Reading out loud.

I remember when I was younger my teachers would constantly tell us to read lots of books.  Back then I didn't understand why but I found them to be enjoyable and read all the time anyway.  Now that I'm older I understand the significance of it.  When you are constantly reading books you are introducing yourself to new vocabulary and strengthening other reading skills (grammer, sentence structure, etc.)

Now let's take what those teachers said and apply it 10 years later with a foreign language.

That being said, today I went to the local bookstore and bought a children's book.  It's called　にんぎょひめ (Ningyo Hime) or loosely translated as mermaid princess.  There are 44 pages in all but every other page has an illustration on it.

Reading this story out loud was frustrating because I would read in a slow and hesitant manner and I'm not used to that.  But I guess you have to start somewhere.

While reading the story I was learning new vocabulary, kanji, practicing my pronunciation, and learning a certain tempo that comes from speaking/reading a foreign language.

So is reading a children's book worth the effort when learning a new language? I think so.