By Jayaram V
Reading is an important aspect of personality development. Without
this it is difficult to make progress. True, in the past people
with little school education or reading ability made into history
books. But in this information age one wonders whether it will still
hold good. Reading is an important skill to cultivate and practice
to be successful and well informed. Despite all the modern gadgets
and the ubiquitous visual aids, reading is the best way to feed
your mind and expand your mental faculties. The following suggestions
may be helpful in improving your reading skills.
Serious Reading
1. Get an over view. Flip through the book quickly or go through
the index to get an overall view of the subject matter of the book.
2. Establish your reading objectives. Before you begin reading
the material, have a clear idea of what you intend to learn from
it..
3. Review mentally what you already know about the subject and
try to establish a connection between the two.
4. Start with the basic concepts and build your understanding
of the subject around them.
5. Learn to read critically with an open mind, neither accepting
nor rejecting the author's views, forming your own version of
it as you read in your own terms.
6. Integrate the knowledge. Think about the subject in your own
words and analyze it, if necessary, based on your own experiences.
7. From time to time summarize what you have read in your own
words.
8. Take rest in between and allow the mind to absorb the information.
9. Be your own teacher and explain to yourself or to a friend
with identical interests what you are reading and what you've
already known.
10. Revisit the subject or topic from time to time to strenthen
your memory as well as your understanding of the subject.
11. Discuss with others and understand their views on the same
subject.
12. Teach yourself or others what you have learned.
Light Reading
Follow these when you are reading a newspaper or magazine to
grasp the current affairs or just keep yourself informed and entertained
with tit bits of information.
1. Browse through the information gathering bits and pieces of
important information.
2. Practice speed reading and reading to know the central theme
or the general outline.
3. Look at the headlines or the sub titles or the first
few lines of a paragraph to get to the basic theme of the subject.