Comprehensive reading definition

Comprehension | Reading Rockets

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about what they have read.

One big part of comprehension is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of enough words. Readers who have strong comprehension are able to draw conclusions about what they read – what is important, what is a fact, what caused an event to happen, which characters are funny. Thus comprehension involves combining reading with thinking and reasoning.

Target the Problem: Comprehension

What the problem looks like

A kid's perspective: What this feels like to me

Children will usually express their frustration and difficulties in a general way, with statements like "I hate reading!" or "This is stupid!". But if they could, this is how kids might describe how comprehension difficulties in particular affect their reading:

It takes me so long to read something. It's hard to follow along with everything going on.
I didn't really get what that book was about.
Why did that character do that? I just don't get it!
I'm not sure what the most important parts of the book were.
I couldn't really create an image in my head of what was going on.

A parent's perspective: What I see at home

Here are some clues for parents that a child may have problems with comprehension:

She's not able to summarize a passage or a book.
He might be able to tell you what happened in a story, but can't explain why events went the way they did.
She can't explain what a character's thoughts or feelings might have been.
He doesn't link events in a book to similar events from another book or from real life.

A teacher's perspective: What I see in the classroom

Here are some clues for teachers that a student may have problems with comprehension:

He seems to focus on the "wrong" aspect of a passage; for example, he concentrates so much on the details that the main idea is lost.
She can tell the outcome of a story, but cannot explain why things turned out that way.
He does not go behind what is presented in a book to think about what might happen next or why characters took the action they did.
She brings up irrelevant information when trying to relate a passage to something in her own life.
He seems to have a weak vocabulary.
She cannot tell the clear, logical sequence of events in a story.
He does not pick out the key facts from informational text.
He cannot give you a "picture" of what's going on in a written passage; for example, what the characters look like or details of where the story takes place.

How to help

With the help of parents and teachers, kids can learn strategies to cope with comprehension problems that affect his or her reading. Below are some tips and specific things to do.

What kids can do to help themselves

Use outlines, maps, and notes when you read.
Make flash cards of key terms you might want to remember.
Read stories or passages in short sections and make sure you know what happened before you continue reading.
Ask yourself, "Does this make sense?" If it doesn't, reread the part that didn't make sense.
Read with a buddy. Stop every page or so and take turns summarizing what you've read.
Ask a parent or teacher to preview a book with you before you read it on your own.
As you read, try to form mental pictures or images that match the story.

What parents can do to help at home

Hold a conversation and discuss what your child has read. Ask your child probing questions about the book and connect the events to his or her own life. For example, say "I wonder why that girl did that?" or "How do you think he felt? Why?" and "So, what lesson can we learn here?".
Help your child make connections between what he or she reads and similar experiences he has felt, saw in a movie, or read in another book.
Help your child monitor his or her understanding. Teach her to continually ask herself whether she understands what she's reading.
Help your child go back to the text to support his or her answers.
Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those he reads and those he hears.
Read material in short sections, making sure your child understands each step of the way.
Discuss what your child has learned from reading informational text such as a science or social studies book.

What teachers can do to help at school

As students read, ask them open-ended questions such as "Why did things happen that way?" or "What is the author trying to do here?" and "Why is this somewhat confusing?".
Teach students the structure of different types of reading material. For instance, narrative texts usually have a problem, a highpoint of action, and a resolution to the problem. Informational texts may describe, compare and contrast, or present a sequence of events.
Discuss the meaning of words as you go through the text. Target a few words for deeper teaching, really probing what those words mean and how they can be used.
Teach note-taking skills and summarizing strategies.
Use graphic organizers that help students break information down and keep tack of what they read.
Encourage students to use and revisit targeted vocabulary words.
Teach students to monitor their own understanding. Show them how, for example, to ask themselves "What's unclear here?" or "What information am I missing?" and "What else should the author be telling me?".
Teach children how to make predictions and how to summarize.

