, reading books takes brain power. It requires you to focus on what you are reading for long periods. Unlike magazines, Internet posts or e-Mails that might contain small chunks of information. Books tell the whole story. Since you must concentrate in order to read, like a muscle, you will get better at concentration.


    6. Builds self-esteem
    – By reading more books, you become better informed and more of an expert on the topics you read about. This expertise translates into higher self esteem. Since you are so well read, people look to you for answers. Your feelings about yourself can only get better.


    7. Improves memory
    – Many studies show if you don’t use your memory, you lose it. Crossword puzzles are an example of a word game that staves off Alzheimer’s. Reading, although not a game, helps you stretch your memory muscles in a similar way. Reading requires remembering details, facts and figures and in literature, plot lines, themes and characters.


    8. Improves your discipline
    – Obviously, if 1 in 4 people don’t read one book per year, then there is a discipline issue. There may be many causes for people not reading books such as the “quips” of information you can get on the Internet. TV is also a major distracter. Making time to read is something we all know we should do, but who schedules book reading time every day? Very few… That’s why adding book reading to your daily schedule and sticking to it, improves discipline.


    9. Learn anywhere
    – Books are portable. You can take them almost anywhere. As such, you can learn almost anywhere too.


    10. Improves creativity
    – by reading more books and exposing yourself to new and more complete information, you will also be able to come up with more creative ideas. As a personal example, I read many, many books on IT Networking. So often, when IT Admins are stumped with a problem, I can come up with a creative (smack your head simple) solution that isn’t written anywhere. But the reason I can do that is because I have read so many books on the subject, I can combine lessons from all of them into new solutions.


    11. Gives you something to talk about
    – Have you ever run out of stuff to talk about with your best friend, wife or husband? This can be uncomfortable. It might even make married couples wonder if their marriage is in trouble. However, if you read a lot of books, you’ll always have something to talk about. You can discuss various plots in the novels you read, you can discuss the stuff you are learning in the business books you are reading as well. The possibilities of sharing are endless.


    12. Books are inexpensive entertainment
    – What’s the average price of a movie ticket these days? $8 – $10? You can buy a paperback for that price and be entertained for many hours more. If you have a used bookstore nearby, you can get them even cheaper.

    Tip: Once you make reading a habit, you’ll enjoy reading the books in your chosen career as well.


    13. You can learn at your own pace
    – Where formal education requires time commitments, books have no late-bells or hourly commitments. So you can learn at your own pace when you read books.


    14. New mental associations
    – I touched on this above. As you read more books the depth and breadth of your knowledge expands and your ability to form new associations increases. In reading a book to discover the solution to one problem, you find the solution to others you may not have considered.


    15. Improves your reasoning skills
    – Books for professionals contain arguments for or against the actions within. A book on cooking argues that Chili powder goes well with beef and goes poorly with ice-cream. A book on building a business argues that testing an idea for profitability before setting up is a smart strategy and argues against just barreling forward with the idea without testing.


    You too will be able to reason better with the knowledge you gain. Some of the arguments will rub off on you. Others you will argue against. Regardless, you’ll be reasoning better.


    16. Builds your expertise
    – Brian Tracy has said one way to become an expert in your chosen field is to read 100 books on the subject. He also said by continuing the same for 5 years you’ll become an international expert. With the Internet and blogs, you could hone that time down to 2-3 years if you follow through.


    17. Saves money
    – Apart from saving money on entertainment expenses. Reading books that help you develop your skills saves money. Reading books on how someone went bankrupt will be a warning to you against repeating their mistakes. Reading a book on how to build your own backyard deck saves the expense of hiring a contractor.


    18. Decreases mistakes
    – Although I would never suggest putting off an important goal because you fear making mistakes, it is still important to sharpen the saw (link to A.L. post). When you gather the deep and wide wisdom that books can provide, you are less apt to make mistakes.


    19. You’ll discover surprises
    - As you read more books as a source of information, you’ll learn stuff you weren’t looking for. I’ve read many great quotes on life and love by reading books on marketing. I’ve learned facts about biology from reading about chemistry. Heck, I’ve picked up some facts about history while reading about programming. Since so many subjects intertwine it’s almost impossible not to learn something other than the book’s subject.


