Improving Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is one of the most important sections of the English language paper. What is reading comprehension all about? Basically, to gauge your knowledge and understanding the English language, a passage from any form of literary work is given and then questions are asked, which need to be answered based on your understanding ('comprehension') of the subject. What makes reading comprehension such an integral part of English language evaluation these days? Because, it is a largely accepted fact that the answers as given by the student on the reading comprehension test, best help the examiner evaluate the understanding of the students.

Tips for Better Reading

Read, Read, Read
They say practice makes a man perfect. So for improving reading skills, it is important that you read a lot. Reading, especially reading different things, will help you improve. By reading a lot, you will learn how to read faster. Also, by reading a lot more, you will also learn a lot of new words which will in turn help along your reading comprehension endeavor.

Ready Reference
Whenever you're reading something, it is always a good practice to keep a dictionary handy. You know that there are a lot of questions in the reading comprehension section based on meanings, definitions, etc. So it is important to know the meaning of as many words as possible. Whenever you come across something to read, always keep a dictionary handy, so that you can check the meanings of the words instantly. By doing this, you can add at least 5 words to your vocabulary everyday. Dictionary apps for cell phone are quite common nowadays, so this might save you the laborious effort of lugging the tomes by Oxford around.

Highlights and Markings
While solving reading comprehension tests, it is always a good practice to carry around one of those highlighting markers. So if you spot something which you think is very important in the passage, you can mark it immediately for easier future reference. You could also make markings alongside the paragraphs where you can write a short summary of what that paragraph was all about. This will help you remember all the important points in the passage.

Sequence
Another very good tip is to follow the sequence of the passage. Understanding the sequence, the cause and effect relation within the passage and the chronology of the events specified will help you gain a broader understanding of the passage. Hence try finding a sequence in the passage and it will serve you well.

Other tips aside, the most important thing is to improving reading skills. Reading comprehension requires a good deal of concentration on the work at hand and hence this really needs a lot of practice. And the only way to improve reading skills is to read different things. By reading more and more varied types of literature, you will be better familiarized with the main technique, reading.