Improve Reading Skills

By Kenneth Beare

esl.about.com/od/englishreadingskills/a/readingskills.htm

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Reading is an important part of learning English. This guide to how to improve your reading skills will help you improve reading by using skills you use in your own language. In other words, one of the best tips on improving reading is to think about how you read in your own language. Start by thinking about how you read different documents. How do you read the newspaper? How do you read novels? How do you read train schedules? and so on. Taking time to think about this will help give you clues on how to read in English - even if you don't understand every single word.
Ask yourself this question: Do I read every word in your own language when I am reading a schedule, summary, or other outlining document?
The answer is most definitely: No! Reading in English is like reading in your native language. This means that it is not always necessary to read and understand each and every word in English. Remember that reading skills in your native language and English are basically the same.
Here is a quick overview of the four types of reading skills used in every language:
Skimming - used to understand the "gist" or main idea
Scanning - used to find a particular piece of information
Extensive reading - used for pleasure and general understanding
Intensive reading - accurate reading for detailed understanding
You can use these reading skills in a number of ways to improve other areas of English learning such as pronunciation, grammar and increasing vocabulary.
Reading Tips to Improve Your Pronunciation
Reading Tips to Improve Your Vocabulary
Reading Tips to Improve Your Conversational Skills
Reading Tips to Improve Your Grammar
Reading Tips to Improve Your Listening Skills
Next, review your understanding of these four basic reading skills. If you teach an English course, you can use these quick review texts in class, as well as this lesson plan focusing on identifying reading skills.
Skimming Skimming is used to quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist'. Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business situation. It's not essential to understand each word when skimming.
Examples of Skimming:

• The Newspaper (quickly to get the general news of the day)
• Magazines (quickly to discover which articles you would like to read in more detail)
• Business and Travel Brochures (quickly to get informed)

Scanning
Scanning is used to find a particular piece of information. Run your eyes over the text looking for the specific piece of information you need. Use scanning on schedules, meeting plans, etc. in order to find the specific details you require. If you see words or phrases that you don't understand, don't worry when scanning.
Examples of Scanning

• The "What's on TV" section of your newspaper.
• A train / airplane schedule
• A conference guide

This lesson plan focusing on scanning reading skills can be of help in practicing these skills on your own or in printed out for in-class use.
Extensive reading
Extensive reading is used to obtain a general understanding of a subject and includes reading longer texts for pleasure, as well as business books. Use extensive reading skills to improve your general knowledge of business procedures. Do not worry if you understand each word.
Examples of Extensive Reading

• The latest marketing strategy book
• A novel you read before going to bed
• Magazine articles that interest you

This lesson focusing on improving vocabulary through extensive reading can be of help putting these skills into practice.
Intensive reading Intensive reading is used on shorter texts in order to extract specific information. It includes very close accurate reading for detail. Use intensive reading skills to grasp the details of a specific situation. In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact.
Examples of Intensive Reading

• A bookkeeping report
• An insurance claim
• A contract

Now that you've reviewed the four reading skills, take this reading skills quiz to help you improve reading skills through understanding of these basic reading types.

Essay On The Pleasures of Reading

Milan Chaterjee

Essay

Referred Academic Journal

iiste.org www.publishyourarticles.net/.../essay/an-essay-on-the...reading.html

Fast Review, Publishing & Printing International Journal(US Published)

Some people get pleasure from picnics and tours. Others like to discuss various topics and find pleasure in it. But the reading of books provides us with such pleasure as we do not get from any other activity. Great is the blessing of books.

Books are written by learned persons. They contain the best experiences and thoughts of their writers. Literature is said to mirror society. Writers put in their books not only their own ideas and feelings, but also what they observe and find in society. The books of the past reflect the condition of the times in which they were written. By reading books written by great thinkers, we come in contact with their minds. Books enable us to know the best of different countries. So, if we want to keep abreast of the great minds of all ages, we must read books.

