Reading Skills and Strategies1. Speed reading■ Aim: to increase reading speed

Reading Skills and Strategies
Good morning, everyone. Today we’ll talk about reading skills and strategies. Reading is a great habit that can truly change our life forever. Reading purely for leisure is fun, but there exist certain reading skills and strategies, which if mastered at an early stage can help us be better and comprehensive readers.
The first reading strategy we’re going to talk about is speed-reading. The aim of speed-reading is basically to increase the reading speed without influencing the understanding of what you’re reading. Some of the strategies used in speed reading include: identifying words without focusing on each letter, not sounding out all words, spending less time on some phrases than others, and skimming through small sections.
Next strategy is active reading. There are times when you just cannot afford to skim through or scan through the text but need to get an in-depth understanding of what you’re reading and hence you need to make sure you’re actively involved. There are four important points that you need to keep in mind during active reading. First, identify the most important parts of the text according to your own understanding and highlight or underline them using a pencil or a marker while you are reading. You can even use different colors to highlight diverse aspects of the text. Second, jot down the headings as you read the detail, using one or two keywords for each point. Third, before you start reading, write down all the questions you want to answer. This helps you to read accordingly and ensures that you get the answers to all your questions and don’t get distracted while reading. Fourth, after you’ve read one complete section of the text, summarize that portion in your own words. Later, go through the text again to check how accurate your summary was and modify or upgrade it in case you’ve left out any details.
Now, let’s take a look at the last strategy, SQ3R, which is the abbreviation of five words indicating the five steps involved in this strategy. They are Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. This method facilitates a very deep understanding of the matter that is being read. The first step, Survey, includes getting a quick idea of what the whole writing piece is about. The second step, Question, means to create questions in your mind and look for the answers while you are reading the text. The third step is to read selectively if you are looking for specifics. Learn to find out the portions of the text that are important to you and move over. The fourth step is Recite, which means to try and answer the questions raised in the second step in your own words. The last step is to review or summarize the entire text in your mind.
OK, today we’ve talked about three reading strategies. I hope these strategies can enhance your reading process and help you get the most out of any book or any text that you lay your eyes on.