Reading Matters

 As a young ESL learner, I had hard time whenever I took a reading comprehension test. It was usually the new vocabulary that blocked me. 

As an experienced and advanced ESL learner now, I found it is easier for me to understand English text than in my mother tongue. Because I was trained to read in English and I have built up my reading skills in English.

 I found when I read English text, I am more aware of the sentence structure, main ideas, and I ask myself questions like " What is the purpose of the text? " and "why are we (am I) reading it?" Therefore, when I am reading for answers, it is usually easier for me to find the information I need in the text. 

I think reading in L1 and L2 are the same since we are taught how to read. Moreover, reading is a part of our life. We are reading all the time. For example, we have to read the ingredients and  expiry dates on food labels.