    20. Decreased boredom
    – One of the rules I have is if I am feeling bored, I will pick up a book and start reading. What I’ve found by sticking to this is that I become interested in the book’s subject and stop being bored. I mean, if you’re bored anyway, you might as well be reading a good book, right?


    21. Can change your life
    – How many times have you heard of a book changing someone’s life? For me, it was Your Erroneous Zones (link) by Wayne Dyer – which is the first self-development book I read. It opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking that was not depressing and dull. It was the first step in my path of choosing my own life and being free of old habitual thought patterns.


    22. Can help break a slump
    – Being in a slump is uncomfortable. If you are a writer, you call it writer’s block. If you are a salesperson, it’s called – not making a sale in 23 days. But a slump can be a crossroads. It might be you are wavering on your commitment to a particular project or (with marriage) person. Or a slump can be simply a lack of new ideas. Books are a great source of ideas, big and small. So if you find yourself in a slump, pick a book on the portion of your life you are slump-ing and get to reading!


    23. Reduces stress
    - Many avid readers (including me) unwind by reading. Compared with the person who gets home from work and immediately turns on the TV news, you are going from work stress to crime stress. But it’s not just news. TV as a source of relaxation is too full of loud commercials and fast moving (often violent) images. If relaxation is something you want, turn off the TV or computer and pick up a book.


    24. Gets you away from digital distractions
    – If you, like many others, feel overwhelmed with the flashing lights, beeps, boops and ring-a-dings that burn up our computing lives, then give books a chance. When you find some good books, you’ll find yourself drawn into the subject matter. You’ll want to spend more time reading. By spending more time reading books, you’ll have less time for the plethora of the digital gadgets begging for our attention.


    25. You’ll make more money
    - If you make a serious effort to read in your chosen career, your expertise in that specialty will increase. As you become more specialized and learned, you join a smaller group of more qualified people. By being part of the small few with the highest level knowledge your pay will increase. It’s simple supply and demand.


    26. The book is always better than the movie
    – except for perhaps No Country for Old Men. icon smile - Why read?

    What are some of the most important books you have read? What is the title that changed your life? If you’ve found a book that made a major change in how you work, live or love, please tell us about it in the comments below.
    Last edited by 'Abd-al Latif; 03-10-2012 at 01:00 PM.
    | Likes biz, BeTheChange liked this post
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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  21. #17
    real islam's Avatar Full Member
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    Re: Why read?

    The earth is a store house of knowledge.One can not learn all the
    things about the earth.For what we need to read book to increase our
    knowledge.
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  22. #18
    GodIsAll's Avatar
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    Re: Why read?

    I have this posted in my class and laboratory:

    "Become an avid and voracious reader! Without this attribute, one cannot access the wisdom of the ages."
    | Likes aamirsaab, Muezzin, 'Abd-al Latif, biz liked this post
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  23. #19
    'Abd-al Latif's Avatar Super Moderator
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    Re: Why read?

    The art of slow reading | Books | The Guardian

    Has endlessly skimming short texts on the internet made us stupider? An increasing number of experts think so - and say it's time to slow down . . .

    slowreading006 1 - Why read?

    If you're reading this article in print, chances are you'll only get through half of what I've written. And if you're reading this online, you might not even finish a fifth. At least, those are the two verdicts from a pair of recent research projects – respectively, the Poynter Institute's Eyetrack survey, and analysis by Jakob Nielsen – which both suggest that many of us no longer have the concentration to read articles through to their conclusion.

    The problem doesn't just stop there: academics report that we are becoming less attentive book-readers, too. Bath Spa University lecturer Greg Garrard recently revealed that he has had to shorten his students' reading list, while Keith Thomas, an Oxford historian, has written that he is bemused by junior colleagues who analyse sources with a search engine, instead of reading them in their entirety.

