Reading is an important skill to learn if you want to share your ideas with others, write your own books, build your own website and or start your own business. Linux offers several tools that can help you learn to read. We will review some of these tools here. There are also websites that can help you learn to read. One of these is a Canadian website at this link: https://globalaccess.bowvalleycollege.ca/learners/readers.php
Click on Level A to see the five most basic lessons. Click on Lien Buys Food. Then click the screen to hear the words as you read the text. Then click on the Next button. There are 14 screens with both words and sounds. Then close the tab and click on the previous tab at the top of the web browser.
In addition to web based programs, there are free Linux programs that do not require access to the Internet. One of these is called Kanagram. It is available in the Linux Mint Software Manager. Once downloaded, open Kanagram by clicking on the Start button, then Games. Here is the start screen:
Click on the eye button to reveal the word Kangaroo.
Click on the wrench button to open Configurations. Click on the backward and forward arrows to change categories. Click on the right arrow to bring up the next anagram. Thankfully, there is a category called Easy. The aim of the game is to put letters in the correct order to form words. There is no time limit or limit on the number of tries.
Another free program in the Linux Mint Software Center is called Gcompris. It has over 100 learning activities. On the first open, click Yes to download the language files. Then click on the X to go to the main screen.
By default, it is set for Full Screen with very large font sizes. You can change this to a smaller screen and smaller font size by clicking on the Wrench to reach this screen:
You can also change the font family to Arimo. Then go back to the main screen and click on one of the 8 icons or categories at the top of the screen.
#1 Cat with a Keyboard: 13 games including a kids word processor.
#2: Tux Penguin 28 games including a game to help you tell your left hand from your right hand.
#3 Pig with a paint brush. 6 coloring games.
#4 Crocodile with a ball. Four drawing games.
#5 Cow with numbers 48 number games.
#6 Bear with puzzle. 12 puzzle games.
#8 Frog with balls and stars. 12 more games including chess and checkers.
#7 Cow with letters. 15 reading games.
Click on the Horizontal Reading Practice.
A word appears above and asks if you see it in a list on the left side. There are six levels of difficulty. This is a good game to help your brain focus on words. Image to name match is also good.
Conclusion
All of the above programs can help you learn how to read. However, for a variety of reasons, some people have a harder time learning how to read than other people. Therefore, in the next article, How to Set Up Linux to Convert Text to Speech, we will explain how to add free programs to Linux so that your computer can simply read and pronounce words, sentences and paragraphs for you – allowing you to learn whether you know how to read or not.