More information

Find out more about comprehension issues with these resources from Reading Rockets, The Access Center, and LD OnLine:

The Importance of Reading Comprehension

Many children in the United States haven’t fully developed their reading skills. Between 2017 and 2019, the number of children in grades 4 through 8 reading at or above their grade level decreased. In other words, the number of children who lack the necessary reading skills increased.

The National Reading Panel Report identified five components vital to developing reading skills: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Although each component is important in developing a child’s reading ability, the following information focuses on four comprehension strategies that are used to help increase the reading comprehension of young children and older children who are struggling with reading.

Comprehension refers to the ability to understand written words. It is different from the ability to recognize words. Recognizing words on a page but not knowing what they mean does not fulfill the purpose or goal of reading, which is comprehension. Imagine, for example, that a teacher gives a child a passage to read. The child can read the entire passage, but he or she knows nothing when asked to explain what was read. Comprehension adds meaning to what is read. Reading comprehension occurs when words on a page are not just mere words but thoughts and ideas. Comprehension makes reading enjoyable, fun, and informative. It is needed to succeed in school, work, and life in general.

There are different strategies to use to enhance comprehension. It takes patience and continuous guidance when using these strategies. When working with children, remember to model the strategy as well as provide guided practice. As their skills increase, slowly decrease your guidance. The goal is to get children to use the strategies automatically. The following are strategies that can be used to help build reading comprehension in children:

Predicting

This strategy involves asking children to make informed predictions based on what they obtain from the story or text. Predictions require asking children to make guesses about what might happen. Predictions are made based on what they see, hear, or read relative to the book’s cover, title, pictures, drawing, table of content, and headings.

When asked a question, such as “What do you think this book will be about?” or “What do you think will happen to/if …?,” children make predictions or guesses when answering. Predicting builds interest and understanding of the text, and it establishes a purpose for reading. This strategy keeps children actively engaged by connecting, reflecting, and revising their predictions.

Making Connections to Prior Knowledge

Making connections to prior knowledge involves connecting a new idea to knowledge and experiences already known. It requires getting children to relate their own experiences to something in the story. The goal is to get children to use their prior knowledge to help make sense of the text they read. Prior knowledge can include their experiences or knowledge of words, places, animals, or events. For example, the children know the word “bones” because of a previous discussion on bones because of a classmate’s broken arm. When they read a new word, such as “skeleton”, their prior knowledge of bones will be used to help them understand the new term.

Children start by making connections between text and their personal experiences (text-to-self). As they grow older, connections are made between different books, texts, or ideas by identifying similarities. In other words, to increase comprehension, get children to make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections before, during, and after they read. For example, a discussion of the new or difficult vocabulary words before reading the text can help increase children’s comprehension. When reading, they can then activate their prior knowledge of the new terms.

Visualizing

Visualizing is also a strategy used to increase reading comprehension. It requires getting children to create in their minds a mental image of what they read from the text. Children can mentally envision what they are reading. The mental image helps children understand, recall details, remember, and draw conclusions from the things they encountered while reading. For example, ask children to make a drawing based on what they read. Also, while reading a passage to children, ask them to close their eyes and listen. Ask them to create a movie in their mind of what the words are describing.

Summarizing

This strategy involves getting children, when reading, to identify the main idea in the text and putting the idea into their own words. Children must sort through the information to determine what information is important and what is unimportant. They take the most important information and put it in their own words and use as few words as possible to explain the text. This strategy is not to be applied only at the end of the story. Instead, children should be taught to summarize throughout the story.

Without comprehension, children gain no meaning from what they read. Comprehension strategies are used to increase children’s understanding of the text to help them become active readers by engaging with the text. Learn more about Alabama Extension’s Parent-Child Reading Enhancement Program to enhance a child’s reading ability.

"I read, I think, I live - I don't just exist." Success story //Psychological newspaper

We publish your Success Stories. As a reminder, several story writers will be able to take part free of charge in the Technology of Success Professionals Summit, which will be held June 1-3, 2012. More information is on the category page.

