Reading and Speaking

new_boy   Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:21 am GMT
I am looking for an article about how reading a lot can help improving English speaking skill. I think the owner of this website has written something about reading a lot, but I cannot find the article. Could anyone here show me a hyperlink of the article?

Thank you.
Call me CX   Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:30 pm GMT
I wouldn't know how to help you, because that's too vague a description. You'll find a wealth of websites on Google that cover these two skills of English, so why don't you do a search and try to find something that's even better?

To be honest, I really don't think reading bears any influence on speaking, unless you're talking about reading aloud. Speaking is a completely different skill of English, and for that very reason, it will always have its own, separate chapter in any book about the English language.

It involves aspects such as intonation, stress and rhythm, that can't normally be depicted in text, unless it deLIberately atTEMpts TODO (sic) so.

Furthermore, unscripted, largely uncontrolled speaking such as a conversation involves added features such as rapid thinking.

However, I DO agree that reading aloud is excellent for improving your speech in a general manner. If silent reading does little to help your intonation, stress and rhythm, reading aloud undoubtedly provides a great deal of help, because then you become aware of how you speak, and that allows you to find flaws in your speech and accordingly address them.
new_boy   Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:28 am GMT
The problem is that I have to translate in my heart, when speaking in English. Unless for easy things, like "don't worry", "I'll drive you home", etc.

By reading aloud, means that I can hear my voice while I am reading?
Johnny   Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:13 am GMT
I'm afraid reading won't help you much. Unless you read out loud, but to do so you should have very good pronunciation and be sure of your intonation... otherwise you'll be heavily influenced by your own speech, which might be non-natural.
Reading helps with vocabulary, structures, and spelling, and is more likely to help you with writing.
I think what you need is listening, if you want to get a lot of "input" to get as fluent as possible when speaking.