Why I read in English 🔠

Tags: Book 📚, Thoughts 💭 - May 3, 2024

I read books in various fields such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, philosophy, and marketing. These books come in different forms, including novels, essays, and autobiographies. Although I enjoy reading, I often struggle with novels as I find it challenging to remember the names and messages behind the stories. I prefer reading material that presents information explicitly rather than implicitly.

When it comes to language, I have a strong preference for reading in English over Korean, despite Korean being my native language. If someone were to ask me why I read books in English (people actually do quite a lot), my answer would revolve around my perception of books and the aspects of them that I value.

Firstly, I view books as media for information that are composed by authors and written in words. There may be more elaborate and fancy definitions, but this is how I fundamentally see books. The way authors compose information and the nuances in their writing are important to me. This is one of the primary reasons I read books in English—I want to appreciate the books as the authors intended.

Secondly, and more importantly, I read books to improve my literacy. Given that books are written in words, improving my literacy is crucial. In today’s world, English is widely regarded as the global language. Most of the information I seek is likely to be written in English. Therefore, it makes sense for me to enhance my English literacy rather than focusing solely on Korean. My Korean literacy naturally improves as I live in Korea and am surrounded by visual information in Korean. I have no issues reading and communicating in Korean, and that is sufficient for my needs.