One of the biggest issues that people face when forced to read through books, is having as much reading comprehension as possible. Whether you’re reading for business, study or pleasure, you want to ensure that you’ve fully digested the concepts and ideas that the authors are relaying. You want to absorb textbooks like a sponge. You want to remember everything you read for later use.
Below are some tips that will help your reading comprehension.
How to improve reading comprehension and remember what you read
Scan the chapter’s contents before reading it
When you’re reading a text heavy r+eference book for business or study, before you even begin your reading there are some things you should do. Before reading a chapter in full you should follow this method of scanning the chapter’s contents.
1. Read each subheading: This will give you a brief understanding of what information you will learn from the chapter.
2. Read the last paragraph: This will help you understand what you should know by the time you finish reading the chapter.
3. Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph: This will begin to make the information easier to digest when you read the chapter in full.
4. Read the chapter in full when ready.
At first, it might seem weird to follow these sequences of action. But if you follow these quick steps before diving into the chapter, the information will be easier to digest. Meaning you’ll comprehend it much easier. Obviously, this method is only for reference and non-fiction.
Take notes
It goes without saying, but taking notes on anything you read is one of the best ways to remember the books you read. Even if there’s something you don’t completely understand, writing it out will allow you to refer to it and research it later.
What I love about this method is that I can revisit my notes from the book whenever I need to, and if I effectively noted every important detail, my memory of the book’s concepts come flooding back to mind.
Writing it out will also allow your brain to process the information in a new way. You may already understand the information on a subconscious level but you needed to write it out to get the gist.
Here are two effective ways to note down the information.
1. Writing it down verbatim: This helps you recall the proper terms and phrases.
2. Writing your own interpretation of the information: This is you comprehending the information in your own way.
As someone who reviews tons of fiction, I can say that this method works great for both fiction and non-fiction.
Make connections and parallels
Sometimes the information we’re trying to read can feel irrelevant. Whether it’s irrelevant to the story, or the subject you’re learning. In this case, the best way to eternalise the information is to make some form of connection or parallel. Think about how the information fits into your life experience on the subject in particular. Making some form of connection between you and the information will help you to process it.
Another way to achieve this is to simply add your own evaluation on the material. Come up with your own personal stance on the information you have read, based on what you know. You can either do this in your head, or on paper.
Make doodles or diagrams
Sometimes text just isn’t enough. Most reference textbooks come with diagrams included, but for those walls of text that are just too tough to digest, it might be necessary to create your own visuals so that you can see it for what it is. While thinking about how to put together the diagram, it will allow you to see the logic in the theory.
Separate the relevant information
When it comes to text books and description heavy pieces of work, you can become easily overwhelmed. If you find you’re struggling to read through an entire book in linear fashion then you can simplify the process by separating the most relevant content from the content that isn’t meaningful for you.
The best way to do this is by again scanning the contents and flipping to the chapters that seem most relevant. Scan each subheading and paragraph and only read the information that really applies to you. If you have an exam then it’s likely you already know which subjects are likely to come up. Ask your tutor for further understanding on which topics are important, if necessary.
Read out loud
Reading out loud not only allows you to vocalize the words, but it’s another reliable method of reprocessing the information through your brain.
Speaking makes fictional prose so much more artistic, and it’s the reason why the audiobook market is popular. In non-fiction it makes relevant information clearer to understand.
These six tips should help you on your road to improving your reading comprehension. If you have any further tips to share or want to discuss these tips further, be sure to leave a comment below!
– Featured image from: youthareawesome.com
– Taking notes image from: geopolicraticus
