Expert: Susan Rand - 10/4/2007

Question
Hi Susan.
I will be very glad if you can help me out.
I have a friend, who is 25 yrs old. He wants to start reading books. We are not native english speakers. Though he knows english, he needs to improve it as well as his reading skills.

Could you please suggest books which are absorbing enough to keep up his interest(keeping in mind he has never read a book till now). I am not being able to suggest anything good because anything like Shakespeare etc will just put him off before starting this endeavour. And I don't know whether Enid Blytons will be to his taste at this age. I wanted to suggest 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' but I think that without first developing an interest in books and becoming fluent with reading but coming across difficult english words, he might not be able to enjoy the book. Could you please give any help on this?
Thanks a lot in advance.

Answer
Hello anu:

I commend you for helping your friend with his reading.

What I would suggest is that you start small. Although To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful book, I agree with you that this may be a bit too advanced at this stage.

A person who is 25 and not reading English as well as he would like to is quite like an elementary school student. That is where you need to start. I can't assess his skills, but if you will come back and tell me the names of some of the books he has recently read successfully (if any) I would have a better idea of how he may advance.

You might also approach the children's librarian at your local library - you didn't say where you live - if you have access to one, and present your problem to them. I believe they will be able to recommend some books to you. You might try some books by R. L. Stine or even the Harry Potter series, The Sorcerer's Stone to begin with.

I hope this has helped. If it has, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high score over 1300+ questions.

And good luck with your mission!