Do English learners become faster readers during a university bridging program—and does *extra* reading outside of class matter? We followed **142** Mandarin/Cantonese-speaking students across an **8-month** program using week-by-week reading logs. Students got steadily faster over **26 weeks** of instruction, and crucially, **those who read more pages in English made bigger gains in reading speed**. The published article can be found in [Frontiers in Education: Educational Psychology](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1286132/full).