Learning English and the Amazon Kindle – Can They Work Together?

Can the Amazon Kindle help you learn English?

This is a question I have been asking myself ever since I discovered that the Kindle is now available for global, that is, world-wide, use.

But, I hear you asking….

What is the Amazon Kindle?

Ah, the Amazon Kindle is a marvellous tool. It is a wirless reading device.  This means, it allows you to download books from the Amazon Kindle website. The Kindle, says Amazon, has a global wireless connection – depending on your country – and thus, it allows you to download books to the Kindle wireless reading device.

Here are the pros and cons of the Amazon Kindle Global Wireless Reading Device for learning English – as I see it:

THE PLUS SIDE

On the plus side, I see the Amazon Kindle as a very useful resource or tool to help learners of English, or any language for that matter, improve their reading, writing and listening skills. Here are some of my reasons:

+ 1. English books, newspapers, magazines

To help them develop their reading skills, English language learners have lots of access to authentic English language material. At the moment, Amazon has only English books, newspapers and magazines available for purchase. However, Amazon also says that it hopes to make other languages available as well. But this involves copyright arrangements with various countries and publishers so it is taking time.

However, as a website that wants to help you learn English, I have to admit that I think having books only in English is a good thing for you right now.

+ 2. English Dictionary

The Kindle has the Oxford American English language dictionary included in its software. So, if you come across a word that you don’t understand in its context – click on the word and the dictionary definition appears.

+ 3. You Can Load Your Own Documents

So in addition to these first two features: access to English books and an English dictionary, a third very valuable feature that I really like about the Amazon Kindle is the fact that you can also load Word or PDF documents into it.

It seems you email the documents you want to put onto your Kindle, they are converted into the Kindle format, emailed back to you and then you load them onto your Kindle.

Now I see this feature as extremely useful for language learners – of any language – for this means you can install on your Kindle your own or your teacher’s material that you want to review, study or just enjoy!

+ 4. Highlight and Take Notes On What You Read

A fourth feature that I think will be extremely useful to language learners is the feature that allows you to highlight and write notes on what you are reading. This allows interactivity which is so important to language learning.

Moreover, not only does the Kindle save your notes, but,  it seems,  you can download your notes and save them on your computer via the USB connector.

Now imagine writing those notes in English…. This facility can allow opportunities to practice note-taking in English.

+ 5. Text to Speech

The Global Wireless Kindle is equipped with software that allows the Kindle to ” read” the text to you. This is a great feature! It will help language learners with pronunciation and listening comprehension, thus making it a great tool for self-study.

However, Amazon points out that not all books that you purchase from their online bookstore have this capability. It seems that each publisher or author decides whether Amazon can use this feature on their book.

+ 6. Access to Wikipedia

A sixth feature I like is the ability to access Wikipedia through the Amazon Kindle’s free wireless connection.  Now, I don’t know if this means that Wikipedia is only available in English or in other languages…. Amazon is not clear on that.

So, these are six reasons why I feel the Amazon Kindle can be a useful tool for learning English! It can help language learners improve their reading, writing and listening capabilities.

These are the reasons I see on the plus side. But what about the minus side of the Amazon Kindle?

THE MINUS SIDE

- 1. Expensive

Well, first and foremost is its cost!  The Kindle is expensive!

- 2.It Can Only Be Ordered From the USA

Second on the minus side, you can only order it from the USA, which means that people living outside the USA have to pay more postage AND custom duties to get the Kindle.

- 3. Some Countries Only Get an American Power Adapter….

Third, would-be purchasers of the Kindle do not have a power adapter that works with their country’s electrical system.

The Amazon Kindle is sent or ships with a USA power adapter – and not to every country! Some countries only get the USB connector. However, for those countries that do get the USA power adapter, Amazon says that it’s voltage goes from 110 – 220 volts, I believe, so all one would need to do is get an electricity adapter to put on the USA plug so that it would plug into their country’s electrical outlet.

- 4. Battery Life and Replacement?

A fourth negative point for me is the lack of clear information about the Kindle’s battery life and its replacement. In fact, I couldn’t find any information that explains how long the Kindle’s battery is predicted to last. Nor did I find information explaining what we do if the battery on the Kindle wears out…. Do those who live outside the USA have to incur the postage and expensives of shipping it back to the USA for a replacement?

So these are the positive and negative aspects of the Kindle – as I see it – for learning English.

But what do you think?

Given these pros and cons do you think the Amazon Kindle could be a valuable learning tool for learning a language, especially the English language?

Please leave a comment and let me know.