Table of content
Start of Chapter : Develop your fluency
Previous : Develop your fluency
Check your basic fluency skills
Most people reading this book will already have basic fluency skills. If you find reading a challenge though, you might want to do some work to improve your basic fluency skills. Here are some ways you can check and improve these skills:
- Read aloud to yourself. Take some time to read passages aloud. If you have difficulty with certain passages, practice them until they become fluent. Use two types of reading. During practice readings, work on passages you find difficult. During "live" readings, assume you are reading to an audience. Perhaps stand up as if you are presenting to a class, group, or audience. If you make a mistake, keep going! At the end, come back and practice those difficult passages again.
- Read with others. Read to parents, teachers, siblings or friends. Ask them to point out any problems they hear. Remember they are helping you, so keep an open mind! You might also ask them to read difficult passages with you. Perhaps ask them to record themselves reading on to a tape or a computer. You can then play it back later and read with it.
- Use speech synthesis programs.Speech synthesis software can take text from your computer and read it aloud. These are getting better over time. Some current versions have enough sophistication for you to read with and learn as you go. You can also find free demonstrations on the Internet. Use these if you'd just like to check a sentence or two. Search for "text to speech demonstration" (without the quotes), AT&T Labs TTS, or RealSpeak.
- Do some training. If you still have difficulty reading, or are reading in a language other than your native language, you might like to try some expert training to develop your fluency skills.
Next : Support your fluency
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