"Oh, I don't like to read!" - with such a bitter confession, our conversation with the fifth grader Daria Kononenko begins. This is already an adult girl, she can express her feelings. And how many unformulated, unspoken negative emotions the process of reading causes in many younger students who have difficulties and impairments in the formation of this basic skill. I, as a teacher-speech therapist, by the nature of my activity, constantly encounter children who have similar problems, who feel their inadequacy, perhaps in the most significant and “audible” kind of activity for classmates in different lessons - reading aloud. According to various data, there are now from 5 to 12% of students in the school who have specific or non-specific disorders in the formation of reading. It is based on a persistent inability to master syllabic fusion or automated reading of whole words, as well as a pronounced impairment in reading comprehension.

Nothing happens by chance in life, there are no simple coincidences, desires come true sooner or later, dreams come true. And someone purposefully leads you along the predestined path. I intuitively felt this always, but recently there is more and more evidence confirming this life theorem.

Year 1985 . In the children's polyclinic of the Magadan City Clinical Hospital No. 1, where I, a young specialist, work as a speech therapist, I came across the manual "Early detection of dyslexia (reading disorders) in children." Ministry of Health, Leningrad. Authors Isaev and Kornev. A screening technique that does not take much time, recommended for use in practice by all doctors. For a long time I imagined these mysterious Leningrad scientists who were not afraid to raise problems in the most reading country in the world at the level of the formation of children's reading and who proposed a unified methodology for identifying problems in children even before the start of schooling.

Year 1998 . In a small bookstore of the Volgograd Pedagogical Institute, I came across a book that turned my ideas about approaches to work on overcoming reading disorders, filled pedagogical activity with new meaning, and laid the foundation for the formation of an integral harmonious system of work. This book was called "Disorders of reading and writing in children." The author is Alexander Nikolaevich Kornev, already familiar to me, a candidate of psychological sciences, president of the St. Petersburg Association of Speech Pathologists. For a long time, my college friend Lena Belyakova and I were content with one copy of this book: we copied it, sent it to each other from Dmitrov, Moscow Region, to Volgograd and back, heatedly discussed points of particular interest,

Just at that time, at 18. 45 on Radio Russia, a 15-minute program “School for Parents” was broadcast every evening, dedicated to the formation of children's reading. The leader, popularizer of the ideas of children's reading, was the same St. Petersburg scientist Kornev Alexander Nikolaevich. Oh, how accessible, step by step, this man explained the problems, one on one with which many of today's parents find themselves! I remember how I ran home from work in the cold and immediately to the radio. I regretted for a long time that I had not recorded these short programs on a dictaphone. It was still impossible to explain more sensibly and more accessible anyway. At the same time, our “correspondence” with Alexander Nikolayevich also began. I still keep the notes and tables kindly sent by him in response to our questions.

Year 2009 . I'm going to St. Petersburg for the III Annual Summit of professionals "Successful psychologists: exchange of experience." The title of the round table “Dyslexia and dysgraphia (impaired reading and writing) is the scourge of modern education. The main causes, prevention and ways of effective correction. And the opportunity to see and hear Alexander Nikolayevich Kornev. The meeting did not deceive expectations, inspired with new joint plans, opened up new horizons, justifying the motto of that Summit “Crisis is a chance!”

