You want to increase your reading speed in English but still grasp the main idea and layout of the entire article. Do you want to practice your reading comprehension skills but don't know where to start? If you are looking for ways to practice reading and understanding English, please take a few precious minutes to read the article below!

1. Practice reading English passages

To test your English pronunciation skills and practice reading comprehension, you should practice reading passages regularly. But few people understand how to practice reading English passages most effectively. Take a few minutes to grasp the secret to helping you practice reading and understand English most effectively!

a. Understand the content of the passage

To read a passage well, you need to understand the content of that passage. Because through the content of the paragraph, you will know what is the main part and what is the first part? From there, you will know where to read and pause.

Understanding the content also helps you express emotions appropriate to the passage. For example, for a humorous passage, you must express humor through emotion and voice.

And to understand the content of the passage, you can use a dictionary to look it up. Then use a pencil to write down the meaning next to the vocabulary to facilitate the process of translating the reading content. And if you have time, write it down in Vietnamese on paper for better understanding.

b. Transcribe words you don't know

There are many people who think that reading such a long passage, if there are a few words you don't know, you should just read based on experience (you may even read it wrong). If there is a mistake, no one will pay attention. However, this is wrong and dangerous. If you misread this word many times, you will gradually have the reflex to misread that word.

Therefore, you need to transcribe words you do not know to read correctly. Using a dictionary to look up words helps you find the correct pronunciation of the word. Write down the pronunciation next to the new word so that when you read, you can look at the pronunciation and not misread the word.

c. Read one article carefully, do not read many articles at once

In the process of reading comprehension, there are many things you need to pay attention to when reading. For example: how to pronounce words correctly, how to connect sounds, stress sounds, pause at the right time... And not to mention how to match the reading voice with the content.

Therefore, you need to read an article carefully, until it meets the requirements. Every time you read it again and again, you will remember the new vocabulary better. From there, your reading will also be smoother. If you keep reading a lot of articles and not reading them correctly, your English reading comprehension practice will not improve.

d. When practicing reading, record it

Recording while practicing reading passages will help you check the entire reading practice process. You will be able to review how you read, whether there are any mistakes in pronunciation? Or is there an inappropriate place to pause?

One thing to note is that when recording, if you are mispronouncing a word, just read it again and continue reading until the end of the lesson then turn off the recording. Many of you keep reading and see that you misread a sentence, then turn off the recording and don't read anymore. If you do that, you'll keep reading and re-reading and recording, but you won't be able to record a complete song.

2. Practice reading English by topic

In the process of practicing English reading comprehension, practicing reading with diverse topics or issues that interest you will increase your interest in reading. Therefore, practicing reading by topic is very important during the practice process. This is a method to help you improve your reading ability.

Below are some websites that provide selected readings by topic to help you practice your reading skills and supplement your vocabulary.

a. Practice reading and understanding English with BBC

It can be said that BBC is the most popular and best website to help practice English reading comprehension skills. The style is academic, so the readings on the BBC have diverse and rich content. Readings are also arranged from easy to difficult levels.

Learners will have access to a lot of different information and knowledge in most different fields. However, because the web provides a large and complex vocabulary and grammar, it will not really be suitable for those who are beginners in learning English.

b. Practice English reading comprehension with Many Things

If you want to learn more about American culture, this is a website that provides many readings in the form of short stories for you to learn.

Through readings, learners also learn about the structure and use of metaphorical words in communication or American culture. Besides practicing reading comprehension, Many Things also has a listening function. You will have a website to practice listening and speaking skills in extremely high quality English and American accents.

c. Read English by topic on English Online

English Online includes many readings for beginners learning English. The readings are arranged according to many different topics and fields. From daily life to academic matters.

The readings at English Online are carefully selected and suitable for each different learner. Furthermore, at the end of each lesson there is a list of new vocabulary to help learners remember the lesson easily. However, the limitation of this website is the lack of exercises so that learners can do the exercises immediately after reading.

d. English Club

English Club is an academic forum where many learning experiences and rich materials are shared. In English, readings are arranged by topic in the form of short stories, readings or common idioms.

On English Club you can also easily search for knowledge and practice 4 English skills.

e. Practice reading English through stories

Practicing reading and understanding English through stories will help you improve your level gradually. What is the reason?

Increase vocabulary and improve grammar skills

Simple short stories with only a small amount of new words. And when you read this story, you will definitely feel quite comfortable. You won't be overwhelmed or bored because there are so many new vocabulary words. Or feel as dry as the textbooks compiled to practice reading English.

A story is always more interesting and easier to understand than common theories. You can also see the differences between words and phrases used in different contexts.

Listening and reading become very interesting

After all, listening and reading English stories is one of the interesting ways to relax. You will not feel any stress or fatigue. If you love reading but are afraid of reading a thick novel, start with short stories first.

So how to practice reading comprehension in English through stories to improve Reading skills?

First, you must determine the main content of the story before reading

Skim through a few short sentences to get the gist of the whole story. Knowing the content of the book in advance will help you grasp the context better when you encounter confusing passages.

Read slowly to understand

You don't necessarily have to read too fast. You just need to read at a suitable speed to avoid missing important details.

Read and take notes at the same time

Use a small notebook or notepad to write down new phrases that appear in the story. And before taking notes, you should also consider the situation in the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Then use the dictionary to look up the word again. This method will help you increase your vocabulary significantly.

Reread it many times

Don't be afraid to reread the story many times. Because rereading will help you remember longer, not only the content of the story. But I still remember the words that were noted down before.