When we are alone, books are our best friends. They entertain us in our spare moments. Good novels, books on poetry and short stories, give great enjoyment. At times we become so absorbed in our books that we forget even our important engagements. Loneliness is no trouble for a reader.

If we are in a cheerful mood, our joy is increased by reading. When we are in a depressed and dejected mood, books console and soothe our troubled minds. They provide us with the best advice and guidance in our difficulties. Indeed, books are out best friends as they help us in our need.

Books contain grains of wisdom. They give us sound moral advice. That is why all great men of our country have liked to read the Gita and the Ramayan. The example of Rama and Sita is cited, whenever we want to emphasize noble deeds and their results. We call a bad man by the name of Ravan. It is through the reading of books that we learn to love virtue and hate sin. The reading of good books develops and elevates our character.

Now-a-days the world is changing fast. A man cannot remain in roach with the changes in his own country, or in the world, without reading the latest literature. One who wants to be respected in cultured society must keep himself well-informed. Good magazines, newspapers and other books provide us with valuable upto-date information. It gives us great pleasure to feel that our knowledge is upto-date. We get great satisfaction when we feel ourselves to be well-informed and capable of moving in any educated society. Reading of good books is the key to the store-house of pleasure.

It was the English author Bacon who said that reading makes a full man. No one can question the truth of this saying. But we cannot derive full advantage from reading, if our choice is not good. Some books are such that instead of doing any good, they do positive harm to the readers. Such books must be avoided. Cheap books, not in cost but in contents, should not be read, even if they provide some amusement and entertainment. It is the reading of good books alone which bestows upon us the maximum benefit.

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Essay on Reading

Essay on Reading

Published by admin under Example Essays

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Any good writer knows about the impact that reading can have on his/her work, as well as that in order to be able to fully understand and digest a piece of literature, one should follow the basic guidelines of active reading, the type of reading where a reader subjects a writing to a critical analyze by using different types of reading techniques (Stubbs, Barnet, and Cain, 2). However, every reader, just like every writer, has his/her own style of reading that is composed of or is guided by a combination of different standard techniques set by active reading. Navigated by the guidelines of active reading, a reader can experience a book as a whole, without missing any important parts or ideas, while at the same time have an opportunity to establish a writer’s persona and subject his/her work to critical thinking.
In order to explore further on the different reading styles I had an opportunity to interview a classmate, Valeriya Pupchenko, and compare her approach to reading with mine. It was clear from the beginning that we enjoy similar types of literature for our leisure reading, however our tactic of picking a book and the pre reading actions have their differences. In order to pick an appropriate book for her purposes Valeriya prefers to rely on the title of the book and the authors note (Pupchenko, Valeriya). The title may provide a clue by using different methods presenting a book (Stubbs, Barnet, and Cain, 3). A title can have the ability to attract a reader with intriguing or appealing sound, or it can simply attract a reader by presenting the contents of the book in just a few words. Although a title does not always gets to the point of the book, a reader can often rely on the title of a book to get a sense of what he/she is getting.
Another method of getting to know more about a piece of literature is by reading the author’s note which often summarizes the context of the book. the author’s note also usually has the information about the writer and the book’s origins and its purpose. From the author’s note a reader can establish the writer’s persona and the style of writing. Author’s note is one of Valeriya’s techniques of reading a book and even though she sometimes finds that it gives away the plot of the story, she thinks that this is a helpful way of looking up a book (Pupchenko, Valeriya). I, on the other hand find the author’s note too vague to determine whether or not the book has the desired topic. I have also noticed that compared to the book itself, the author’s note tends to be written in a different style of writing. It is because of these reasons I prefer to read the book first and if I find the book interesting I come back to the author’s note in order to find out more about the writer.
When doing a research Valeriya finds it very useful to annotate and underline the key phrases (Pupchenko, Valeriya). This technique helps her to have a quick overview of the read material without missing any important details. I, also, find this technique convenient and helpful, although I prefer taking notes to annotating because it allows me to keep things organized and in one specific place rather than spread all over the place. however my notes are not a summary of the text, but individual phrases that I find important. Summarizing is a useful technique that neither I nor Valeriya like to use, for the simple reason of time consumption.
Index is probably the most convenient part of the book when searching for a specific topic. Skimming is another skill that saves time and helps to focus on the main ideas, even though it puts a reader at risk of missing on important ideas. These are the two techniques that I and Valeriya both find essential to a good research.
in order to reduce the risk of missing information it is useful to pay attention to the thesis, headings, key phrases, first sentences of the paragraph, and the conclusion (Stubbs, Barnet, and Cain, 5).
Active reading also includes other helpful techniques, such as previewing, engaging in critical thinking, and finding out about the author and the place of publication (Stubbs, Barnet, and Cain, 2-17). While previewing a piece of literature a reader should pay attention to the genre of the book and the original place of publication because it will provide a reader with the clues to what was the targeted audience. Subjecting a work to critical thinking provokes the reader to pay a close attention to details.
Different people have different habits and methods they use when they read a piece of work, however the origins of these techniques can be traced to come from active reading. When a reader follows the basic approaches of previewing, skimming, and critical thinking, the process of reading becomes more comprehensive and beneficial. Active reading doesn’t only assists a reader in analyzing a piece of literature in a way that shows the full and complete picture of the book, but it also helps a reader to become also a better writer because a person can approach analytically to his/her own work just as if it was someone else’s.
You can also order a custom term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation or essay on reading from our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with 100% non-plagiarized high-quality custom papers.

