READING

READING STRATEGIES

Reading is something that keeps our mind open. Reading makes your imagination fly. Not reading means just novels, but academic resources. I'm going to give you some strategies that you can use to improve you reading skills:

• Read at the desk with a good light.
• Keep background noise to a minimum. Classical music may help you with your reading.
•  Give yourself a quiet environment so that you can concentrate on the text.
• Have a piece of paper near to you just in case you need it.
• Before reading, think about the purpose for the reading.  Why has the teacher made me do this?  
• Survey the reading.  That means look what the text is going to talk about.
• Read the introduction and conclusion, then go back and read the whole text.  Or read the first line in every paragraph to get an idea of how the ideas progress, then go back and read from the beginning.
• Scan the entire reading, then focus on the most interesting or relevant parts to read in detail.
• Pay attention to when you can skim.
• Take notes andhighlight the most important things.  
• If you get stuck in the reading, don't worry just think and write about where you got stuck.  
• If you get confuse don't panic, confusion is important because it's the first stage in understanding.
• If you don't understand the reading, breathe and read it again in a slowly way.
• Break time. Read 10 pages, then do something else.  Later, read the next 10 pages and so on.
• Summarize what you are reading.
• Create an alternative text.
• Answer these question in your own words: What's the author talking about?  What is he trying to tell me?
• Ask questions about what you don't understand.

1. If you have doubts you look for what does another author have to say on the same topic.

You have to think about what is between the lines, the conclusions and inferences the author means.