Don't Ignore the Library
In light of National Library week this week (the 13th to the 19th of April), I thought I’d remind everyone what a valuable tool the library is for language learners.
One of the most basic tools for learning a language is the library. Perhaps it’s so obvious that a lot of people ignore it–or some people like to own books and look down on borrowing. Let’s face it, libraries aren’t exactly cool places to hang out. But public libraries are a free source of reading material in English.
And in America, libraries are free (or have a very low fee to join) and they are also free in that you can walk in, look around, pick up books without anyone following you. I mention this because here in Kazakhstan (and perhaps in other countries) when you enter a library, the stacks are usually off limits to normal people. You have to request a specific book after looking it up in the catalog and then the librarian gets it for you. Once I walked into the local library and asked for magazines in English. The librarian asked me which ones I wanted. I said I had no idea which ones they had–magazines were not in the catalog. So she listed the titles. Then I had to specify the exact volume number. In the US, except for huge city libraries, you don’t have to go through this rigamarole.
You can browse and pick any book you like from fiction to non-fiction. Another difference between US libraries and some foreign libraries I’ve noted is that US libraries carry best-sellers and even trashy romance novels. There’s a bunch of interesting stuff in there. In some other countries, libraries see themselves as defenders of culture and wouldn’t carry a contemporary author, let alone a genre piece like a mystery or a science fiction novel.
So the library is a free place to get any kind of reading material you are interested in. And reading is probably the single best thing you can do to improve your language skills. While you read, you pick up new words. You also pick up spelling and punctuation rules–often without even realizing it. You’re also being exposed to style, to how sentences can be put together. You’re hearing alternative voices. ESL learners who read learn the language quicker than ESL learners who don’t read and score better on tests of grammar, listening, speaking and, of course, reading.
So the library is an awesome resource for English learners. For a slightly different point of view, check out a post on why libraries should not be run at taxpayer expense.