Year 2010 . Together with speech therapists of the Soviet TU KOAV, we are conducting a systematic study of the state of the reading skill of students in grades 2-6 of secondary schools. 372 students from 12 schools were examined. I think that I will not be mistaken, assuming: the first mass touch for Volgograd on the author's technique of A.N. Kornev, it was, although trial, but interesting for my colleagues. And in November, to dot the i’s, I’m going to St. Petersburg, to the author’s seminar “Modern methods for preventing and correcting dyslexia in children: a multidisciplinary model” by A.N. Kornev. I enjoy 3 days of fruitful professional communication with the professor of the Department of General and Applied Psychology of the St. Petersburg Pediatric Academy, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Candidate of Psychological Sciences. Communication, I dare to hope, is mutual, since Alexander Nikolaevich asks us, the students of the seminar, who came from Volgograd, Kronstadt, Petrozavodsk and Severodvinsk, a lot and in detail about the state of affairs in our cities. And in the evenings after lectures, at home, he listens to audio recordings of our Volgograd schoolchildren, watches videos, and then comments during lectures: corrects or approves. Both of these are good for us! And as in my distant Moscow student years, a sense of pride from belonging to the Master and his Mastery penetrates the soul, overflows the heart ...

A.N. Kornev is a scientist in demand in different countries of the world, including those where there are Russian communities and where Russian children are taught in Russian. He is a member of the RAD - the Russian Association of Dyslexia, Vice-President of the St. Petersburg Association of Speech Pathologists, he is interested in the issues of current bilingual (bilingual) education. Alexander Nikolayevich is a versatile person, open to professional communication, sympathetic. National science is proud of such people. And the approaches and methods of Professor Kornev deserve special consideration, understanding and acceptance.

I remember Alexander Nikolaevich's lecture: “There are two models in the psychology of reading. The first considers reading as a technical process of decoding a graphic (alphabetic) model of a word into an oral language form. The second is as a reading activity that has a motive, a choice of means. What is the global, comprehensive definition of M.Cole et al. (1989) given by Kornev: reading is a way of "expanding the means of interaction between an individual and the environment through the interpretation of graphic signs." And it is better not to convey the meaning and relationship of the adaptive and communicative aspect of the skill formed in each child with the processes of decoding and interpretation. In this regard, the words of D. B. Elkonin, who believed that "reading aloud is a kind of speaking according to a graphic (letter) model." And again, as a speech therapist, as a teacher, as a woman, with my mind, soul, heart, I understand how I want to hear smooth, beautiful reading, as well as the speaking of each of my pupils, students, children.

Unexpectedly, I receive everyday confirmation that operational, fluent reading, without reflection and understanding, is not reading yet, but just an operation. I read "Disorders of reading and writing in children" by A.N. Korneva, and on TV they repeat the series about the beloved in the 90s furry puppet character Alpha (apparently, from “ a ” - the first letter of the Greek alphabet):

- What are you doing, Alf?

- I read with speed reading

(drives quickly along the lines with his finger)

- And what is the book about?

- I do not know, but the fur on the finger has already worn off.

Or, Alf:

- You do not believe me? To the boy who shouted "Wolves!" didn't believe it either.

This boy was lying!

- Yes!? Looks like I'm going to have to give up on speed reading.

The model of “operational reading units” developed by Kornev is based on the theory of N.A. Bernstein, about the level principle of skills formation. According to this theory, any skill and the operations of which it consists, at the initial stage of its formation, is carried out completely under the control of consciousness. The scheme of regulation and control over actions is maximally deployed. As the skill improves, individual operations are automated, and their regulation is carried out in a more convoluted form, beyond the control of consciousness. And at the end of this process, only the final result of the entire chain of operations remains under the control of consciousness. This pattern applies to reading as well. If we simplify the process of reading, we will see that it consists of a series of separate operations: identifying a letter, merging several letters into a syllable, merging several syllables into a word, integrating several read words into a complete phrase or utterance. At the very initial stage of learning, each of these operations is carried out under conscious control and requires a separate mental effort on the part of the child. At each stage of the development of reading, there is an operation that is so perfected that it proceeds automatically. It represents the level at which decoding has now reached its final maturity, has become automated and no longer requires conscious control. The number of characters that is worked out at this level, Kornev considers as an operational unit of reading that has achieved automation. Such operational units can be a letter, a syllable of the SG type (where "S" is a consonant and "G" is a vowel), GS, a syllable CGS, a syllable SSG, a syllable SGSS, SSGS, a word or a group of words.

