The Benefits of Reading English Out Loud

In many of my other blog articles, I advise students to read out

loud.

This is usually to help students practise or improve their English speaking skills.

But what are the main benefits of reading English out loud?

Let’s take a look.

Practise Reading

The first benefit of reading English out loud is that you are practising reading English.

If you want to read something out loud, you need something to read from.

Could be an article, an extract from a book, a poem, a short story – anything you want!

But you need to have some reading material in front of you.

So it’s very simple — you read out loud and you are practising reading.

Practise Speaking

The very next skill you are working on is speaking.

As you read out loud, of course, you are saying the words you see on the page in front of you. You don’t even need to think about what to say in English as the words do it for you.

You read out loud and say the words and all the time you are practising speaking English.

And you can do this in any place you want, any time you want.

Improve Concentration

When we read the words from a book in our head, we don’t concentrate as much as when we are reading out loud.

When you read out loud the words on the page, you are concentrating on every line, every sentence, every word.

You are taking in everything that you read.

This is better for your focus and you will retain more to memory when you do this.

Improve Vocabulary

By reading out loud, you notice difficult words and phrases more clearly.

This is because of your better concentration.

Just by noticing every new or difficult word helps you to pick up on them.

That is the moment when you should write them down in your notebook. Make a mental note to look them up in your dictionary later.

Read out loud and improve your vocabulary.

Better Pronunciation

You may not believe this, but you already have a very good idea how words should sound when pronounced properly.

If you read out loud, this will help you to notice what the correct pronunciation should be. Sometimes you will instinctively know when you have pronounced a work in the wrong way.

Reading out loud will help you notice which words you need to work on for pronunciation.

Better Reading Comprehension

You will improve your reading comprehension as you read out loud.

The reason this happens is because, as you read out loud, you are ‘acting out’ the words on the page. You will read certain phrases and words in context, and this will help you have a clearer understanding of what you are reading.

Understand Punctuation

When we read inside our heads, we often skip over punctuation.

We may glide over full stops and commas and not pay them any attention.

But when you read out loud, you instinctively know when to stop at a full stop. Or pause at a comma, then go to the next clause.

Improve Writing

And all of this is good for your writing.

As you read out loud, the words become alive. They exist not just on the page but as real living things that you can breathe out loud in front of you.

You will have a much better grasp of the English language and this will help your writing no end.

Conclusion

I hope I have convinced you why you should start reading out loud.

All you need is some reading material and a quiet private place to do it.

Your bedroom or a corner of your classroom could be just the right space to do it.

Make a habit of doing it every day and you will see all the benefits from above.