Tips to Improve Reading Speed & Reading Comprehension

TOEIC reading comprehension is considered a difficult part since it includes 100 questions with several reading passages with longer and higher degree of tricks.  Test takers may get tired of reading thousands of words and slow themselves down. How to get over these problems? How to improve your TOEIC scores?. The following tips are collected for you.

• Look through material first to get a sense of what’s interesting and important to you, and what you might be able to skip. Then focus on the sections that you need to understand and remember, and skim or skip the rest.

• Adjust your reading speed as you read the material. Slow down when you need to be sure that you comprehend a section of material. Speed up if you are already familiar with (or don’t need to know) other sections.

• Although readers believe that highlighting in yellow (or any other color, for that matter) improves their reading speed and comprehension, the reverse is actually true. Highlighting simply means they don’t want to bother learning the material right now. The result: They end up reading the material twice, and possibly not understanding or remembering it either time!

• Another way to improve your reading speed is to focus on the key words in the sentences. A significant amount of reading time is wasted on conjunctions, prepositions, or articles (i.e. a, an, the, but, and, or, nor, but, etc.).

• Use a pacer like a pen or your finger–as a focal point to draw your eye across the line or down the page. A pacer can help you increase your speed and reduce re-reading. A pacer can also help you to keep track of what you are reading.

• Talk about what you’ve read. Some readers find that by talking about their reading with friends or fellow students, they are able to effectively synthesize the material.

• Determine a reading schedule that works for you. You may find that you can’t concentrate on the material for more than an hour (or a half hour). Also select a time of the day when you are alert and ready to read.
• Find areading spot, prop your book or magazine using a bookstand – angling your reading material at 45 degrees improves your reading speed and reduces eyestrain. Avoid reading difficult or important material in bed, where your mind and body tend to relax. You’ll stay alert if you sit at a desk instead.

• Practice. Practice. Practice. The best way to improve your reading speed is to practice reading. Try out some of these techniques, and then perfect the strategies that work best for you. Many people can double their reading speed and improve their concentration by reading the material that’s important to them early in the day.