Table of Contents
Start of Chapter : Use reading strategies
Previous : Use reading strategies
Analyze your objectives and material
Whenever you approach material you want to read, you should take a strategic view. Ask yourself specific questions in these areas:
Ask questions about your objectives
When you pick up an article or book to study it, you should first make sure you're on the right track in terms of reading the information in those publications. You don't want your goals derailed by reading material that has little or no relationship to your overall goals. It's a waste of time and energy. So, keep focus right from the start by asking yourself the following questions about your objectives.
- What's my purpose in reading this material? Is the purpose directly related to my overall goals?
- How well does this material link to my overall learning goals?
- Specifically, what do I want to get from the material I'm reading?
- How much do I already know about this topic?
- How well do I need to learn and memorize it?
Ask questions about your material
Next, ask questions about the material you're reading. To ask those questions, use a combination of fast reading and skim reading to gather this information.
- What do I already know about this subject?
- How difficult is this material for me to understand?
- How well structured is the material? How is it organized?
- How has the author organized the chapters? Are the chapters interrelated or independent? Do I need to read the chapters in order, or can I read them out of order?
- Does the introduction or foreword match my objectives?
- Are there summaries, reviews, tests and exercises?
- Is there an index? Will I need to create my own?
- Is there a glossary? Can I use this as a starting point for my "new word list?"
- What do I know about the author? Is the author likely to present factual or biased information?
- Are there other books or materials I need before reading? While reading?
- Do I own the material? Can I write in it?
Decide your strategy
Based upon the answers to the above questions, you can determine the best methods of approaching the material; that is, you can decide if you need to skip it, skim it, read it once, or if you need to read it several times using different speeds each time. Depending on how you answer these questions, you'll accelerate or slow down your reading speed. For example, if you decide your purpose in reading a text is to thoroughly understand the difficult and unfamiliar ideas in it, then you will decrease your reading speed to achieve that purpose. If, on the other hand, you're reading familiar, easy material, then you'll increase your reading speed because it's not necessary to go into great depth on material you already know. Below we provide you with specific situations in which to increase or decrease reading speed.
Next : Use reading paths and reading modes
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