IMPROVING READING SKILLS

 

 

Evaluate Your Reading Habits

Analyze your present reading habits so that you know where to improve your skills.

·         Do you use your lips, throat, or mind to "vocalize" words?

            You are probably still using the childhood habit of sounding out each word.

·         Do strange words constantly stop your progress?

            Your vocabulary needs improving.

·         Do you read every single word?

            You should train your eyes to span phrases or "thought units" instead of individual words.

Improving Your Reading Skills

Reading is the most important learning skill you can acquire for success and enjoyment throughout your life.  It is an integral part of our personal and working lives. Consider how much time you spend every day reading newspapers, letters, books, menus, directions, or signs. Eighty-five percent of college work, for example, involves reading. The better you read, the more you will succeed in study or work and the more you will enjoy the time you spend with books.

·         Reading is basically the understanding or words and the associations between them.

To improve your reading skills you must increase your ability to see and understand the grouping of words, or ideas, at a speed and in a manner that is comfortable for you.

·         To be a good reader, concentrate on what you are doing and learn to use your eyes to the best of your ability.

Move them at a rate that allows your brain to absorb the main ideas printed on a page. Poor readers are usually distracted and read each word without grasping the relationships between them. This causes them to retrace or reread the material.

·         Reading is a skill that requires practice.

Most people do not perfect their reading after the fifth grade. High school and college students are often poor readers. They overlook the need to continually use and improve good reading habits. Your eyes, like fingers for the piano or legs for skiing, must be trained to be skillful.

Six Steps for Improving Your Reading Skills

1.  Evaluate your reading habits.

2.  Provide the right atmosphere.

3.  Use your eyes efficiently.

4.  Continue to broaden your vocabulary.

5.  Adapt your speed so that you understand the material

6.  Enrich your life with good books.