Do a lot of general reading
Every week, you should read at least one English novel (or play). Read a light one — one that’s enjoyable, entertaining and easily understood, rather than a serious one. This is because light novels and plays are normally written in everyday English. And that’s the kind of English that brings you fluency. Of course, books dealing with serious subjects would also help you — if they are in everyday English. My aim is just this: I want to get you exposed to a large amount of a particular type of English — the type of English that native speakers of English actually use in speech in today’s world. Ordinary novels & plays suit fluency-building best Understand this: In general, classics of English literature won’t suit our purpose. No, they won’t. In general, they won’t help you supplement your fluency efforts. No.
Of course, classics of English literature are splendid when your aim is appreciation of literature. But not when your aim is to get help with your fluency efforts. The reason is this: Classics of English literature are generally written in a literary style, and not in an easy, conversational, everyday style. And they’re often full of literary words and expressions. Most of them even contain structures, words and expressions that are rare in speech or that are no longer used even in writing. And they may mislead you into thinking that the style of writing and vocabulary items used in them are appropriate for use in speech. And you may even unconsciously start copying them. That would be a disaster. An utter disaster.
On the other hand, light novels and plays are normally written in an ordinary, everyday style, and not in a literary style. And they’re full of structures, words and expressions that are used every day in real-life speech. These structures, words and expressions are the power-house of the English that’s actually in use — of the living English. And these are the structures, words and expressions you need to have a mastery of. Light novels and light plays get you to come across these structures, words and expressions again and again in a variety of everyday contexts. This develops your familiarity with them remarkably well, and these structures, words and expressions begin to occur to you readily whenever you think of putting facts and thoughts into words.
Ordinary crime stories, romances, humorous novels and plays may not be books of high literary merit. But they’ll give you a lot of exposure to these living structures, words and expressions. For a start, it’s better to confine yourself to one author. You’ll then be exposed repeatedly to the same language, style, expressions, etc. in a large number of situations. After you’ve read five or six books by the same author, turn to another author. Then you’ll come across a sizable amount of the same language, style, expressions,
etc. in a variety of situations created by this other author. The cumulative effect of all this reading experience would be this: A bank of ready-to-use English phrases and expressions gets set up in your brain. And through association of ideas, this bank starts supplying you with ready-to-use phrases and expressions when you think of expressing your ideas.
Recommended reading
Books by Erle Stanley Gardner, James Hadley Chase and John Grisham are ideal from this point of view. These authors would keep you soaked in the living part of modern-day English. This is the kind of English that you’ll find to be of the most general use.
Of course, books even by these authors contain here and there vocabulary items and usages that are dated. Any book by any author is almost certain to contain a certain percentage of dated elements. But what these authors repeatedly expose you to is that part of the English language that has achieved some sort of permanence over the last 100 years or so, and not those parts that only had a short life or will only have a short life. These authors would get you immersed in English that is neither too old nor too modern.
做大量的一般阅读
每周，你至少应该读一本英文小说（或戏剧）。读一本轻松的小说——一本有趣、有趣且易于理解的小说，而不是一本严肃的小说。这是因为轻松的小说和戏剧通常用日常英语写成。而这种英语能让你流利。当然，处理严肃主题的书也会帮助你——如果它们是用日常英语写的。我的目的就是这样：我想让你接触大量的特定类型的英语——今天世界上英语母语者在讲话时实际使用的英语类型。普通小说和戏剧最适合提高流利度理解这一点：一般来说，英语文学经典不适合我们的目的。不，它们不会。一般来说，它们不会帮助你补充你的流利努力。
不。
当然，当你的目的是欣赏文学时，英语文学经典是精彩的。但当你的目的是获得流利努力的帮助时，就不是这样了。原因是：英语文学经典通常用文学风格写成，而不是用一种简单、口语化的日常风格写成。而且它们通常充满了文学词汇和表达方式。其中大多数甚至包含在讲话中很少见或甚至在书面中不再使用的结构、词语和表达方式。它们可能会误导你认为它们使用的写作风格和词汇项目适合用于讲话。你甚至可能无意识地开始模仿它们。那将是一场灾难。一场彻头彻尾的灾难。
另一方面，轻松的小说和戏剧通常用普通的日常风格写成，而不是用文学风格写成。而且它们充满了在现实生活中每天使用的结构、词语和表达方式。这些结构、词语和表达方式是实际使用的英语——活生生的英语的动力。而这些结构、词语和表达方式是你需要掌握的。轻松的小说和轻松的戏剧让你在各种日常背景下一次又一次地遇到这些结构、词语和表达方式。这很好地发展了你对它们的熟悉程度，并且这些结构、词语和表达方式开始在你想到将事实和思想转化为文字时很容易出现在你脑海中。
普通的犯罪故事、浪漫故事、幽默小说和戏剧可能不是文学价值很高的书。但它们会让你接触到大量的活生生的结构、词语和表达方式。开始时，最好限制自己阅读一位作者的作品。你将在大量情况下反复接触到相同的语言、风格、表达方式等。在读了同一作者的五六本书后，转向另一位作者。然后你会在另一位作者创造的各种情况下遇到大量相同的语言、风格、表达方式等。所有这些阅读经验的累积效果是：你的大脑中会建立一个现成的英语短语和表达方式库。通过联想，这个库开始在你想到表达自己的想法时为你提供现成的短语和表达方式。
推荐阅读
从这个角度来看，埃尔·斯坦利·加德纳、詹姆斯·海德利·蔡斯和约翰·格里沙姆的书是理想的。这些作者会让你沉浸在现代英语的活生生部分。这是你会发现最普遍使用的英语类型。
当然，即使是这些作者的书也包含了一些过时的词汇和用法。任何作者的任何书都几乎肯定会包含一定比例的过时元素。但这些作者反复让你接触到的部分是英语语言在过去 100 年左右取得了某种持久性的部分，而不是那些只有短暂生命或将只有短暂生命的部分。这些作者会让你沉浸在既不太老也不太现代的英语中。