JOURNAL | Guides to Better Reading

Guides to Better Reading

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1. Read with purpose and determine to succeed. Know what you are looking for. Jot down questions in which you must find the answers.

2. Keep yourself physically fit. Have adequate light and a comfortable chair. If reading gives you headache, consult an optometrist.

3. Concentrate. Avoid distractions.

4. Read silently. Don't move your tongue or lips.

5. Keep your hands still. Don't follow words across the page with your fingers.

6. Train your eyes to move rapidly and smoothly from left to right across the page.

7. Take a big eyeful at a glance. Group words into phrases and clauses. Be guided by punctuation marks and the meaning of the sentence.

8. Pay particular attention to nouns, pronouns, and verbs for they usually carry the main ideas. Don't skip figures and important little words or prefixes like not and un.

9. Look for word clues like first, secondly, and on the other hand.

10. Try to increase your speed for all types of reading matter, but adjust your speed to the demands of the material.

11. Use previous knowledge and experience to help you interpret new facts. 

12. To understand information, use it. Talk over a theory with a friend; work a new fact into a conversation. When studying, stop occasionally and say aloud what you have learned. State principles, laws, and theories in your own language.

13. Read critically. Don't accept every statement of opinion as fact. Think for yourself.

14. Read chapter head and subheads carefully; emphasize clues like boldface or italic type  and topic sentences.

15. Picture what you read. Visualize words and phrases like base, top, center, right, left, below, above, on the surface.