    So are we getting stupider? Is that what this is about? Sort of. According to The Shallows, a new book by technology sage Nicholas Carr, our hyperactive online habits are damaging the mental faculties we need to process and understand lengthy textual information. Round-the-clock news feeds leave us hyperlinking from one article to the next – without necessarily engaging fully with any of the content; our reading is frequently interrupted by the ping of the latest email; and we are now absorbing short bursts of words on Twitter and Facebook more regularly than longer texts.

    Which all means that although, because of the internet, we have become very good at collecting a wide range of factual titbits, we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, contemplate, and relate all these facts to each other. And so, as Carr writes, "we're losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind. Mentally, we're in perpetual locomotion".

    Still reading? You're probably in a dwindling minority. But no matter: a literary revolution is at hand. First we had slow food, then slow travel. Now, those campaigns are joined by a slow-reading movement – a disparate bunch of academics and intellectuals who want us to take our time while reading, and re-reading. They ask us to switch off our computers every so often and rediscover both the joy of personal engagement with physical texts, and the ability to process them fully.

    "If you want the deep experience of a book, if you want to internalise it, to mix an author's ideas with your own and make it a more personal experience, you have to read it slowly," says Ottawa-based John Miedema, author of Slow Reading (2009).

    But Lancelot R Fletcher, the first present-day author to popularise the term "slow reading", disagrees. He argues that slow reading is not so much about unleashing the reader's creativity, as uncovering the author's. "My intention was to counter postmodernism, to encourage the discovery of authorial content," the American expat explains from his holiday in the Caucasus mountains in eastern Europe. "I told my students to believe that the text was written by God – if you can't understand something written in the text, it's your fault, not the author's."

    And while Fletcher used the term initially as an academic tool, slow reading has since become a more wide-ranging concept. Miedema writes on his website that slow reading, like slow food, is now, at root, a localist idea which can help connect a reader to his neighbourhood. "Slow reading," writes Miedema, "is a community event restoring connections between ideas and people. The continuity of relationships through reading is experienced when we borrow books from friends; when we read long stories to our kids until they fall asleep." Meanwhile, though the movement began in academia, Tracy Seeley, an English professor at the University of San Francisco, and the author of a blog about slow reading, feels strongly that slow reading shouldn't "just be the province of the intellectuals. Careful and slow reading, and deep attention, is a challenge for all of us."

    So the movement's not a particularly cohesive one – as Malcolm Jones wrote in a recent Newsweek article, "there's no letterhead, no board of directors, and, horrors, no central website" – and nor is it a new idea: as early as 1623, the first edition of Shakespeare's folio encouraged us to read the playwright "again and again"; in 1887, Friedrich Nietzsche described himself as a "teacher of slow reading"; and, back in the 20s and 30s, dons such as IA Richards popularised close textual analysis within academic circles.

    But what's clear is that our era's technological diarrhoea is bringing more and more slow readers to the fore. Keith Thomas, the Oxford history professor, is one such reader. He doesn't see himself as part of a wider slow community, but has nevertheless recently written – in the London Review of Books – about his bewilderment at the hasty reading techniques in contemporary academia. "I don't think using a search engine to find certain key words in a text is a substitute for reading it properly," he says. "You don't get a proper sense of the work, or understand its context. And there's no serendipity – half the things I've found in my research have come when I've luckily stumbled across something I wasn't expecting."

    Some academics vehemently disagree, however. One literature professor, Pierre Bayard, notoriously wrote a book about how readers can form valid opinions about texts they have only skimmed – or even not read at all. "It's possible to have a passionate conversation about a book that one has not read, including, perhaps especially, with someone else who has not read it," he says in How to Talk About Books that You Haven't Read (2007), before suggesting that such bluffing is even "at the heart of a creative process".

    Slow readers, obviously, are at loggerheads with Bayard. Seeley says that you might be able to engage "in a basic conversation if you have only read a book's summary, but for the kinds of reading I want my students to do, the words matter. The physical shape of sentences matter."

