“Read. Everything you can get your hands on. Read until words become your friends. Then when you need to find one, they will jump into your mind, waving their hands for you to pick them. And you can select whichever you like, just like a captain choosing a stickball team.”
– Karen Witemeyer
Every week on Thursdays at 10am BST, Kate R runs a Reading Club available for everyone no matter their level in order to empower everyone in English.
It is part of Intrepid English’s mission for equality in education, which is one of our core values.
It is an opportunity to not only practice your reading skills but also your pronunciation and public speaking skills. You will also learn lots of new and interesting vocabulary that you can then use in your everyday English.
I love our Reading Club because I love sharing thoughts with people around the world and having interesting discussions.
– Kaoru, Intrepid English Student
Why is reading such an important skill in English?
There are 4 skills in English : speaking, listening, reading and writing. Most students concentrate on their speaking skills, but reading is also incredibly important and not to be ignored.
Reading develops the useful skill of guessing the meaning of words you have never seen before. We can guess the meaning often from the context. When we are absorbed in what we’re reading, we are less likely to rely on a dictionary to understand unfamiliar vocabulary. We use what we already know about language to deduce meaning. This can, in turn, hone our word-building skills.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
– Richard Steele
What do we do in the Reading Club?
The first week of every month we look at an article in English and then discuss it together after looking at the vocabulary. The other three weeks we take a short story or a chapter from a book and read it together looking at the vocabulary as well.
How can I join?
It’s available for everybody, not just Intrepid English Members. However, for non-members the first month is free and then future sessions are £5 per Reading Club hour. We have started doing this as people said they would come and then they didn’t attend.
Reading Club is included in all of our Intrepid English membership options. For our Intrepid English Members, we do offer additional activities in the Intrepid English Community to practice. This really empowers our English learners to use the language learnt in the Reading Club, boosting their confidence and vocabulary even more.
If you would like to join to improve your vocabulary, reading and speaking skills in English, then please click on the link.
I hope to see you in my next Reading Club next Thursday!