Reading

Reading

Reading is the second main source of Language because we learn through the words. The printed words are really important in the process of learning a new language; actually, there are many people who can understand the meaning of some words without knowing the language in which they are written. This happens between people who use the Roman alphabet because there are many similar words in languages which share it. Spanish speakers can learn English easily than Japanese speakers because the first ones have the same letters and can associate their own word with the words of the other language. Talking about Japanese speaker, they have more problems learning English because they first need to learn each letter of the alphabet, and then they start to learn word that are totally different from their own language.

The introduction of reading in a foreign language is a big challenge, but we have to focus our attention on sounds and letters to have success teaching the new language. Of course, the first step is to teach the alphabet and to repeat the sound of each letter as much as we can. Repeating is the best way to learn, but reading is important too. If we understand the words when we hear them, but we can't identify them when we read them, we DON'T know another language. As I said before, people who know the Roman alphabet can associate their own words with the words of the other language, but they need to keep in mind that some words look similar, but they have another meaning. For example, Spanish speakers can see the word in English "actually" and think about the word in Spanish "actualmente". Both words have a different meaning, and we as teachers have the obligation of tell them that they don't have to just say "the meaning" because is similar with a word that they know.

After teaching the alphabet, we have to teach sentences or phrases. The age of our students in very important to say if they will have problems learning to read or not. Young children are still learning their own language, so it is more difficult for them to start learning a new one. Another problem is that young children are not familiar with books, and they haven't had contact with printed words what do the introduction of reading more difficult. Probably, they'll need to practice more letter by letter and then complete sentences.

Students need to learn reading illustrations as much as sentences because through images they can understand better what a group of words is saying. Young children pay more attention to illustrations than words that's why they (illustrations) are a good tool to teach. If our students are a little older, we can focus more on the content than on the mechanics of reading. If our students don't know the Roman alphabet, we have to focus our attention on mechanics of reading than on the content. Now that we know what we have to teach first, we have to start reading some short stories appropriate for them. We can create our own stories with the words that they already know. For example, the colors, the greetings, the numbers, etc. Our students can read, and they will understand because they know the meaning of the words in the story.

Reading a class story is a good option because they know the words that we are saying. They know what "desk, table, whiteboard, and pencil" means, so they won't just say words without knowing the meaning. Reading a story about a topic they don't know is the worst decision because they don't have vocabulary about it. Students can read the story to start practicing their reading; every of them should read it to have the same level. We can also use real objects to do easiest the way in which we teach and in which they learn. Reading out loud is common in the classroom, but students don't practice outside. Children prefer to read silently at home maybe because they don't have confidence in themselves and prefer to read alone. Reading silently in the classroom is not good because the teacher can't hear our mistakes, and she can't tell us if we commit a mistake, but reading out loud has some problems. For example, if what children are saying is not interesting for the listeners, they can start to do a mess.

Silent reading is the way in which we'll read the rest of our lives. We aren't accustom to read out loud when we are reading a book or doing an exam that's why we as teachers have to teach them to read silently or out loud depending on the situation. Some children will love to read, and they'll read by themselves as soon as they can, but we'll have another child who will need a motivation to do it. In that cases, we have to building up confidence because they need to speak as much as they can to not be afraid of the new language.

To finish, we always have to remember that reading is one of the most important skills children have to develop. Of course, listening is the most important because we can't write without listen, but every skill depends on the other ones despite we can say that one of them is more important. We as teachers need to have a good pronunciation and intonation to our children develop their reading in the best way. At the end of teaching a foreign language, we'll feel totally happy with ourselves because we are educating a new generation of good students.