    Nicholas Carr's book elaborates further. "The words of the writer," suggests Carr, "act as a catalyst in the mind of the reader, inspiring new insights, associations, and perceptions, sometimes even epiphanies." And, perhaps even more significantly, it is only through slow reading that great literature can be cultivated in the future. As Carr writes, "the very existence of the attentive, critical reader provides the spur for the writer's work. It gives the author the confidence to explore new forms of expression, to blaze difficult and demanding paths of thought, to venture into uncharted and sometimes hazardous territory."

    What's more, Seeley argues, Bayard's literary bluffing merely obscures a bigger problem: the erosion of our powers of concentration, as highlighted by Carr's book. Seeley notes that after a conversation with some of her students, she discovered that "most can't concentrate on reading a text for more than 30 seconds or a minute at a time. We're being trained away from slow reading by new technology." But unlike Bath Spa's Greg Garrard, she does not want to cut down on the amount of reading she sets her classes. "It's my responsibility to challenge my students," says Seeley. "I don't just want to throw in the towel."

    Seeley finds an unlikely ally in Henry Hitchings, who – as the author of the rather confusingly named How to Really Talk About Books You Haven't Read (2008) – could initially be mistaken as a follower of Bayard. "My book on the subject notwithstanding," says Hitchings, "I'm no fan of bluffing and blagging. My book was really a covert statement to the effect that reading matters. It's supposed to encourage would-be bluffers to go beyond mere bluffing, though it does this under the cover of arming them for literary combat."

    But Hitchings also feels that clear-cut distinctions between slow and fast reading are slightly idealistic. "In short, the fast-slow polarity – or antithesis, if you prefer – strikes me as false. We all have several guises as readers. If I am reading – to pick an obvious example – James Joyce, slow reading feels appropriate. If I'm reading the instruction manual for a new washing machine, it doesn't."

    Hitchings does agree that the internet is part of the problem. "It accustoms us to new ways of reading and looking and consuming," Hitchings says, "and it fragments our attention span in a way that's not ideal if you want to read, for instance, Clarissa." He also argues that "the real issue with the internet may be that it erodes, slowly, one's sense of self, one's capacity for the kind of pleasure in isolation that reading has, since printed books became common, been standard".

    What's to be done, then? All the slow readers I spoke to realise that total rejection of the web is extremely unrealistic, but many felt that temporary isolation from technology was the answer. Tracy Seeley's students, for example, have advocated turning their computer off for one day a week. But, given the pace at which most of us live, do we even have time? Garrard seems to think so: "I'm no luddite – I'm on my iPhone right now, having just checked my email – but I regularly carve out reading holidays in the middle of my week: four or five hours with the internet disconnected."

    Meanwhile, Jakob Nielsen – the internet guru behind some of the statistics at the beginning of this article – thinks the iPad might just be the answer: "It's pleasant and fun, and doesn't remind people of work." But though John Miedema thinks iPads and Kindles are "a good halfway house, particularly if you're on the road", the author reveals that, for the true slow reader, there's simply no substitute for particular aspects of the paper book: "The binding of a book captures an experience or idea at a particular space and time." And even the act of storing a book is a pleasure for Miedema. "When the reading is complete, you place it with satisfaction on your bookshelf," he says.

    Personally, I'm not sure I could ever go offline for long. Even while writing this article I was flicking constantly between sites, skimming too often, absorbing too little; internet reading has become too ingrained in my daily life for me to change. I read essays and articles not in hard copy but as PDFs, and I'm more comfortable churning through lots of news features from several outlets than just a few from a single print source. I suspect that many readers are in a similar position.

    But if, like me, you just occasionally want to read more slowly, help is at hand. You can download a computer application called Freedom, which allows you to read in peace by cutting off your internet connection. Or if you want to remove adverts and other distractions from your screen, you could always download offline reader Instapaper for your iPhone. If you're still reading, that is.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010...5/slow-reading
    Why read?

    And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.”
    [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]


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    Re: Why read?

    format_quote Originally Posted by Galaxy View Post
    I used to read a lot but then I kind of gave up reading books for a while and now my brain is just everywhere, I can't pay attention to what I just read and I have to read it again.
    Same goes for me, sometimes i have to read 1 paragraph 5 times or so, dont know where i have my head.. in this world or other planet :P
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