“When I am reading, I move from one world to another.” Ni Nyampinga met with Martine who told us reading books changed her life. She wishes everyone would love reading as much, because there is so much you can learn from books. Here’s 4 things Martine gained from reading:

1. Learning a new language

Martine told us that reading books in English helped her to improve her English skills. She believes that even if a book is not in your first language, you can always learn something from it. “When you read a sentence you don’t understand you can look up the vocabulary in the dictionary to help you understand it better. ” Martine tell us.

2. Getting fresh new ideas

Some say that reading a book is like having a conversation with a wise person. Martine agrees: “reading helps us think of new ideas. We can then start building on those ideas to create something amazing.”

3. Become more confident at speaking

Today, Martine has read more than 200 books. She told Ni Nyampinga that before she started reading she had a fear of speaking in front of people. “In the past I couldn’t even share my ideas in front of a small crowd of 5 people but now this has changed” she said. Through reading she would connect with fellow bookworms to discuss the different books they had read. This gave her more confidence to speak up and share her ideas.

4. Learning important life lessons

One of Martine’s favourite books is about the complex life of a man with no legs. She said: “From this book, I learnt to be confident, and that when life gets challenging I should try not to give up”. Martine believes we should believe in our strength, stay confident and try to focus on the positive things that make us happy.