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  • Hello everyone, I'm George.

  • And today I'm going to share four tips with you to improve your reading comprehension skills.

  • 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.

  • But before I begin, don't forget to subscribe to the channel, so you don't miss out on any of these lessons.

  • Tip number one: Choosing reading materials.

  • If you want to read in English, choose something that you enjoy reading in your own language, that's not too difficult.

  • Don't feel like you have to read something academic or clever.

  • Because you're reading in another language, that's already clever.

  • So you could read a film script, a magazine interview, a comic book or a cookery book.

  • If you want to read a book, choose one that you're very familiar with in your own language.

  • For example, when I was studying Korean, I decided to read Harry Potter

  • Because, when I was a child, I was a massive Harry Potter fan.

  • So I must have read this book maybe three or four times.

  • This stopped me from checking every single word that I didn't understand.

  • It also helped me to understand words and expressions from the context that they were in.

  • For instance, look at this sentence and imagine you don't know the meaning of the word scar.

  • Harry Potter had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead.

  • If you know the story of Harry Potter already, you'll probably remember what was on Harry Potter's forehead.

  • Therefore, you could easily guess the meaning of the word scar without looking it up in the dictionary.

  • However, it's important to read various genres too.

  • So you could read some of your favourite novels and you could read your favourite music magazine.

  • This will help you to familiarise yourself with formal and informal English.

  • Tip number two: Vocabulary.

  • Don't look up every single word you're unsure of.

  • Note down or highlight any unknown words or expressions that appear more than once in the text.

  • You can try to guess what they mean through their context and then, afterwards, look them up in the dictionary.

  • You can also make some flashcards, so that these words and expressions stay fresh in your memory.

  • Tip number three: Interact.

  • Note down any opinions you might have about the text.

  • 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.

  • Tip number four: Respond.

  • This is your chance to produce language in response to what you've read.

  • You might write down your response and give it to a teacher, or you could upload it online and receive feedback that way.

  • 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.

  • I thought the book was... good.

  • The characters were also very... um... good.

  • Before joining one of these discussions, you could prepare by thinking of some interesting adjectives to describe the characters and the story.

  • Let's summarize what we've learnt today.

  • Number one: Choose something you enjoy reading in your own language.

  • Number two: Don't look up every single word.

  • Only look up the words that frequently occur in the text.

  • Number three: Make notes.

  • And number four: Respond to the text.

  • That's all we have time for today.

  • If you have any reading tips of your own, please leave a comment below.

  • And don't forget to like the video and to subscribe to the channel.

Hello everyone, I'm George.

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