Learning to read again: thoughts on reading part two

When  I moved to America I had six years of useless English education.  I knew my alphabet and a few phrases like, "How are you?" and "I am fine, Thank you."  We spent a lot of time learning grammar and spelling.  I could read a little bit, but I didn't know what I was reading. Speaking was even worse.

I remember the first time I went to the public library with my husband.  Looking at the shelves full of books, I painfully realized that I couldn't read any of them.  As long as I remember I was always able to read whatever books I chose.  But there I was in the library with endless possibilities of stories, adventures, and knowledge that wasn't for me to take.  I am not sure what I felt at that moment: frustration, hopelessness, maybe anger about my limitation. 

I spent time studying English at home and I even took a class to help  with learning the language.  I checked out some children's books from the library to read.  I loved Aesop's fables when I was kid.  I mean, how hard can that be; I already knew the stories. But whenever I picked up a book to read I had to keep looking for words that I didn't know in the dictionary.  It wasn't fun to read anymore.  It was like doing homework and it seemed like I wasn't going anywhere learning the new language.  I was very unhappy with my progress.

After about a year of struggle I decided to try a new method.  Instead of looking for the meaning of every word I didn't know I decided to focus on the overall story of the book. This way I knew what the story was about and I learned to enjoy the book again.  I still had to look up some key words in the dictionary, but I was no longer worrying about knowing every word in the book.  As time went by I could figure out the meaning of the words by context.

My very first book I read in English was Winnie the Pooh.  I know it is a children's book, but it gave me a great feeling of accomplishment.  I was so happy because I knew that the door was finally open for me to join the world of reading. I have come a long way since that first book.  Now I read an average of 50 books a year.  Happy reading to you all.