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Hello everyone, I'm George.
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And today I'm going to share four tips with you to improve your reading comprehension skills.
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It's important to improve your reading skills because not only will it help you to develop your vocabulary and grammar, it will also have a positive effect on your written skills, too.
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But before I begin, don't forget to subscribe to the channel, so you don't miss out on any of these lessons.
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Tip number one: Choosing reading materials.
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If you want to read in English, choose something that you enjoy reading in your own language, that's not too difficult.
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Don't feel like you have to read something academic or clever.
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Because you're reading in another language, that's already clever.
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So you could read a film script, a magazine interview, a comic book or a cookery book.
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If you want to read a book, choose one that you're very familiar with in your own language.
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For example, when I was studying Korean, I decided to read Harry Potter
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Because, when I was a child, I was a massive Harry Potter fan.
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So I must have read this book maybe three or four times.
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This stopped me from checking every single word that I didn't understand.
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It also helped me to understand words and expressions from the context that they were in.
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For instance, look at this sentence and imagine you don't know the meaning of the word scar.
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Harry Potter had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead.
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If you know the story of Harry Potter already, you'll probably remember what was on Harry Potter's forehead.
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Therefore, you could easily guess the meaning of the word scar without looking it up in the dictionary.
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However, it's important to read various genres too.
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So you could read some of your favourite novels and you could read your favourite music magazine.
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This will help you to familiarise yourself with formal and informal English.
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Tip number two: Vocabulary.
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Don't look up every single word you're unsure of.
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Note down or highlight any unknown words or expressions that appear more than once in the text.
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You can try to guess what they mean through their context and then, afterwards, look them up in the dictionary.
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You can also make some flashcards, so that these words and expressions stay fresh in your memory.
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Tip number three: Interact.
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Note down any opinions you might have about the text.
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Don't be afraid to write notes in the book or the magazine, unless it's a library book, in which case you can write on some Post-it notes and stick them on the pages.
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Tip number four: Respond.
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This is your chance to produce language in response to what you've read.
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You might write down your response and give it to a teacher, or you could upload it online and receive feedback that way.
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Alternatively, you could discuss what you've read with some friends or classmates, or you could even join a book club and talk about what you've read there.
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I thought the book was... good.
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The characters were also very... um... good.
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Before joining one of these discussions, you could prepare by thinking of some interesting adjectives to describe the characters and the story.
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Let's summarize what we've learnt today.
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Number one: Choose something you enjoy reading in your own language.
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Number two: Don't look up every single word.
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Only look up the words that frequently occur in the text.
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Number three: Make notes.
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And number four: Respond to the text.
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That's all we have time for today.
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If you have any reading tips of your own, please leave a comment below.
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And don't forget to like the video and to subscribe to the channel.