By Denise Doty
You’ve listed your goals, selected your reading material and followed your pre-reading strategies. Now it is time to dive in and read, so how do you do it?
How do you read in a foreign language?
- Read the article all the way through, without looking up words.
- If it is an article, read it all the way through. If it is a novel, read an entire chapter.
- Summarize.
- Summarize what you just read. List the characters and describe the plot, if it is a novel or list key points if you are reading an academic book, newspaper or magazine.
- Read again, look up words.
- This time reread your material, underline the new words and take the time to research them.
- Read again, one more time.
- You’ve looked up words, you’ve read it twice. Now it is time to see how well you understand without looking up any more words.
- Summarize, again.
- When you summarize, this time, be more specific. Did you understand more?
- Read again and again.
- If the article is short and if you have time, I would suggest reading it over a few times throughout the day. This will help you memorize new words and phrases.