Reading comprehension problems seem more on the rise than ever. In a world where we have pocket-sized computers that contain all of the world’s collected knowledge, it seems unfathomable that people are having a harder time than ever with reading. Unfortunately, these miracle machines that we hold in our pockets are used more for watching cat videos and gossiping over social media than they are for learning about the world via written text. In fact, a lot of people do 80-90% of their reading on social media. With all of the shorthand, emoji, and abstract hashtags out there, it’s no wonder that standard English is so difficult for youngsters to grasp. If you or your child is struggling in this regard, here are five ways to beat common reading comprehension problems.
- Read every single day – if you want to become a better reader, you want to pick up a book and practice reading each page. Just like any other skill, reading has to be practiced regularly in order to truly feel one’s progress. The more you eat, the easier it will get and the faster you will get – and the more you will enjoy it. It may seem like a grueling task now, but if you stick to it, you will turn into a total bookworm before you know it.
- Boost your vocabulary – one of the main things holding people back when it comes to reading comprehension is not being able to understand the words. This is why you may want to spend some time learning some basic words and some more advanced words so that you can tie everything together. When you come across a word that you don’t recognize, take some time to think about it in the context of the sentence. If it’s just one word here and there, go ahead and look it up if you need to. If you come across multiple words within a text that you don’t understand, you’re better off just choosing easier reading material.
- Visit a brain training center and undergo some cognitive exercises – for instance, you may want to head over toLearningRX, which offers exercises that can boost your cognitive skills and alleviate your reading difficulty. These exercises are plentiful and lots of fun. So you’ll be getting smarter and smarter in a way that feels completely effortless.
- Know your reading level – if are trying to jump into more complex books, you may not be able to catch up, which will make you even more frustrated. This is why you want to find out what your current reading level is and work from there. You will enjoy reading much more when you are reading material that is intended for an audience that reads at your level.
- Choose texts that interest you – if the material that you are reading is not interesting to you, there is a good chance that your issues with comprehension won’t be solved. Ideally, you want to improve your reading comprehension by starting off with books and texts that you really enjoy.