Appropriate Reading Discussions for Children

Appropriate Reading Discussions for Children

Reading discussions help children to develop literary skills and helps parents monitor a student's reading comprehension. This article examines the various questions parents can use to lead a reading discussion at home.

Reading discussions are usually conducted inside the classroom, but children can greatly benefit from discussing books and other reading materials at home as well. If a child and parent already read together regularly, these book discussions should develop naturally as part of the regular reading schedule. If you are looking for a way to implement reading discussions into your weekly schedule, but are unsure of what type of questions are appropriate to introduce into the activity, continue reading.

Before Reading

Show your child the book cover and read the jacket description. After he or she has had some time to consider what the title and other introductory features could indicate about the story, ask your child what he or she thinks will happen and have your child explain why he or she thinks that. It is also good to ask the following:

• What kind of characters do you expect to be in the story?
• Where and when do you think the story takes place?
• Do you think there will be conflict or any sort of problem in the story?
• Do you think you will be able to relate the story to your life or our family?

Having your child consider these and other similar questions will not only encourage the development of intellectual skills; he or she will also get excited about reading the story. Making a child curious about the story will help them focus during the story.

While Reading

While you and your child are reading the story, it is best to stop periodically to ask questions. This will help you monitor if your child is still paying attention and understanding the plot. Some good questions to ask include:

• What can you tell me about the story and characters so far?
• What do you think will happen next and how do you think this story will end?
• What would you have done if you were one of the characters in the story? Why do you think they have acted the way they have?
• What did you see in your head during that last scene?
• What are you thinking about as you read?

If your child's answers indicate he or she does not fully understand what has happened in the story, don't be afraid to backtrack and reread any confusing details. Additionally, don't forget to share with your child your own thoughts. Remember though, the goal is to conduct a literary discussion, not an interrogation!

After Reading

Now that you both know the ending of the story, you can reexamine your prior predictions and see how close you were. You can also discuss together why the author had the story end the way it did and how a different ending would make a much different impact or feeling. Other points of discussion are:

• Do you think the title was appropriate or would you have named it something different?
• What was the story's problem and how was it solved? Are there other ways it could have been solved?
• Who do you think was the main character? If you were them, how would you feel throughout the story?
• Why do you think the author wrote this book? What was the point of the story?

Remember, reading time is meant to be fun as well as educational. Don't push your child too hard. Allow him or her to learn and develop at their own pace.

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