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How to improve reading skills?
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How to improve reading skills?

Ankita Pathak , , , , , , , , , ,

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.

No matter whether you read biographies, watch inspirational videos or listen to interviews of people who have created a mark for themselves in the world the one trait that stays common with all is ‘Reading’. They all read no matter whether it is fiction, thriller, non-fiction, or any other genre. Thus, reading is not only related to studying but it is an exercise of the mind which keeps us fresh, smart and a little better than the others around. Reading opens up a lot of avenues in your life and Elon Musk is a perfect example who utilized the power of reading to start his own automotive company and a space organization despite being a software engineer.

While some students cultivate the habit of reading and become regular with it, some of us have problems picking up a book to read-only for fun and not for any exam or test. This habit of reading we pick up from our friends, family, or someone who inspires us, but there is no age when you should start reading and no end to till when you can read. However, some students face a lot of problems when they are reading whether a Course Book or a novel.

Today in this article, we shall discuss some of the problems that one might face while reading and the solution through which you can overcome the problems and improve your reading skills. It is not just focused on students who are preparing for the GATE or ESE Examination but everyone who finds reading a boring or a difficult task.

Table of Contents

Improve your reading skills by overcoming your Problems

Problem 1: Lack of Concentration

Some students find it hard to concentrate while they are reading. They have a short concentration span and after that is over their mind starts to wander, taking them away from what they are reading and losing out on their attention and thus impacting the reading skills.

While this is a problem with maximum students as well as elders, it is one of the main reasons while people find it hard to read and actually concentrate their energy on something that is important and necessary. Some of the ways to overcome the concentration problem are:

  1. Use a pen or pencil while reading: While reading any book be it for some exam or a novel, sit with a pen or pencil in hand and as you read each line move your pen along as well. Do not underline but just move the pen along so that you know what you are reading and do not lose your Concentration. Most of the time the concentration is lost because we are unable to find what we were reading and while switching lines we tend to skip one or two. This problem can be solved by using a pen or pencil.
  1. Use a dictionary: One of the reasons why concentration is lost is not being able to understand the word and thus an entire sentence. When you cannot understand any sentence you lose the grip and the entire context of the paragraph, thus losing your attention. To solve this issue, you can use a dictionary while reading a book and make sure that any difficult word that you come across while reading must not be left unattended, instead know the meaning and write it down in the book.

Another way to improve reading skills is using a kindle, a kindle has an in-built dictionary and you won’t have to do any extra work to understand the sentence. All you need to do is hold the word for some time and the kindle will automatically display its meaning.

  1. Read aloud: As a kid, we have always been told that you must read out aloud in order to stay focused. Well, that is not completely wrong. For starters to improve your concentration you must read the text out loud as it will help you understand the context better and thus stay focused. Once you become adept at reading aloud and staying focused, you can switch to silent reading like many people who are regular readers do.

Problem 2: Forget what they read in the past

Most people face a problem that they forget what they have read in the past. While it is close to impossible to complete one book in a day and read continuously, reading requires one to read for quite some time continuously. In such situations, people often forget what they read the previous day and find it hard to begin re-reading again given they have no previous context. To solve this problem one can follow the below steps.

  1. Make a Mind Movie: Whatever you read any single day, try to make a mind movie of it that is both interesting and close to you. You must relate to the characters in the book and be a part of it solely in order to connect with the story fully. Thus mind movies will help you recall what you read the previous day and add on to what you read that particular day.
  2. Write the summary: Each day once you are done with your reading session, write down the summary of the same and before you start your next day reading go through the summary first and then begin your reading. This summary will help you remember what you read the previous day and continue further along with providing the complete summary of the book by the time you complete the book. This summary will also help in the future in revising the book, without having to read through the entire book all over again.
  3. Ask questions: When you are reading any Course Book make sure you make a questionnaire of each important concept. These questions will help you understand the topic better and solve any queries that you might have about the particular topics.
  4. Discuss with friends: Whether it is a coursebook or a novel, find some friends who can help you with it, by reading it along with you. When you have friends also who are reading the same book you can set targets and discuss with them every plot and character till where you have read. This discussion will help embed the story in your mind with little scope of forgetting.
  5. Highlight: While reading you can use a pen, pencil, or a highlighter and underline whatever you think is important. These can include various characters, important plot twists, and other important scenes or dialogues about the book. This will be like a trailer to the book if you just go through the highlighted sentences. Once this is done, as soon as you start a new day take time to first review and revise the underlined notes and then begin fresh reading.

Problem 3: Bored of reading

Lots of people who are not used to reading, get bored very quickly and give up on reading very soon. For these students, it is necessary to create a connection with the book and make it interesting. So one can solve these issues through the following ways:

  1. Pick up the right books: Scientists believe that the main reason for getting bored is not doing what you love and the same is the case with reading. Reading is a vast arena with different genres and to avoid any such boring situation go through all the genres of books available and choose the one that best suits your taste and interest. If you are reading what you like you are less likely to be bored and stay focused on what you are reading.

For exam preparation too do not pick up 10 books on the same subject, pickup different subjects and you will see that you will read better and your reading skills will improve too.

  1. Set reading goals: Do not just randomly pick up any book, instead have a plan. A plan is the best way to learn and improve any skill and the same is true for Reading as well. Make a list of the books you want to read and make a plan on when and how you want to go about it. Do not hurry to complete your goals but yes try to plan your reading according to the goals.
  2. Read in portions: Do not make unrealistic plans of completing a book in a day or two, instead read in portions. Portion reading helps in overcoming all three problems: You will stay focused, not get bored, and will remember what you have read.
  3. Practice: You may not be an ardent reader but only practice will help you. Take special time out daily to read and before you know you will be among the top readers of the world. Nobody is born a reader and only practice makes any routine a habit and hobby.
  4. Add variety: Do not just stick to one single genre, be open to experiment and pick up something new. While at the start you can start with what you like, but you can always come out of your comfort zone and learn new things about your life which you may later develop an interest in.
  5. Try different forms of reading like Audio Books: While reading is important if you get bored you can try new forms like audiobooks, videos, movies, and other means. These will not help improve your reading skills but will create an interest in you for books and novels.
  6. Re-reading: The most important trait that is required to improve your reading skills is re-reading. If after completing a book you do not get the urge to read it again, then it probably did not stick with you. So always try to read books from which you can take something back and one which urges you to pick the book again and read it in order not to miss out on anything. Some of the books that you can pick up for reading are mentioned in 5 books every college student must-read.

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one. So with the help of the various techniques mentioned above, you too can make the most of your life and learn a lot from everything around you. The more you read the more you know and the more experienced you become in making good decisions. So if you are a reader then this article may help you improve and if you are among the ones who are scared of picking up books to read, this will help change your life and make you a smarter person.

Having mentioned the various ways of improving your reading skills, the choice is yours whether you want to take the magical journey of books or stay enclosed in the world that is around you. We hope this article has helped, we wish you all the very best for your future endeavors.

 

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2 thoughts on “How to improve reading skills?”

  • Shambhu Netam
    March 19, 2020 at 7:24 pm
    Permalink

    Best! Thanks.

    • Neeraj Kumar Ravi
      April 5, 2020 at 1:13 pm
      Permalink

      Dear Candidate,

      Thanks for writing to us. We are glad to know that you liked this article. Please keep visiting this blog to get similar content in the future.

      Regards,
      Team MADE EASY

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