ReadOasis Step 2 Learning new words is a big part of learning any language. In English, well-educated native speakers know around 20,000 word families. That’s a lot! To read well in English without dictionary support, you need to know about 8,000 to 9,000 word families. That’s a lot, too.... Read more
Is Extensive Reading Good for You?
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Here is a short interview with Dr. Richard Day. Dr. Day is a Professor at the University of Hawaii in the Department of Second Language Studies. He is a well-known and highly regarded linguist. In this interview on ReadOasis TV, Professor Day answers this question. Is extensive reading good... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 Imagine that you know a secret. Your secret is a powerful idea for change. It can change communities, cities, and countries. It can powerfully affect the future. It can change you. What is this secret, and what does it do? It is the power of reading.... Read more
Simple Steps for Learning English
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By Ashley J. Hastings, PhD President, Global Language Education Service, Inc. Many people around the world are studying English. They need English to succeed in work, school, or relationships. Common sense tells us that we can learn to read a language more quickly if we can already understand it well.... Read more
Extensive Reading, Because it Works!
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This is Professor Thomas Robb from Kyoto Sangyo University, and he is one of the world’s renowned experts on extensive graded reading. Q: Tell us. Why should students do extensive reading? Dr. Robb: Why? Because it works. I’ve done it for Japanese as well. Really? Yeah. So I chose a mystery novel... Read more
ReadOasis Step 1 How do you do big, easy reading? Well first, what is “easy”? Here’s where people make a big mistake. They think knowing 70% or 80% of the words in a story is easy. But in just 4 pages, 80% = 200 unknown words! That’s way too... Read more
How to Acquire Language (Step 2)
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ReadOasis Step 2 How do humans acquire languages? The answer is surprisingly simple. All people everywhere acquire languages in the same way. “We acquire languages by understanding messages.” This is called the “comprehension hypothesis,” and it was made by the linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen. I give this idea an... Read more
ReadOasis Step 1 To inspire us read more, it always helps to have a good role model. When I was a boy, my father read to me before I went to bed. I can still remember the books he read to me! In this way, my father showed me... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 There are many ways to learn English. But language study is often hard, and most people don’t enjoy it. After all, grammar books and language drills are not meant to be fun. Is there a fun way to learn English? The answer is a big “YES!”... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 To inspire us read more, it always helps to have a good role model. When I was a boy, my father read to me before I went to bed. I can still remember the books he read to me! In this way, my father showed me... Read more
Word Power is Life
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ReadOasis Step 2 We all have something to say. A boy likes a girl, and so he says, “I like you!” A traveller gets lost, so he asks a stranger, “Can you show me the way?” A woman sees a man walk in front of a bus, and she... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) A library is a building full of treasures. We keep these treasures in books. Books give us knowledge, entertainment, laughter, pleasure, new information, and power to change our lives. If reading is so important, how can we help people read more? Libraries and schools... Read more
Dear Skeptical Reader!
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ReadOasis: So this is our our second question with Dr. Richard Day. And this is from a student, and basically it’s this: What would you say to a student who doesn’t want to do ER because, let’s say, he or she wants to spend more time improving their listening... Read more
Reading Should Be Fun!
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Interview with Dr. Charles Browne, Professor, Meiji Gakuin University. This is “Charles the Great,” from Meiji Gakuin University, and of course, English Central and many other places. And affectionately known as “Charlie.” We are going to ask him a couple of questions about extensive reading. first... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 English is currently the world’s common language. It’s the international language of business, politics, and the Internet. About 400 million people speak English as a first language. And about a billion people are learning it today. To learn any foreign language, we need motivation. Motivation is... Read more
Reading Makes Words Stick in Your Brain
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ReadOasis: So here we are with Dr. Paul Nation, Professor Emeritus at the University of Wellington, Victoria (New Zealand). And of course one of the most well-known linguists in the world. It’s an honor to have him. Just one quick question for our learners: How can extensive graded reading help... Read more
A Simple Recipe for Learning English
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ReadOasis Step 1 To learn English, we need words. Most English native speakers know between 12,000 and 20,000 words. Shakespeare used 31,534 words. And he probably knew more. How many words do you know? Naomi knows 95% of the words in Alice in Wonderland. She understands it without a... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 English is a global language. It is the main language in science, business, entertainment, and foreign affairs. There are about 400 million native speakers of English. And maybe one billion people speak it as a second language. English became international mainly through the economic and cultural... Read more
Anyone can extol the benefits of reading, and many of us can do this with a sense of remorse because we feel that we do not read as much as we should. However, most people, including language teachers, do not fully realize the following fact. Second language learners who... Read more
By Joseph Poulshock, PhD While completing an MA in TESOL, I learned many helpful insights from my textbooks and teachers about teaching reading to English learners. Sadly, however, I was not fully ready for that first day of class with my reading students. I remember it clearly. With a... Read more
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