Does “Reading” Mean You Have to Say the Words Out Loud?

Several people have emailed me recently to ask about the advice I give in my special report on how to improve your English.

In the report, I recommend that you read as much English as possible.

But what do I mean by “read”?

By “read,” I mean to look at something that’s written and to understand it—silently, to yourself.

I do not mean to “read aloud,” which is speaking the words from a text.

It’s true that in English people sometimes use “read” to mean “read aloud.” For example, if you’re with a group of people and you laugh out loud while reading a funny email, your friends might say, “read it” when they really mean “read it aloud” or “read it to us.”

But you do not need to read aloud to improve your English!

Does reading aloud help? No, it doesn’t. There is no evidence that shows reading aloud is better than reading silently.

In fact, reading aloud is worse than silent reading. The reason is because you can usually read silently faster than you can read aloud. It’s more efficient (better use of time) to read silently.