There are several good reasons to use popular fiction to improve your English. Popular fiction is a good source of comprehensible input. When we understand what we read or listen to, we acquire new language. We acquire more language when we enjoy what we’re reading so much that we get “lost” in the story. And we acquire more language when we can read easily, without stopping. Popular fiction gives us so many choices that it’s usually easy to find both: the fun and the ease of reading.
Second, popular fiction teaches about culture. Language is more than vocabulary and grammar. A language is an important part of the culture of the people who use it. Language cannot be separated from culture. It’s what the people in a culture use to understand and share their lives, ideas, and beliefs.
If you want to be able to say that you know a language, you must know something about the people who use the language. You need to know what they talk about and how they talk in different situations.
Reading and listening to popular fiction is one of the best ways to get to know the people who use the language you’re learning. And as you begin to know them, it’s easy to begin to imagine yourself becoming a part of that group.
Finally, I want to repeat something I said in The power of reading and listening. Popular fiction – in printed books, e-books, and audio books – is better than watching television and movies for language development. Why? Popular fiction is full of language. That may seem like an obvious, perhaps even a silly statement. But take a moment to think about it. When we watch a movie or television program, we listen to the dialogue, the conversation between characters. But we see the location and the action. The only language we hear is what the characters say to each other. But when we read a book or story, we read the dialogue and we read the writer’s description of the location and the action. We receive more language, more comprehensible input, than we do when we watch a movie or television program. And we learn how to describe people, actions, objects, and ideas.
Think of it this way. When we watch a movie or a television program, it’s like having a language snack. When we read a book or story, it’s like sitting down to a full language meal, plus dessert!