4 answers
Todd
Student
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Questions
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Getting better at reading comprehension ?
How does one get better at reading comprehension? Is there a certain way you should go about doing things? Or should you try to read more frequently? Any advice is appreciated thanks.
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4 answers
Katherine Avery
Run a music studio and teach private music lessons; teach college-level religion classes
222
Answers
Spanish Fork, Utah
Updated
Katherine’s Answer
One of the smartest (and richest) guys out there does make time to read about 500 pages every day (that's one or two big thick books' worth of stuff he reads, although he goes for a lot of articles and newspapers and boring papers as well as books). Most of us will never read that much in a day, but some people say you should take whatever goal you think you can really do and then make that goal 10 times bigger, just so that you would be able to see over time how close you could actually come.
Generally, one thing that can help increase reading comprehension is if you can listen to someone read a book to you and then at a later time, go back and read the book yourself. Having that voice already in your head will help you feel like you're more familiar with what you're reading already, and that can help you be motivated to read more and listen more, and also feel confident about what you know...feel like you know your way around this book. The more times you do that, the better you'll feel about what you're supposed to read.
Fiction is a good way to do that--if you've never experienced hearing and then reading classic fun kids' fiction like Charlotte's Web or the Winnie-the-Pooh books, look for audiobooks of those and enjoy listening to them while you do other things like chores or biking or sitting in a hammock, and then after you've listened to and enjoyed the books, you can read them for yourself. There are lots of non-fiction things you can listen to also, these days, like TED talks on YouTube etc. where you can also read along on a transcript or look at closed captioning, and those can help you gain some skill and confidence that you know what you're reading.
Then you just also take time to re-read and re-listen to things you've enjoyed in the past every few years, or try reading something to someone else, and if, as a last step, you take time to challenge yourself at reading a paragraph or two of something a bit more dense or scholarly sometimes, you'll get to be more comfortable that you can concentrate and understand over time.
Maybe when you read something, write one sentence that sums up what you just read in the margin of the page next to the paragraph--having to put things in your own words helps.
Generally, one thing that can help increase reading comprehension is if you can listen to someone read a book to you and then at a later time, go back and read the book yourself. Having that voice already in your head will help you feel like you're more familiar with what you're reading already, and that can help you be motivated to read more and listen more, and also feel confident about what you know...feel like you know your way around this book. The more times you do that, the better you'll feel about what you're supposed to read.
Fiction is a good way to do that--if you've never experienced hearing and then reading classic fun kids' fiction like Charlotte's Web or the Winnie-the-Pooh books, look for audiobooks of those and enjoy listening to them while you do other things like chores or biking or sitting in a hammock, and then after you've listened to and enjoyed the books, you can read them for yourself. There are lots of non-fiction things you can listen to also, these days, like TED talks on YouTube etc. where you can also read along on a transcript or look at closed captioning, and those can help you gain some skill and confidence that you know what you're reading.
Then you just also take time to re-read and re-listen to things you've enjoyed in the past every few years, or try reading something to someone else, and if, as a last step, you take time to challenge yourself at reading a paragraph or two of something a bit more dense or scholarly sometimes, you'll get to be more comfortable that you can concentrate and understand over time.
Maybe when you read something, write one sentence that sums up what you just read in the margin of the page next to the paragraph--having to put things in your own words helps.
Erika Kettleson
Sales Engineer
1
Answer
San Francisco, California
Updated
Erika’s Answer
Hey Todd!
There are a lot of people who love analyzing and reviewing books online. It might be fun to take something you're reading for school or on your own and looking up videos of other book lovers on youtube and in podcasts to start learning how others are understanding the same text. See what they are pointing out and reread passages. I like doing this because it feels like you have a book club and you pick up details you hadn't noticed.
There are a lot of people who love analyzing and reviewing books online. It might be fun to take something you're reading for school or on your own and looking up videos of other book lovers on youtube and in podcasts to start learning how others are understanding the same text. See what they are pointing out and reread passages. I like doing this because it feels like you have a book club and you pick up details you hadn't noticed.
Rebecca Tang
Banking
1514
Answers
Hong Kong
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Thank you for your question. Practise makes perfect all the time! Do more Reading Comprehensive exercise.
Below are my suggestion :
1. Pick some articles in newspaper you have interest everyday. Read it in details. Prepare a summary.
2. Find some Reading Comprehensive supplementary exercise. Highlight the key points. Try to answer the questions. Review the model answers and compare it with yours to identify the differences.
3. Seek guidance from your English Teacher
4. Explore any tutorial classes on Reading
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Below are my suggestion :
1. Pick some articles in newspaper you have interest everyday. Read it in details. Prepare a summary.
2. Find some Reading Comprehensive supplementary exercise. Highlight the key points. Try to answer the questions. Review the model answers and compare it with yours to identify the differences.
3. Seek guidance from your English Teacher
4. Explore any tutorial classes on Reading
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Tony Xie
1
Answer
Shanghai, China
Updated
Tony’s Answer
Improving reading comprehension is a gradual process. Here are some tips for you:
1. Read actively: While reading, try to connect with the text content and context.
2. Summarize the main idea: when reading a passage or a paragraph, try to quickly summarize its main idea.
3. Pay attention to language clues: language clues can help you understand the meaning of words and sentences.
4. Read more: Reading more can help you accumulate vocabulary and language knowledge, and familiarize yourself with different writing styles.
5. Practice with someone else: You can practice reading comprehension with someone else by discussing what you have read or by answering others' questions.
1. Read actively: While reading, try to connect with the text content and context.
2. Summarize the main idea: when reading a passage or a paragraph, try to quickly summarize its main idea.
3. Pay attention to language clues: language clues can help you understand the meaning of words and sentences.
4. Read more: Reading more can help you accumulate vocabulary and language knowledge, and familiarize yourself with different writing styles.
5. Practice with someone else: You can practice reading comprehension with someone else by discussing what you have read or by answering others' questions.