Reading
Is reading a problem for you?
Most students have two basic problems:
1. They
read quite slowly
2. There
are a lot of words they don’t understand
... but many students do not read English
much outside their course work – so they do not improve
much.
To get better, you need practice – lots of practice! The
most important thing is how many hours you spend reading English,
every week.
It is really important to improve before your graduate or
undergraduate course, because you will have to read an enormous
amount as part of most courses.
How to read faster and learn more vocabulary
There are special books, called graded readers, to help you do
this. You can borrow these books from the Language Support
Centre (Holgate 137).
Over time, they will help you learn the
basic 3000 words in English. They will also help you read
faster. Read 30 minutes a day.
If you have already reached the top level of graded readers and
are now looking for more challenging reading which is still not too
hard, the University Library is buying some books for you.
Contact Charlie at languagesupport@yorksj.ac.uk
for details.
What else can I do to improve my reading?
- Book a one-to-one appointment at languagesupport@yorksj.ac.uk
...
- ... or attend a free workshop
on Reading Skills.
- Keep developing your general vocabulary by listening, speaking,
reading and writing English as many hours as possible every
day.
- Expand your academic
vocabulary.
- Use the exercises and materials below.
What exercises can you do - and what materials can you
use?
For more academic training
Written by Charlie Martineau