Last week I wrote about listening and how to improve your listening skills in English. This week I want to turn our attention to reading.
The main problems my students have with reading are:
- it can be too difficult so they just give up,
- it can be boring,
- there are too many unknown words in the text.
Do these sound like the problems you have?
If so, then read on for my advice!
Read in English whenever you can
- Try to read something in English every day.
- Change the language setting on your phone to English so that whenever you look at your phone you have to read in English.
- When you are reading an article on the internet (news, celebrity gossip, football game reports – whatever you like) try to read it in English first instead of your language. If you see an interesting headline, google it in English and read the English article first. Then read it in your language to see how much you understood.
*Can you change the language settings on your phone? Try it now!
Try graded readers
Have you heard of graded readers before? They are books written in easier English so that even low-level students can understand them.
Have a look at Pearson graded readers, Oxford graded readers and/or Macmillan graded readers.
You can choose your level (or do a level test first, if you’re not sure) on their website and then choose books written at that level.
Some of them are the physical book and some of them are the digital book so just have a look and see which you prefer!
*Have a look at one of the above websites now and see which book you would like to read!
Combine your listening practice with your reading practice
Do you find reading a bit boring?
Or do you really not have much time in the day to read?
If that sounds like you, you may like to do your reading and listening practice together!
If you choose to read a graded reader, you can often listen while you read – lots of graded readers come with the audio, so you can read the book and listen at the same time. This makes it a bit more interesting!
If you are listening to a podcast or something with a transcript, just read the transcripts of what you are listening to, and that also counts towards your reading practice. So it is a good way of practising both skills if you don’t have much time!
*Now you try: decide which of the above tips you want to try first and give it a go! Find something to read and try just a little to start with. Then read a little more each day.
Good luck and enjoy your reading!
Do you have any other tips on how to improve your reading skills in English? If so, write a comment below or send me an email on charlottesenglishlessons@gmail.com.
Would you also like to improve your English speaking skills? If so, come back next week to read my next blog post on ‘How to improve your speaking skills in English’. Have a brilliant week!
Charlotte’s English Lessons 