If there are no unforeseen difficulties, then all operations are automated and proceed unconsciously. And so, in the end, only the understanding of a phrase or statement remains under control.

The main sign that the reading of syllables of this type has been automated is their recognition at a glance, all at once, in its entirety, and not sequentially, by elements. Imagine separate lists of 100 letters, 100 syllables like SG and GS, 100 syllables like SG and SSG, and so on. Children who have not automatized the reading of syllables of one type or another read a list of them much more slowly than a list of simpler, well-learned syllables.

As you know, the recognition and understanding of the word occurs after the reconstruction of its sound form. Therefore, the process of enlargement of operational reading units significantly affects the success of reading comprehension. The amount of RAM for an adult can hold 7 + 2 storage units. A child of primary school age has 2 units less. Here is our first grader reading the word "tortoise", consisting of 4 syllables and 8 letters. If his operational unit of reading is the syllable SG (consonant, vowel), then he will read, keeping all the syllables in the RAM, and will understand this word quickly. And in the case of letter-by-letter reading, the number of storage units (8) will overflow the RAM, and the child will have to re-read the word 2-3 times.

The efficiency of decoding and syllabic fusion operations depends on the "readability of the text". The circumstances that affect the difficulty of reading include the syllabic structure of words, their frequency, font, reading mood (interesting - uninteresting). The structure of phrases, the complexity of syntax, the contextual or situational form of speech, the knowledge base about the world, vocabulary - all this affects the speed of understanding what is being read. The strategy and quality of understanding depend on the psychological attitude of the reader. Reading for formal understanding as a learning task? Reading to satisfy interest in the event side of the text? Reading for practical business information? Discussing the model of understanding when reading abstractly, regardless of the psychological context, Kornev believes, hardly makes sense. For the same reason, the teaching methodology, the specifics of setting a learning task when reading, significantly affect the formation of the ability to fully understand what is read. The development of this ability continues to improve after leaving school, and even into adulthood. Reading, both genetically and psychologically, is influenced by the family index of attitude towards the BOOK. The "field" of a child's involvement in reading in 60-70% of cases depends on heredity. And the lack of communication in the family is an obstacle to the normal mastery of the reading process.

There is a concept of "reading literacy". It is capacious, global. And along with the ability of a person to comprehend written texts and reflect on them, it includes the use of their content to achieve their own goals, develop knowledge and capabilities, and therefore, it is necessary for active participation in society. I read, I think, I live - I don’t just exist ...

On September 28, 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin set a new national goal - to increase interest in reading. Speaking at the congress of the Russian Book Union, he called for "reviving people's need for books." The prime minister stressed that "it is important to develop and then put into practice a unified strategy of action, understood and accepted by the whole society."

About a man who knows everything about reading and even more, my story. Alexander Nikolayevich Kornev was the first in our country to speak about the prevention of violations of this difficult process. The system of primary measures, in his opinion, consists in eliminating the main etiological factors and consists in preventing ante- and perinatal pathology of the fetus and newborn. Includes measures to reduce somatic and infectious morbidity in children in the first years of life, diagnosis and treatment of perinatal cerebral pathology. Currently, all this in our state is given a lot of attention. Perinatal centers equipped with the latest technology are being built. One of them is visible from my window. But where and how are measures for early diagnosis and correction of speech disorders carried out? After all, the late appearance of the first words (after 1 year and 3 months) and phrases (after 2 years) is a sufficient reason for the intervention of a speech therapist. Symptoms of the deviant development of the child's phonological system are an unconditional indication for a course of speech therapy and medical and pedagogical correction. In the presence of bilingualism in a child, it is necessary to choose adequate methods for teaching literacy. Children who change their language of instruction are at risk for dyslexia and should receive individual assistance in learning a second language. You won't see this anywhere either. Unfortunately, I cannot give exact data on the number of students who came to school practically speaking no Russian, or having the practice of bilingual communication (at home - in their native language, in a preschool institution, and then at school - in Russian). Yulia Tyumeneva, a researcher at the Institute for the Development of Education, gives the following example: in Moscow for 9In the months of 2008, 1.2 million migrants were registered, many of whom do not speak Russian among themselves.

