OkaDai English Lab: Reading

Extensive Reading (多読)		Intensive Reading (精読)
Reading speed (fluency), confidence, etc.	BENEFIT	Skills & strategies, etc.
Longer A little easy texts (you should know about 98% of the words) (e.g., graded readers)	MATERIAL	Shorter A little difficult (e.g., web articles)
Read quickly, & have fun! Read a lot, without stopping.	STYLE	Strategic (e.g., find key points) Read difficult, yet important parts repeatedly. Check the dictionary, if needed.

Extensive Reading - 多読

Guide in Japanese: 英書を読もう

If you read a lot of English texts that are not too difficult, you can naturally learn:

* vocabulary * grammar * language use * culture

You can also deepen your knowledge of words and structures you already know. For example, you can see how words are used, and then you will be able to use them more easily and naturally.

Finally, your reading speed and motivation may improve.

1. Check these links to find "a little bit easy" but fun books (called "graded readers"):

英書を読もう / How to Read E-Book s

All extensive reading 多読シリーズ（英語)

The Most Read Books on ProQuest

ELI Young Adult Readers (40+ titles - Maruzen guide)
Macmillan Readers (100+ titles - Maruzen guide)
Oxford bookworms library (150+ titles - LibrariE guide)
Pearson English Readers (80+ titles - ProQuest guide)
Page Turners (50+ titles - Maruzen guide)
Read Smart Readers (10+ titles - Maruzen guide)

A12 Book List (there are also readers in the library & L-cafe)

Check your level? The Extensive Reading Foundation created a reading test so you can find books at the your level. The result is a number on the ERF 16-point scale. To find out if the book is interesting and a good level, check the back of the book. (In A12, you can use the chart & sticker color to find the level.) More information on finding books at your level is here (by Meiki-sensei).

2. Start a book and enjoy! If the story is not interesting or if there are many difficult words on one page, stop reading it and find a new book.

3. Record what you read. Your teacher may ask you to confirm you read the book by writing a summary and reaction or by using M-reader.

News for extensive reading:

Breaking News English (all levels; speed reading, quizzes & other activities)
VOA (easy English)

Intensive Reading - 精読

Reading authentic English articles (e.g., on the web) helps you build your reading skills & strategies. These skills are very important in the information age; English-reading ability means you have access to more knowledge so you can study, work, and play better!

* There are 10 times more pages on the internet in English than Japanese!
* There are over 5 times more pages on English Wikipedia (5.7 million) than Japanese Wikipedia.

To improve your reading skills, try the following steps:

1. Find an interesting article (* see below).

2. Preview the title, organization, & images. Think about the topic before reading.

3. Read, trying your best to understand the main points.

When you can’t understand a word or sentence, use the best reading strategy for the situation.

1st: Try to guess the meaning.
> 2nd: If you can’t guess the meaning, skip it if you think it is not important.
>3rd: If you can’t guess AND the understanding the word seems important, use a dictionary.

ALC Dictionary
(hint: it is faster to open in a separate window on the side of the page you read)

ReadLang

- Install, and you can translate words while reading by clicking a word.

- These words are then saved to your list, where you can study them later with flashcards.

Recommended Sites

Search Google in ENGLISH for a topic you like / need.

News:

- Japan Japan Times Mainichi (English) Asahi Shimbun (English)