Reading and Tails

With a bad mood, I write the following passages.

I went to the book fair yesterday. That was at least the 5 consecutive years I went to the book fair.

I almost forgot when was the first time I went to book fair. Well, as far as I can remember, that was in 2003 or 2004. I was studying in my second secondary school.

Book fair at the moment was a cultural activity and always gave me a feeling of cultural festival. Yet, I was not a good reader and I read less. I was always influenced by the "festive" atmosphere that calling me to buy some books. Did I really buy some books ? I cannot recall it. But, the effect was that, since then, I started reading more and I cared my language ability more as well.

I was told to read more news for improving language ability. Yet, I didn't feel this was effective on me. I was more interested in reading novels. Somehow, I selected one of the authors that would make me interested in among the sea of novels. That was a series of scientific fiction by a famous local author. If I told you the name, I am sure you know who he is.

It's probably because I was a student of science. The theme of scientific fiction really made me indulged in it. Therefore, the readings of scientific fiction did not only open up my reading journey, it also opened up the interest of supernatural world. Here, let me leave a tail about my story with supernatural world that I may talk about more on this in other passages.

Other than reading scientific fictions, I also started writing some stories. Some of them were short and  posted on my blog at that time. After so many years, I am still keeping some of my ideas about story writing in my mind. Hopefully, I could resume the writing journey one day.

For foreign languages, especially English, I was trying so hard to complete one English novel at that time. That was nearly 600 pages long. Somehow, I think I should not start from such long story. So, if you are starting your reading habit, I highly recommend you start from something just higher than you can afford. Anyway, I finished the long story. After that, I took a shorter one, and that was how I started my English reading journey.

Well, could reading novels help me improve language abilities ? I would say it should have but the improvement was not coming that obviously and rapidly. The most important thing that helped me from reading was I am not afraid of a bunch of words, and I developed a sense about words even I encountered some of the words I did not know. I would not hesitate to look up dictionaries but I did not bother to remember the words once I looked them up since I found that to know a new word is the same as to know a new friend. That made me accepted that it is normally that the first encounter does not make me recognise the friend very well, and I opened myself with the "new friend" for the next gathering. After few times, I will develop the relationship with the "new friend".

My reading and writing habits further developed in my university life in contrast with my engineering study. The first remarkable thing I did in university was to take an Italian course. That was the third language I learnt. Overall, I had just studied Italian for one year. Surely, I did not learn it very well, but the experience opened me up to another dimension. First, English is actually the most easiest language in the world; second, the world is big to be explored, I should not stay in my comfort zone. Here is another tail I should leave for other passages. Anyway, that was how I started my subsequent journeys in the UK, China, Singapore and so many other places.

Well, Singapore was the place I learnt most. I developed a habit to visit book stores in Singapore. With a good salary in Singapore, I bought books always. It also made me difficult when I moved back to Hong Kong. Furthermore, I learnt Spanish in Singapore and that was how I got the mind to study in Spain. Well, Singapore was probably the place where I opened up the sense of justice as well, and that causes the third tail I should leave for other passages.

And then ? and then I got changes. I worked in two book stores. I seldom buy books now. Those books I wish to read are hard to find in commercial book stores. I find them in libraries. Oh, so many tails to leave here.

Yesterday, I went to book fair again. After all these years, I could somehow find the connections with different booths selling different levels and categories of books. I would still believe reading is the first useful thing in a life but the outcome is not that obvious and not rapid, just ... just it is effective on somehow, somewhere and somedays.