According to the results of a speech therapy examination conducted at the St. Petersburg Center "Health" by Professor V.A. Kalyagin, today up to 55% of children aged 6.5 - 8.5 years with impaired sound pronunciation and phonemic hearing enter the first grades of general education schools. Almost the same number (of the total number of applicants) have a poor vocabulary, an unformed grammatical structure of speech, do not know how to coherently express their thoughts, tell from a picture or a series of pictures, or retell fairy tales. 63% of children do not cope well with reading and writing, and prerequisites for writing disorders were identified in 16% of preschoolers.

There is no work at all with disadvantaged families and families of children who do not attend kindergartens. It is necessary to organize consultation points for parents, with teaching and explaining the methods of preparing the child for learning, developing the necessary sensorimotor and speech skills. Mass media, periodicals - everything should be at the service of solving the problem. In kindergartens, it is necessary to teach parents how to communicate with kids and what, how much and how to read to children at home. Talk about the need for parental example and the revival of long-forgotten family reading traditions. In schools, explain to teachers that the requirement to read in whole words, not based on the foundation of automated reading of syllables, only harms the child. Finally, it is absolutely necessary to revive, if you want to re-introduce, the practice of screening according to the method of early detection of dyslexia (EED) in kindergartens and clinics, in PPMS centers, in the first grades of schools. Testing followed by early intervention in children with a predisposition to reading disorders.

And again about mine. As a student she studied the laws of dialectics. One of them speaks of "the transition of quantity into quality", the other - of the development in a spiral. Not instantaneous, by the wave of a magic wand, but long and painstaking is the process of speech correction. Until the amount of forces given to the child by the mentor, his parents, the student's own efforts do not turn into a new quality of pure, intelligible, interesting speaking. It is possible that problems will appear on a new round of the spiral of development - schooling, in the form of writing and reading disorders. And then everything is all over again: worries, anxieties and ... newfound confidence. All this can take years. I know firsthand: in Ulyanovsk and Samara there are no longer speech therapists in schools. They also talk about layoffs in kindergartens. Question: will parents be able to pay for the number of speech therapy classes, which over time will turn into the quality of oral and written speech? Let's think about this and we will only improve, fill with new content, transferring to the rails of the mode of further development, the system of speech therapy assistance that has developed in the country for young citizens of the 21st century. Let's work, build, not destroy. Good luck to all of us!

P.S. I am glad to inform you that the pretty sixth grader Daria Kononenko has grown up, changed her attitude to reading, worked hard, improved her performance in the SMINCH test (a systematic method for studying reading skills) and is engaged in the theater group of the gymnasium.

“I read, I think, I live – I don’t just exist!”

Olga Epifanova,

speech pathologist,

Volgograd

golden rules that helped me / Sudo Null IT News

It's summer in the city, early morning. I am sitting on the balcony and in front of me are a pile of books, a tablet and the latest issue of Science and Life. I have almost two hours before the start of a noisy and stressful work day, which I can devote to one of my favorite activities - reading.

The Petersburg sun is already heating the streets with might and main, but our balcony faces the west, so I enjoy pleasant shade and morning coolness. In the afternoon, the sun will go around our house and then the real hell will begin, but for now, the balcony has ideal conditions for reading.

Putting on glasses, I slowly open the first book and plunge into the flow of events, facts, theories and interesting thoughts that its author has carefully collected for me. From time to time I look up from the page to rest my eyes and let my brain process what I've read. It's nice to change the focus of your vision when thinking about a book: from people walking in the yard with dogs to a distant skyscraper on the horizon. At the same time, thoughts in my head move from details and particulars to the big picture. As if the data from the cache is parsed, processed and connected by links with an already stored array of information.

