What are the best apps for immersive reading? Besides Microsoft Immersive Reader, are there other platforms you can use?

What are the best apps for immersion reading?

Immersion reading is one of the most effective ways to improve your language skills and learn more about various subjects. It allows you to connect with your content on a deeper level, but only if you choose the right platform.

This article will help by recommending the best app for immersion reading.

What is immersion reading?

You might not be able to focus on your reading for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Listening to an Amazon audiobook on the Audible app can enhance your concentration, but you still might not be as productive as necessary.

This may have to do with limited comprehension skills or reading disabilities. They may prevent you from keeping up with the reading speed of the narrator and hearing different parts of speech clearly in real-time.

Immersive reading can be an effective solution. It’s a reading experience that fully involves you in the activity to help sharpen your focus. Used correctly, it can boost your reading comprehension by completely absorbing you in the content. 

In this respect, immersion reading is similar to watching 3D movies and playing virtual reality video games. You not only read the content, but you also make out the meaning of the text at your own pace.

Furthermore, most immersive readers on the App Store or Google Play let you choose your speed, size, and font style. They also enable you to listen to the content, translate it into various languages, visualize syllables and different word meanings, and change background colors.

The features of these learning tools may sound familiar. In fact, you might have already tested them in a number of programs, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Teams, Chrome and Edge browsers, PDFs, Google Forms, and Wikipedia.

All of which come with Microsoft Immersive Reader.

This free platform offers a full-screen reading experience to increase text readability in Microsoft apps using assistive technology. As part of OneNote Learning Tools, it enables you to understand any content in this suite of tools.

The solution is designed for students with dysgraphia and dyslexia. However, it can help anyone read more easily on Apple iPhones, iPads, computers, and Android smartphones.

Benefits of immersive reading

If you’re having limited reading progress, you can turn to immersive readers. Here’s how they can benefit you, especially if you’re an English language learner.

No guesswork associated with learning words

When reading text and coming across new words, you often struggle with pronunciation. Immersive reading can help you solve this problem.

When reading and listening to a playback simultaneously, you can match words to corresponding sounds. This way, you’ll know how to pronounce unfamiliar words correctly from the get-go.

Getting your pronunciation right the first time around is essential for several reasons. Primarily, it prevents poor speech habits and eliminates the need to rectify them through intensive learning.  

You get to learn entire sentences

There’s little to no point in learning new words if you can’t use them in sentences. Plus, using new words in sentences is hard if you’ve only seen the word in isolation.

Immersive readers help you avoid this.

When learning English through immersive reading, you don’t just listen to words in isolation. Instead, the narrator speaks the words and phrases that collocate with them. You get to learn the sentence structures and patterns formed by the new word.

In addition, immersive reading is a great way to understand that words don’t have the same meaning when used in isolation and in sentences. In that case, narration during your session familiarizes you with the contractions, stresses, and other elements that convey those differences.

You’re more likely to learn with immersive reading

Your college or university course may require you to do a lot of listening and reading. In many cases, you get to see unfamiliar words or phrases only once during short lectures. This isn’t enough to understand your content.

Some classes are also too long. The more they last, the more likely you are to lose interest in the subject matter.

You won’t have this issue with immersive readers. You can listen to and read your content whenever you want. Plus, you choose your own titles, allowing you to select interesting content and avoid bland books. Remembering words is easier if they’re part of an enjoyable story.

Another great thing about this form of learning is that you can revisit the content as many times as you want. If you didn’t understand a sentence or two right away, you can rewind the tricky section whenever necessary.

It’s also fine if you understand most of the content. It doesn’t mean what you’re listening to and what you’re reading is easy. You’re still exposed to valuable content, such as correct sentences, word patterns, and collocations. The more you repeat them, the more naturally they’ll come to you.

Speechify can boost your immersive reading skills

Microsoft Immersive Reader, Whispersync for Voice, and other platforms offer some useful functionality. However, you can take your sessions to the next level with a top-rated text to speech (TTS) solution called Speechify.

If you become a Speechify subscriber, you unlock full access to one of the best TTS apps on the market. It enables you to upload any content, from handwritten pages and PDFs to Google Docs and images. It features robust OCR technology that can analyze any source materials.

Once you upload your text, the read-aloud software narrates it using realistic voices. It also highlights words in yellow to help you keep up, focus on the meaning, and match sounds to corresponding words. All of which makes

You can also use Speechify Audiobooks for your immersion reading. The library has 100K+ titles narrated by industry professionals. You can listen to your favorite title while reading it from your computer to boost your productivity.

Speechify works on all iOS and Android devices. Give Speechify a try for free today.

FAQ

Does immersion reading work?

Yes. Immersion reading is one of the most effective learning strategies since it makes the learning experience more fun.

What is the easiest way to use immersive reading?

The easiest way to use immersive reading is to leverage a fully functional immersive reading app, such as Speechify. It comes with built-in immersive reading features for seamless studying.

Can I use my phone to read?

Yes. You can use your phone for immersive reading. It’s more enjoyable than reading physical or digital Kindle books from your Kindle app.

Who created immersive reading?

Microsoft developed the immersive reading method.