Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Lifeschooling - Using Books to Learn

Using Books to Learn

1) Read at Bookstores – Tell your family and friends that you are going to the mall or a shopping center to visit friends and then spend the whole day reading books there. There was a bookstore near my college. The shop had a coffee shop attached to the store. So after college everyday, I would order something from the cafĂ© and take a book from the stand and read it late into the evenings. College would get over at 3 pm and on some days I would get back home at around 9 pm in the night, reading for at least three-four hours at bookstores. In Bahrain two of my very close friends worked at the bookstore at the mall. They would allow me to sit at the bookstore and read throughout the day.  I would go to the mall at 12 pm and come back home at around 9 pm in the night. I would also speak to some of the customers at the store in this time and made lots of new friends here. And...

2)  Join  a Library – Find a library near you house and join it. If possible join two to three good libraries. In the city I was brought up in, there was no good library for the general public so I had to go to bookstores, read online and borrow from friends to do my reading. In the US every state takes personal responsibility to create and manage libraries at various districts across the country. More countries should take this approach.

3) Read E-Books – Get as many e-books as you can on your phone and computer. This is not possible for everybody as not everyone will have access to such tools. But you can ask friends who have a good e-book collection to give you some of their books in a storage device (usb, hard disk). Then you can install an e-book reader on your home pc, laptop or any reading device you have and read as much as you can. If you have a smartphone or kindle device with you, carry it with you wherever you go. Then whenever you have to wait in a line somewhere or have some free time, take this device out and start reading books. There are several reading sources available online that allow you to read e-books online like Project Guttenberg.

4) Borrow Books – In Bahrain, I noted down all my friends, family friends, relatives and community members that had a collection of books at home. I then would ask them if we could exchange books with each other. I assured them I would look after the books and made sure I returned it on time as well. In October 2013, I borrowed and read over 40 books from friends and family. I exchanged many of my books with them as well. This way we could benefit from each other’s collection and not have to spend so much as well. Forming a book club in your neighborhood or locality is a great way to get access to more books and to connect with a group of people that love reading as much as you do.


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