3. Reading develops your ability to infer meaning from text you don’t fully understand.
Do you believe you should master the English language first and only then start reading fiction? Well, my friend, if that’s the case, then you’re on a mission impossible!
You can spend the next 10 years immersed in English studies and emerge as a really advanced foreign English speaker, yet I bet you won’t know every single English word. Even native English speakers have limited vocabularies so it’s no surprise all foreign English speakers will encounter situations when they become aware of their vocabulary limitations and they have to guess the meaning of what’s being said from the 80% of what they fully understand.
It’s amazing how well you can train yourself to understand English texts with plenty of unknown words in them, and it’s even more amazing how well your brain picks up their meaning based on context. Having read your first couple of English fiction books you’ll have developed English reading skills and your passive vocabulary will grow over time to an extent where you’re able to read quite sophisticated English literature.