Reading habits and preferences change with age. At school, we read in a completely different way than now, although we are not always aware of this. Reading methods are developing among all mankind. In ancient times, our ancestors did not know how to perceive texts "to themselves": for them there was only one way to read - aloud.

My reading habits have also changed over the years. At the institute, I started working from the first year (and we also had a scholarship then), and I spent most of my money on all sorts of computer things and paper books. I bought fashionable then Pelevin, Murakami, Pavich, Perez-Reverte on stalls at the House of Culture of the Lensoviet opposite the Petrogradskaya metro station (I then considered myself a terribly progressive intellectual).

Then high-quality readers and tablets appeared, and for a long time I preferred e-books. In them, you could adjust the background color, choose a typeface and font size - preferably more, so as not to strain your eyesight. At the same time, audiobooks were gaining popularity, but, as they say, they “didn’t work” for me. I like to read the text in a non-linear way, to return to what I have read, to interrupt from time to time in order to think over interesting ideas and fragments, to look through the table of contents. With audiobooks, such "tricks" do not work.

The recent purchase of reading glasses has contributed to the renaissance of paper publishing in my personal book world. For memory, I write down all the books I read in a special notebook - a reader's diary. Now in this diary of electronic and paper books about equally.

A book is a subject so universal and all-encompassing that everyone has their own unique and original way to interact with it. I have such personal ways, rules and methods. Over the years, they accumulated and changed - now I already read in a completely different way than before. As a result, they all formed into a kind of system that helps me dive even deeper into the world of the book, make the reading process even brighter and more interesting, understand the thoughts and ideas of the author even better, and even more skillfully read between the lines.

I want to share with you a few rules from my system. Of course, they are not suitable for everyone. Giving advice on how to read books is a thankless task. It's like teaching others how to properly listen to music. In addition, recommendations for the younger generation on how to start reading at least something are now more relevant - where can we share methods to improve the reading process. But perhaps you will find something useful and interesting in these tips. At one time they were very useful to me and I included them in my system.

1. Read every interesting book twice

In the 21st century, this advice sounds a little strange. In our crazy schedule, some find it difficult to even just set aside time to read, and even spending it on each book twice is some kind of unaffordable luxury. But rereading a book can be enjoyable and rewarding. First, we often feel sorry that a good book ends so quickly. What's the matter: open the first page and start reading from the beginning. No matter how carefully we read the book the first time, there are always many nuances that we missed on the second reading. Secondly, you often want to remember a good book properly, to put in your head those thoughts that the author wants to convey. In this case, rereading is a wonderful way to help the brain in this difficult task.

I came across this advice in minor variations in various sources. More recently, I read it in Rolf Dobelli's wonderful book Without News: "It is already known: books must be read twice, re-reading at once, so as not to forget the most important thing." And further: “The effectiveness of a double reading exceeds the effect of a single reading not twice, but ten times that way. I have seen this from my own experience. The recommendation to read the text twice applies, of course, to long articles. To make this task easier for the reader, the author gives a brief synopsis after each chapter.

I re-read the books I liked many times. Sometimes a few years after I closed the last page, and sometimes almost immediately. And each time I was convinced from my own experience that for the first time only the uppermost semantic layer of the text is available to us. All subsequent layers can be opened only if the book is reread a few more times. Good books are three-dimensional.

2. Do not read forewords written by non-authors

I heard this useful advice at the very beginning of my studies at the institute. Since then, I have tried to follow this rule when reading any literature - both technical and popular science, as well as fiction.

A preface to a book may appear for various purposes. There are prefaces laudatory and advertising. Like, admire what a wonderful book you are holding in your hands. But I do not need to advertise the book additionally - I have already picked it up and am going to read it.

There are indulgent prefaces. A great way to make a fool out of a person is to write “Original spelling retained” before their words, regardless of the presence of errors in the text. After such a preface, any reader will have a preconceived notion about the author and the book. I have always been uncomfortable reading prefaces in which someone puts himself above the author of the book and treats him condescendingly. Sometimes this approach can be found in the notes.

