How reading helped Harsha from Pune improve her conversational skills

In this always-on-your-toes life, sometimes it is better to sit back and relax; grab a cup of hot chocolate and a captivating book.

The whole purpose of reading, according to me, is to move into your own mind palace, find solace in there; not to forget to improve your vocabulary and reading skills. For me, this passion for reading began at a very young age, when I was about 13 years old. When all my friends were busy reading the mysteries of Nancy Drew and short stories of Ashley and Mary Kate, I was introduced to the magical world of Harry Potter.

Harry was 13 years old when Hagrid told him that he was a wizard. So, I’m sure you can imagine how I thought that this was the universe’s cue for me to start reading this book as, curiously enough, I was also (just) 13 at that time. It might sound bizarre to us grown-ups now, but, for a 13-year-old, it served as a conduit that transported her to that enigmatic imaginary world. I was intrigued to learn more about Hogwarts and its magical life, so much so that I thought that I was the one playing quidditch and fighting the Dementors, the Death Eaters and Voldemort each time.

Addiction has negative connotations, but that’s what best describes my obsession with reading. There were times when I was stuck with words that puzzled me, and that’s when I started checking them up in the dictionary. To my surprise, I found myself curious to learn quite a few new words everyday. School helped me as well by introducing Wren & Martin, which helped me build and improve my grammatical skills. I would keep reading, without any sense or regard of time.

After JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien and Dan Brown were the subjects of my interest. Then came the Twilight Saga. However, there was nothing, absolutely nothing that could beat the fiction of George RR Martin. I also found myself deeply engrossed in Mein Kamph. Steve Jobs and, strangely enough, Linda Goodman too appealed to my insatiable appetite for reading.

I strongly feel that reading does have an impact on our speaking skills. Once you acquire a certain level of control on the language, you become confident enough to take on and face the challenges in life. Your conversational skills definitely stand to gain from your predilection for books, be it something as formal as a job interview or something as basic and informal as a telephone call.

I can’t keep a track of how many books I’ve read so far, though I know for sure that there are many more that I am yet to read.

If you found Harsha’s story interesting, get in touch with her over her LinkedIn or Instagram profile. If her story inspired you to share yours, we’re all ears.