Want to Improve Your Reading? (Guest Post by Stephanie Furness-Barr)

This post is from a good friend and colleague of mine, Steph.  Steph is a fantastic teacher who works with me in Portsmouth, England (follow the link to see our school).  She is interested in getting her students to read as much as possible in English so here are a few pieces of advice and links from her.

One idea for improving your English (and your reading confidence) is to read English language newspapers / news websites for your country.

1. Choose an article you’re interested in. Read it a few times without a dictionary. Note words that help you understand the text better (not ALL words). Notice any grammar that is new or interesting to you.
2. Look up the same news item in your first language to check your understanding of the main points of the article. 

** Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything. Start with the question “What can I understand?” This positive thinking makes reading more rewarding. **

Here are some examples of English Language newspapers in different regions. (These links are for the nationalities we have at our school at the moment - this is not a complete list of all English language newspapers or websites)

Africa

All Africa, Reuters Africa

 Mali - Reuters Mali

Somalia - Somaliland Sun

Asia

China - China Daily, Xinhua (English)

Japan - The Japan Times

Kazakhstan - Tengri News

Korea - The Korea Herald, The Korea Times, The Chosun Ilbo

Taiwan - Taipei Times

Thailand - Thailand Times, Bangkok Post

Vietnam - Vietnam News, Thanh Nien News

Europe

Euronews

 The Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) - The Baltic Times

Czech Republic - The Prague Post

France - The Connexion

Germany - The Local, Spiegel

Hungary - The Budapest Times

Italy - The Florentine, The American

Poland - The News

Russia - The Moscow Times

Spain - Costa News

Switzerland - The Local

Turkey - Hurriyet Daily News

Ukraine - The Ukraine Journal

The Middle East

Al Jazeera

Iraq -  Iraqi News

Jordan - The Jordan Times

Kurdistan -  Kurdistan World

Kuwait - Kuwait Times, Arab Times

Lebanon - The Daily Star

 Oman - Oman Observer

Qatar - Gulf Times 

Saudi Arabia - Saudi Gazette 

United Arab Emirates - Khaleej Times, Al Arabiya News

Yemen - Yemen Times

South America

Brazil - The Rio Times, Brazil Dispatch 

Chile - The Santiago Times

Colombia -  Colombia Reports

Venezuela - El Universal