You might not notice that you are already using a variety of reading styles in everyday life. In English learning, reading is normally the first and the most frequently used skill out of reading, listening, writing and speaking. However, when it comes to reading for study, many English learners still don’t feel confident.
First of all, if you want to use reading as a way to improve, you have to have a reading goal. Depending on what you want to use reading skills for, there will be different strategies to apply. For example, reading for exams or research will be different from reading for entertainment.
Once you have a reading goal, the next step is making time to read and finding the right materials. Reading for fun can be done anywhere. If you want to practice reading for study, you need to make a special time for this to avoid interruption. There are two things to keep in mind in order to find the right material: what you are interested in and what your reading level is. That means you should read things that you enjoy and choose books at the level just a little bit higher to learn new things, and not to get frustrated with the reading. If you are wondering which book to read, you can find many suggestions on the Internet.
Besides books, you can read other kinds of texts of any topic as well. Find your favorite magazine or follow some interesting people on websites for their daily feeds. Something to keep in mind when choosing your goal is if you prefer narrow reading, which is reading a lot of content on a specific topic. In narrow reading, you’ll learn less of a variety of different words, but learn a lot of useful content knowledge. If you prefer to increase your general vocabulary, it’s better for you to read a wide range of topics to get to know a variety of words.
Comprehension
1) What is the first step to using reading as a way to improve?
2) What are the two things to keep in mind when finding the right material to read?
3) What is the difference between narrow reading and reading a wide range of topics?
Vocabulary
Match the words to the definition:
1) notice
2) research
3) entertainment
4) avoid
5) keep in mind
6) frustrated
a) to remember
b) for fun
c) angry or annoyed
d) to stay away from
e) to look for information about a topic
f) observe or pay attention to something
Grammar Highlights
Use “-ing” form for verbs that are in the subject of the sentence:
“Depending on what you want to use reading skills for, there will be different strategies to apply
Put a comma between clauses of your conditional statements:
“If you want to practice reading for study, you need to make a special time for this to avoid interruption”
*This article was adapted from another article to make it more suitable for English learners. You can read the original article here.