8 As Malcolm X ' s word base broadened , he began to better understand the books he read. It was the first time in his life this had ever happened, " Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. " From then until he left that prison , his concentration was focused on reading . He was so absorbed in it. Months passed without his even thinking about being in prison . " In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life. " 9 " I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life, " Malcolm X wrote. He described how one day a writer telephoned him from London for an interview . The interviewer asked Malcolm X what college he had graduated from as he could write so fluently . He told the Englishman that his own personal university was " books ". 10 Malcolm X ' s life is a wonderful example of the profound effect of learning a language . He was born into a world full of poverty and ignorance . However, as he acquired knowledge , his horizons expanded . He had left behind the narrow , ignorant world of his youth to join the world community of thoughts and actions ever since he started with his great journey of learning English in prison .