By Chinazaekpere Nnabugwu (Anchor
and Host)
Dear Kingdom minded, success
driven Teens and Kids, I once again welcome you to this Platform. It has not
been easy, though it is not expected to be easy and can never be easy however
the fact remains that school work has not permitted me to be with you on this
Platform as regular as I wished.
As the saying goes, “it is better
to be late than never”. I have packaged something I belief will be of interest
for your reading pleasure. I therefore, invite you to read and as usual pass
your comments, and where necessary raise questions.
Hope you’ve not forgotten that
the Platform also offers you the opportunity to contribute your stories and
share your ideas with friends, as well as invite others to the Platform.
As you would have noticed from
the topic of today, we are focusing on something that promises to add to our academic
activities, as well as position us significantly for the task ahead. In this
regard we shall dwell on Reading, looking at what it means, and the benefits we
engage in reading. Sounds interesting I guess.
At this juncture, let us address
the question, WHAT IS READING?
To answer this question, let us visit
the “New Method English Dictionary, New Edition, Eleventh impression 2007, by Michael
West and James Gareth. It defines reading as:
“Ability to read“. It also defines Read as: “Get ideas from prints or writing; study.
The Webster’s Universal
Dictionary & Thesaurus, 2003, by Geddes and Grosset, defines Reading as: “The act of one who reads”. It also defines Read as: “To understand
something written; to speak aloud from a book; to study by reading”.
For me therefore, Reading means “picking meaning from a Book, Magazine,
Newspaper, Journal and any other printed material or writing”. I wish to draw
our attention to the fact that reading and study go together; however, the two
is not possible if one cannot read.
Having answered the question
above, let me point out that books come in
different categories. Learning from my amiable award winning boss, Aunty Mercy Chuwang (remember she was recently awarded the best overall female presenter in Plateau State, I understood that there are:
- Comic books - books in which pictures are printed and left on the imagination of the reader to put them together and figure out the message behind the pictures.
- Story books - under this we have:
- Fictional or fictitious books - These are books written out of imagination.
- Non-fictional books - are books written from real life situations or experiences. They include the following:
- Biography - book written about a person’s life by another person.
- Auto-biography - book written about a person’s life by himself or herself.
- Inspirational books and
- Motivational books
At this point let us ask ourselves, are there any
benefits that we derive from reading? I say yes. Some of the benefits are
presented below.
BENEFITS OF READING
- Dear Teens and Kids it is interesting to note the following benefits about reading:
- It educates people
- It adds to peoples’ knowledge and helps them forge ahead in life
- When people know that you read, they promote you and make others to learn from you
- When people engage in reading, they know more
- It makes you know about great people and how they became great
- Through reading people get to know about others and their experience in life
- Reading For entertainment
- Increases reading skills
- Enables people to learn how to write differently and in new ways
- Enhances speech construction capacity
- Makes one a better discussant
- Promotes learning, and provides better opportunities
- Enhances understanding of the past (History)
- Impacts the present and prepares one for the future
- Improves ones confidence level and self esteem
The list is incomplete until you add to it.
Before I sign off, let me to call on you to make reading a serious business. If you do, you won’t regret it.
Meanwhile, I expect your comments
and other contributions.
I remain your Anchor and Host: Chinazaekpere Nnabugwu… Aurevoir
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