Kannada is Dravidian language spoken primarily in the state of Karnataka in India. It is the official language of this state and widely used in education, mass media, and administration.

The reader is divided into three sections: selections, translations, and glossary. The first section contains 89 articles from various Kannada-language newspapers. Each selection is followed by a list of vocabulary items in the order of their occurrence in the selection and their meanings in the particular context of the selection. Brief grammatical and cultural notes follow the vocabulary lists. The second section gives complete English translations of the vocabulary from the selections. The third section is an alphabetical glossary of the Kannada selections.