My sister is a bookworm (she lives for reading books...been reading since she was two) and she is really smart. Not only is her vocabulary high, but she is an author of two books, has a GPA of 3.8 and gets mid-90s on every paper. Once she graduates next year, she's going for her Masters degree in English and will probably become a professor / author.

i dont understand why we need english. if you speak it, you know it

You can speak english, but you may not necessarily know how to utilize it efficiently and usefully. It's the same for me with Urdu (Pakistani).

out of all the books i have read (aside from textbooks) i have gained no knowledge that has benefited me in any way...

Not only will you gain direct knowledge like (2+2=4), but you will become a smarter and a brighter person.

Insom approves of this message. I'd say if more people read, especially the younger generation, we'd have fewer senseless street-crimes, more people in paying jobs, and a more civilized civilisation altogether. Although in todays culture, reading is all but dieing.

I'd love to see what shape literature will be in in 20 years, sure, we'll have our brightest minds keeping the candle lit, but under what cost.