Benefits of Reading

Reading, a skill that we use everyday. Whether it is reading the news or reading a school assignment, it is something that everybody uses everyday, varying on what lives they live. Some may think that reading is really plain and there isn’t any point other than the content. On the contrary, there are actually many benefits to reading a few minutes or hours each day.

When you read, your brain stores away the information you gain. As you continue reading, your brain continues to learn. A study by Alice Sullivan at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London showed the benefits of reading between the age of 16 to 42. “At age 16, their average vocabulary test score was 55%. By age 42, study members scored an average of 63% on the same test.” (weforum.org, 2014) People were able to improve their average vocabulary test score by 8%, which is definitely an improvement. By improving your vocabulary, you would understand more words which would then help you with anything to do with writing. If you improve your vocabulary, than you can use more words to describe different things in what you write. “Children who read books often at age 10 and more than once a week at age 16 gain higher results in maths, vocabulary and spelling tests at age 16 than those who read less regularly,” (readingagency.org.uk) according to The Reading Agency it is highly recommended for someone to read. And though you may not be a child anymore, you will still be able to improve.

Reading not only brings the benefit of knowledge, but also benefits mental health as well, such as being more at peace. For example, if you were reading something comedic, you would feel happier and laugh (so long as it falls within your range of what you think as funny). A quote: “Literacy has been found to have a relationship with depression: 36% of those with low literacy were found to have depressive symptoms, compared to 20% of those with the highest levels of literacy.”(readingagency. org.uk) This also means that those who read more would feel a lot less depressed in life than those who do not. “People who read books regularly are on average more satisfied with life, happier, and more likely to feel that the things they do in life are worthwhile. 76% of adults say that reading improves their life.” (readingagency.org.uk) People are more at peace when they read something that they like.

If you read more, there will be both academic and emotional benefits. Thus, I suggest reading for just a one hour or so daily, especially if you feel depressed and want to improve your mood or even if you want to improve your English by just a little. You can read absolutely anything you want, because all you have to do is read. So, if you currently have nothing to do like no friends to hang out with, no games you want to play, basically nothing you want to do, (unless that includes reading) you should read.