Five Tips for Reading Better

Become a Better Reader with Five Tips

Practice Reading Everything

One great way to improve your reading skills is to read anything and everything you can get your hands on. It can be a newspaper article, an online blog, a cereal box, a television show description or even a PlayStation 3 installation manual. It doesn't matter! The beauty of reading is that the more you do it, the better you get.

Read Aloud

Another good idea is to practice reading out loud. When you read out loud, you tend to pay more attention to not only what you're reading, but also how you're reading. Reading to yourself is fine, but sometimes, you can get distracted, start thinking about other things or even end up reading the same parts over and over again. Reading out loud forces you to pay more attention to the reading itself, and when you do that, your skill level increases.

Listen while You Read

Not only can you get through a book faster, but listening to an audio reading of the book while following along in your own copy also helps improve your fluency and comprehension. When you listen, you're getting a live example of how to read with expression, how to pronounce unfamiliar words and how to pace yourself. In addition, the theatrical delivery of an audio reading tends to make the reading more fun and interesting, thus inspiring you to read more.

Create a Purpose for Your Reading Session

When you're focused on the reading task at hand, whether for educational or entertainment purposes, you get more out of the reading session and get better with reading in general. A good way to make sure you're focused is to establish a purpose for reading. You can do this by asking questions before reading the material and searching for the answers as you read. You can also preview items in the book, like chapter titles, headings and pictures, then make predictions about the story or information.

Read the Material Multiple Times

Whether you're reading a nonfictional or fictional piece, rereading usually helps you understand the material better. Whenever you read something again, not only do you improve your reading fluency, but you also discover new information and deeper meaning that may have been missed during the first read. Rereading material also helps you master vocabulary that may have been difficult at first, and when you increase your vocabulary skill, you increase your reading skill.