Do you have a lot of reading? How do you usually read? Do you want to read faster and better understand what you are reading? Students at Parami have a lot of reading as part of their class discussion. The Parami Students Affairs team has recently organized an interactive workshop on reading to help Parami modular improve their reading skills for academic and professional purposes. 

Now, let's explore some of the simple but useful reading hacks from the workshop that can help you level up your reading skills, whether for study, work, or pleasure. There are different reading techniques, and effectively using different strategies will help you save time. It allows you to exercise your comprehension and analytical abilities when reading in your native or foreign language. These techniques can also be helpful when taking English standardized tests such as TOEFL, IELTS, etc. 

Scanning is reading quickly to search for specific information and locate key facts in a passage. An example of scanning is finding the definition of a word in the dictionary. 

When scanning, try to 

• Use questions or keywords to find specific information from the passage
• Start scanning the text by allowing your eyes (or finger) to move quickly over a page.
• Ignore the irrelevant information and search for keywords such as names or figures.

Skimming tells the overview of the text and gives a general understanding of the information, and an example of skimming is casually reading magazines or newspapers. 

When skimming, try to

• Start with reading the title as it contains an overview of the information
• Read the first and last paragraph, particularly the first sentences
• Pay close attention to the first few sentences in the sub-headings

Intensive reading mainly focuses on specific information while understanding its meaning. Intensive reading includes reading short stories or poetry with layers of meaning, business reports packed with important information and numbers, and analyzing statistical data like diagrams, images, and tables. 

 When doing an intensive reading, try to 

• Taking notes

Jot down notes and ideas in the margins as you’re reading. (Maybe you have a question related to or a thought that you want to express.)

• Break down the reading process

Breaking down the text into three steps—pre-reading, reading, and post-reading 

Step 1:  use your existing knowledge to understand the purpose of the text. 

Step 2:  the actual reading process along with note-taking. 

Step 3:  summarize all the information, ask questions and get your thoughts in order.

• Apply what you’ve learned.

 If you can find ways to use that information, you’ll be able to retain it for much longer. For instance, if you’re reading a report on achieving sales targets, you can make notes that you can later share with your team. So make sure you apply the information when you can

Extensive Reading involves reading texts for pleasure or developing general reading skills, and examples of extensive reading are reading magazines, novels, and even comic books.

When doing extensive reading, try to 

• Do timed readings if you want to enhance your reading speed
• Keep vocabulary journals

You will overcome common reading problems such as poor comprehension skills, slow oral reading rate, and trouble pronouncing words correctly with the right technique.