Your English Reading History: script
English INigel Robb

Hello, In this video I’m going to talk to you about your English readinghistory.
I’m not talking about reading history books in English. Instead, I mean yourpersonal history.
This is about getting you to think about your past experiences of reading in
English, about things like what you’ve read in English, why you read it, andhow you felt about it.
By taking time to think about these experiences, you will be able to better
understand yourself as a reader.
That means understanding your motivation to read in English, thechallenges you face, your strengths and your weaknesses.
And by understanding these things, you will be able to change them andimprove them, and make yourself a better reader in English.
There are 3 steps involved in thinking about your English reading history,and I’ll explain each one in this video. So let’s get started.
The first step is simple: you just have to do some remembering. Well,
maybe that won’t be so simple for some of you.
You might not be able to recall some of the times you read in English, oryou might not be able to remember all the details of your past readingexperiences.

So, to help you out, I’ve got some questions that you can ask yourself.
These questions are prompts, to help you remember and understand yourpast experiences of reading in English.
So you need to get a pen and some paper, sit down somewhere quiet, andthink about these questions while making some notes.
When answering the questions, try to make detailed notes about eachmemory, including what age you were and how you felt about theexperience.
Question 1 is: what is your earliest memory of reading in English? Can youremember the first time you ever read in English? Maybe not, but what’s
the first time you read in English that you can recall?
The next question is: what is your strongest memory of reading in English?
Your strongest memory is the one you first think of when you think about
reading in English, the one that is easiest to remember. It might be strong
because it was recent, or because it was a particularly good, or bad,experience.
Next, what is your worst memory of reading in English? Can you remembera time when you had an unpleasant experience reading in English? Maybe
you were stressed out, or just didn’t enjoy what you were reading?
Question 4 is about times you enjoyed reading in English. Have you everread something in English and really enjoyed it? Maybe a Harry Potter
novel or an article about one of your hobbies?
Question 5 is about times you did not enjoy reading in English. Have you
ever read something in English and hated it? Maybe something you readfor homework or an exam, perhaps?

The next question is about your most recent experience of reading inEnglish. When was the last time you read in English?
Next, can you remember a time you felt pressure to read something in
English? Have you ever been forced to read something in English that youdidn’t want to read? Again, this might have been for homework or an exam.
Question 8: what is the most difficult thing you can remember reading in
English? What’s the hardest text in English you’ve ever read? It would begood to also think about why it was difficult. Maybe there were longsentences, or lots of words you didn’t understand.
And for question 9, what is the easiest thing you can remember reading in
English? Remember, for all of these memories you should be making notes
about things like your age, what you were reading, why you were reading it,etc.
Okay, question 10: can you remember a time you pretended to understandsomething written in English when you didn’t really understand it?
Sometimes, especially at school, we might pretend to understandsomething even though we don’t really, maybe because we’re embarrassedor shy. Has this ever happened to you with reading in English?
Next, Have you ever read a novel or story in English and felt a strong
connection to one of the characters? Can you remember a time you readsomething and felt that you really understood or really liked the characters?
Maybe you had similar experiences to them in your own life, or perhaps
you really admired their bravery or kindness.
And finally, do you have any other interesting or strong memories ofreading in English? If there’s anything else you can recall about yourEnglish reading history that seems important or relevant, make a note ofthat too.

You might find that some of these questions are more useful than others.
That’s okay. The point is just to help you remember your past important
experiences of reading in English. As long as you can do that, it doesn’t
matter if you can’t think of an answer for some of the questions.
Once you’ve thought about the questions, the next step is to choose atleast 5 interesting memories you have of reading in English. They could beinteresting because they were good experiences or bad experiences, orbecause they were very strong memories.
Now take another sheet of paper, and for each experience, write down
what age you were, what you read, why you read it, how you felt, andanything else that was interesting or memorable about the experience.
These experiences are the most important events in your English readinghistory. You might already be learning something interesting about yourself
as a reader, like why you hate reading in English so much, what kind oftopics you most enjoy reading about, or just how much you have learned
about reading in English so far.
The final step is to create a timeline of your English reading history. You
can do this on paper or use an app on your computer or smartphone.
First, draw a horizontal line across the page. The left side is the past andthe right side is now.
Next, make a mark on the timeline for each of your memorable English
reading experiences, and label the mark with the information you noted
previously.
And that’s it. Congratulations, you’ve finished reflecting on your English
reading history, and created a timeline which shows your reading history ina way that is easy to understand and remember.

Hopefully, you’ve already learned something useful about yourself as areader during the process.
For example, it might have helped you to understand why you find readingin English stressful, or how to better motivate yourself by finding things you
enjoy reading, or even just reminded you of a favorite story that you’d liketo read again.
Sharing and discussing your timeline with your English teacher and otherstudents in your class will help you understand it even more.