Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki was written over 25 years ago but it still provides useful advice for those who wish to become more financially educated. If you are learning English and you are looking for an easy, enjoyable and educational read, this book is for you!
The English level of this book is around Intermediate - Upper-Intermediate (B1 - B2) level. This is mainly due to simple grammatical structures and easy-to-understand storytelling techniques. However, there are a number of useful words, phrasal verbs and expressions throughout the book that will provide a bit of a challenge for the Intermediate level student.
So, how can reading this book help improve your English? Well, let’s take a look…
If I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad how will my English improve?
First of all, any kind of reading will help improve your English. But, this book is great if you are looking to boost your vocabulary and refine your grammar knowledge of common grammatical structures.
You will learn vocabulary related to money and finance!!
It should come as no surprise that this book includes a lot of vocabulary related to money - broke, fiscally conservative, cheapskate, affluent to name but a few - And the wonderful thing about Rich Dad, Poor Dad is that the author repeats a number of these terms over and over again (as the subject matter requires) allowing you to see this useful vocabulary in different contexts and in different forms adding to your understanding and retention of new vocabulary.
2. You will improve your knowledge of conditional structures!
Conditionals - sentences such as “If I had more money, I would buy a fast car” - in all their various forms often pose a problem for English learners. However, reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad can help you improve your understanding of this grammar. The author often uses conditional structures in order to talk about hypothetical situations. For example this sentence; “If only I had a promotion, I would finally be able to buy that TV I want” is typical of the author's writing style. Again, repeated grammar structures used in different contexts and forms (just like the vocabulary mentioned earlier) helps you to identify, analyze and understand it.
3. You will improve common English grammar
The author, Robert Kiyosaki, is not Charles Dickens. That is to say, he isn’t going to win any prizes for his writing style. Don’t get me wrong, the book is engaging, entertaining and useful but it is written using very simple grammar and storytelling techniques. Much of the story is told in first person, present or past simple tense; making it easy to understand and follow.
4. You will learn useful adjectives!
The use of adjectives is something which separates English learners and native speakers who often have a broad range of adjectives available in their vocabulary allowing them to subtly describe small details. However, most books that you read, especially fictional stories, contain far too many useless, archaic and unusual adjectives that even native speakers would struggle to use on a daily basis.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad is different in this regard. The author uses just the right amount of adjectives to describe people, professions and activities that leave you with a good understanding and some useful words to write down in your dictionary!
Conclusion
Overall, this book is a great read for anyone with an interest in money and personal finance. While it isn’t going to ‘teach’ you English, it will provide an excellent additional tool for reinforcing your grammar knowledge and helping you to boost your vocabulary by seeing new words and phrases repeatedly used in context.
This is why I include this book in my Book Club English Course for B2 level students. If you would like to improve your English in my weekly Book Club meetings for this book or one of several others, check out my lessons here!
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