Reading Strategies

Reading is very important for English learning. It is a good way to help you learn vocabulary and grammar. There are a number of ways to improve your reading skills.

1. Predicting - before you read, predict from the title and first sentence of the paragraph of a text, think and tell yourself what it is about. Besides, skim through pictures, tables, bold words, if any. They can help you predict what the text is about.
2. Questioning - Use the story map or text organisation to ask yourself before reading. You can set some questions: 1. who are the characters or what are the topics of the text? 2. What is the setting or structure of the text; i.e. Make use of the "Wh-" words: When, Where, Who, How, and Which to set the questions.
3. Making Link - Link the ideas of the text with your knowledge of the world, your common sense can always help you understand and predict the meaning of unknown words, and even the content of the text.
4. Inferring - Read behind the text or between the lines. We can find out the meaning of the text with the help of the story map or text organisation, expression and tone used by the author or characters in the text.
5. Imagination and Visualisation - Learn to use your imagination and visualisation to remember what you are reading. Remember the more you remember, the better you are able to understand what the author is telling you.
6. Summarising and Mind Mapping - Find out the main ideas of the text. Then summarise the ideas in your own words. You can then use some charts or simple pictures to help you understand and remember the text.
7. Reflecting - Read behind the text to further understand the text. Then See if you can make use of the overall ideas for your further work.