The Importance of Reading There    was    a    question    raised    on    one    of    the    two excellent    on-line    Welsh    language    teaching    apps    this week.    “How    often    do    people    go    back    and    re-do    the previous   lessons?”   It   was   a   fair   question   and   possibly   one that    has    occurred    to    many    Welsh    learners    in    their journey    to    mastering    our    beautiful    language.    I'm    sure that   sometimes   it   seems   that   no   matter   how   many   times you   go   back   on   the   lessons   you   still   don't   feel   that   you are   progressing.   A   child   learns   his   or   her   native   language by   hearing   it   and   imitating   it   and   the   more   that   is   learnt the    quicker    progress    is    made.    A    parent        doesn't    do recaps,   the   child   is   moving   forwards   all   the   time.   Ok,   so the   situation   is   slightly   different   but   perhaps   the   idea   of moving   forwards   is   an   important   one.   So   am   I   saying   that you   should   wade   in   to   conversations   with   strangers   in the early stages? – scary or what! No,   there   are   many   ways   to   do   it   and   one   of   them   is   to read    a    book.    No,    I'm    not    talking    about    a    250    page detective    novel,    that    would    be    an    excellent    way    of shattering   your   dreams   and   crushing   your   confidence. Books   are   written   for   people   of   all   ages   and   you   would be   reading   them   not   for   the   excitement   of   the   story   but for   the   practice   in   the   level   of   vocabulary   that   you   have learnt.   You   wont   be   familiar   with   all   the   words   you   come across   but   don't   let   that   worry   you,   what   is   important   is to    see    the    words    you    are    familiar    with    in    a    context, seeing   those   words   in   use   and   their   connections   with other     words     in     the     sentence.     What     you     have     to remember    is    that    whatever    stage    you    have    reached, reading   will   enable   your   brain   to   sort   out   the   meanings of   words   you   are   unfamiliar   with.   This   is   what   a   child does     and     does     it     without     constant     reference     to     a dictionary.   It   works,   I   know   it   works   because   that   is   how   I relearned    my    Welsh    after    having    carelessly    lost    it.    My family    moved    from    totally    Welsh    Anglesey    to    totally English south Pembrokeshire when I was 10 years old. I   was   35   and   living   in   Worcestershire,   no   night   school, certainly   no   web-based   classes   so   I   started   reading   books for   teenagers.   Initially   I   had   a   dictionary   by   my   side   and   I was   constantly   flipping   the   pages.   I   quickly   got   fed   up   of that   so   I   just   went   ahead   and   read   on.   And   do   you   know what?   I   was   getting   the   gist.   I   read   another   book   straight after   and   really   felt   that   I   was   making   progress.   Then   I went   back   and   read   the   first   one   again.   Now   this   time   I really   got   into   it.   The   thing   is,   a   book   has   three   stages   – the   introduction   to   the   characters,   the   basis   of   the   plot and   the   conclusion.   By   the   time   I   had   finished   the   book on   the   first   occasion   I   had   a   good   idea   of   who   was   who, the   characters,   and   I   had   a   semi   understanding   of   the plot.   All   this   meant   that   the   brain   had   more   to   work   on, the    more    information    you    have    the    more    precise    the brain   can   work   out   meanings   to   the   words   that   are   new to you. It   is   very   difficult   for   you   to   assess   the   extent   of   your vocabulary   and   the   tendency   is   to   vastly.   underestimate it.   Don't   be   cruel   to   yourself!   Don't   wait   for   someone   to give   you   permission   to   read   a   book   –   you're   free   to   do   it whenever you like So   find   a   good   book   and   don't   feel   belittled   that   you are     reading     books     for     children.     This     will     help     you considerably   with   your   course   and   you   will   be   moving forward    and    as    long    as    you're    moving    forward    you deserve feeling pleased with yourselves. In   a   few   months’   time   I'll   cover   some   other   ways   to build your vocabulary and confidence. Thank   you   very   much   for   your   enthusiasm   and   Pob Lwc!