There are explanatory-informative prefaces. They usually appear before books that were written a very long time ago. In them, the specialist explains to modern readers the features of life and the surrounding reality in which the work was created. Such information can be useful and interesting, but it seems to me that it is better to place it at the end of the book, and not at the beginning.

In any case, a preface written by a non-author of a book is essentially a review of that book. There is nothing wrong with reviews, but it seems to me that it is better to read them not before, but after the main author's text. You always want to form your own opinion about a book first. And then it will be possible to compare it with the thoughts of others about "what the author wanted to say in his work."

3. Read several books at the same time

I like to switch between books: read one chapter from a fantasy novel, then switch to a non-fiction book, then learn something new and useful from a technical guide. At first glance, it may seem that such an approach would interfere with perception. But my brain loves this variety.

This useful advice was given to me by my grandmother many years ago. More precisely, she never formulated it, but from childhood I saw on her bedside table a stack of books, newspapers and magazines "New World" and "Foreign Literature". Usually in the evenings, after finishing all her business, Grandma put on her glasses, lit a cozy table lamp, and sat down to read. It was only her time. After reading one book for a while, she picked up the next one. Looking at it as a child, I did not understand how you can read several books at the same time, but now I read it myself. My grandmother had a very good memory, a clear, precise and inquisitive mind. Now I understand that I took over my all-consuming love of reading from her.

Switching between books adds another dimension to the linear flow of a single text. I have not one, but several lines at once. At first, they run strictly parallel, but after a while they begin to intertwine intricately. Books begin to "talk" to each other. There are intersections at different levels - in one book I suddenly meet what I (perhaps indirectly) read about in another.

The brain loves such intersections. For him, these are additional knots that help memorize and better understand information. When he meets them, he happily begins to build connections for a complex picture that would never have appeared had I read these books individually. Everything unusual and most interesting is always located on the borders of sciences and knowledge, on their invisible connections.

4. Always know where you are

For many years, I have experienced each book as a single stream of text that flows through me as I read. But any good book has a clear, thoughtful structure. It has chapters, sections and subsections. The author took care to structure the information properly. It would be wrong to neglect this useful resource.

Now I have a rule: before I start reading the next chapter or section, I open the table of contents and refresh the structure of the book in my memory. Sometimes I flip through pages I've already read to remember the most important thoughts from previous chapters. I look through the unread sections as well, in order to have a general idea of what lies ahead for me. In this way, I kind of sweep away the dust from previous constructions in my head, so that it would be more convenient for the brain to continue building the building of ideas and knowledge.

This simple and obvious advice applies to more than just books. It is always useful to clearly understand where you are - in space, time and life.

5. Formulate your thoughts before reading the book

This advice seems obvious, but I have neglected it before. Although I skipped other people's forewords, did not read reviews and reviews (they would prevent me from forming an unbiased opinion about the book myself), but in doing so I missed another powerful level of influence on my mind - the flow of thoughts, ideas and arguments of the author.

Let's say I have a new book about the Universe in front of me. It doesn’t even matter what genre it is written in: popular science or science fiction. Even if it's a Stephen Hawking book. In any case, it will be useful to spend a few minutes before starting reading and fish out your thoughts and knowledge from the depths of the brain: what do I know on this topic, what is new and interesting that I recently read or watched somewhere else.

If this is not done, then all my thoughts and memories will quickly recede into the shadows before the powerful monologue of the author. Of course, this knowledge will not go anywhere, but without additional reflection, it will remain somewhere in the depths of memory. If they are removed from there in advance and blow off a layer of dust and lime, then I will get the opportunity to conduct a dialogue with the author. To agree with him in some ways, to object to something. Perhaps the author will make me change my mind on some issues. But this change will not be passive, but conscious, reasoned and thoughtful.