{"id":3922,"date":"2026-06-04T13:33:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T13:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/?p=3922"},"modified":"2026-06-04T13:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T13:44:16","slug":"reading-books-the-secret-weapon-most-english-learners-never-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/reading-books-the-secret-weapon-most-english-learners-never-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Books: The Secret Weapon Most English Learners Never Use"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been learning and teaching English for over a decade. In my experience, many learners want to improve their language skills by watching Hollywood movies, taking language courses, and using language or social media apps. Very few of them read books<\/strong>, and I think this is a missed learning opportunity. Why? Because if you know which ones to read and how to read them, books can be one of the most powerful tools you could ever use to become a better English speaker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me explain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why you should read books if you\u2019re learning English<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I always say to my students that there are two main reasons for reading books.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #1: Books have a magical power<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A book is like a big language container where you\u2019ll find words, expressions, and grammatical structures working together to form a meaningful text. If you want to understand <\/strong>that text, your brain needs to process all the written language that\u2019s coming in through your eyes. What are the benefits of doing this? The language learning research is clear about them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. You improve your reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. You grow your overall level of grammar and vocabulary, both in quantity and quality<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. You become a more confident user of the language.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    All this by simply enjoying a good book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Reason #2: Reading adds an essential nutrient to your language learning diet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    I still remember the first time I finished a book in English. I remember closing it and thinking, Wow! Done! I\u2019ve read it!<\/em> I felt proud of myself and thought that if I was able to read one book, then I would be able to read another. And that\u2019s exactly what I did: I picked another book and read that, too. Then I read another and many more.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Realising that I was able to read and understand<\/strong> books motivated me.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Motivated is how we usually feel when we achieve a challenging goal, don\u2019t we? That\u2019s also how we feel when we realise we\u2019re making progress, which makes us even more determined to keep improving. Reading a book can provide this experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You may even enter an endless positive cycle that looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. You think reading a book is too hard or boring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. You then read one and realise that it was actually an exciting challenge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. You also notice you\u2019ve learned new words and expressions from the book.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. You think, Hmm, I can do this! I enjoyed the book, I learned from it, and now\u2026I want to do it again!<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. You pick another book and keep learning.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Motivation is what keeps us going despite the challenges, and it\u2019s an essential element in learning a second language.<\/strong> Finishing a book is one way to add this necessary nutrient to your language learning diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Okay, we now know the two main reasons why reading is great. It\u2019s now time to choose the right book for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      But\u2026how can you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      How to choose the right book for you<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Whatever book you want to read, always ask yourself two questions before choosing one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Is this a book that I would read in my first language? <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Is this book too hard for my current English level? <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Here\u2019s why it\u2019s worth asking these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        You\u2019ll read (and learn) faster by following your interests<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        A trillion times I said this to my students: don\u2019t read a book just because it\u2019s written in English<\/strong>. Instead, read books about stories and topics that you are interested in<\/strong>. Read because you want to entertain<\/strong> yourself. Read because you want to learn<\/strong> more about a particular subject. Read because you want to enjoy<\/strong> an inspiring story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        I\u2019ve heard many English language learners say, \u201cI don\u2019t read books because they\u2019re boring.\u201d When I hear that, I always respond by asking them a question: \u201cIs it possible that you haven\u2019t found an interesting book yet?\u201d and their reply is usually \u201cYeah\u2026probably, yes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If you love cooking, read a book about cooking. If you\u2019re a fan of fantasy stories, read those. When I was an intermediate learner of English, I read books about environmental issues because that was what interested me the most. Now I still read books in English (I read about twenty a year), and I choose them based on what I\u2019m curious about.I recommend that you do the same: combine your hobbies, curiosity, and preferences with reading in English<\/strong>. It\u2019s an amazing way to enjoy yourself and learn English at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        There\u2019s little point in choosing a book that you cannot understand<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        If you\u2019re not going to understand a book because it\u2019s written in a level of English that\u2019s too hard for you, why would you read it? You\u2019ll waste too much time translating and looking up words in a dictionary, and you won\u2019t enjoy the story. In fact, you\u2019re likely to get frustrated and demotivated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Would you agree that what we want from a book is enjoyment, entertainment, surprise, inspiration, wonder, information, and fun? Ideally, we want to read page after page, lose ourselves in a story, and get to a point where we\u2019ve almost finished reading the book without even realising it. This is why it\u2019s important to select books based on your current language level<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        You may say, \u201cBut all the books I\u2019ve seen are written in \u201chard\u201d English. Where can I find books for learners?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        There are \u201cbooks for learners.\u201d They\u2019re called graded readers<\/strong>. They\u2019re books where the vocabulary and the grammar have been simplified <\/strong>for you, so you can read<\/strong>, understand<\/strong>, <\/strong>y enjoy <\/strong>them. I\u2019m often surprised by how many learners don\u2019t know these books exist! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Good news: Kiwi Cosmico<\/em><\/strong> publishes graded readers<\/strong>. <\/strong>You can <\/strong>check out their selection of books here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Final thoughts on reading: my favorite way (please read)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        We have AI chatbots, language apps, social media, streaming platforms, podcasts, and a million other technologies that can help us learn a second language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        To me, nothing still beats a great book<\/strong>. Reading books has taught me so much about English as well as the world. Reading a book helped me learn my second language by showing me how it works in context<\/strong>, its \u201cnatural habitat.\u201d Plus, what I love about books is that there are no ads in them and that they\u2019re always a great investment. How much does a book cost? 10 euros? 20 euros? That\u2019s nothing compared to what I get in return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If you\u2019re a language learner, try this at home, on the train, or at the park: read and enjoy a great book.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Please read!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n\n\n\n

        Fabio Cerpelloni<\/strong> is a learner of English turned English teaching specialist, author, and content writer for education brands. He holds a Master’s in Professional Development for Language Education and has worked with major English language schools, publishers, and high-traffic language-learning blogs. In his free time, he loves reading and writing books. If you send him an email, he\u2019ll reply<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I\u2019ve been learning and teaching English for over a decade. In my experience, many learners want to improve their language skills by watching Hollywood movies, taking language courses, and using language or social media apps. Very few of them read books, and I think this is a missed learning opportunity. Why? Because if you know […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3922"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3928,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3922\/revisions\/3928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiwicosmicopublishing.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}