Challenges of Reading

Being able to read text in English can open up a lot of opportunities for you. Think how much you read every single day.
Instructions, news articles, transportation signs.These are all examples of things you have to read.So you can see how important reading is to anyone learning English.
We spoke to a few English language learnersabout the challenges and successes they encountered while working to improve their English reading skills.
– [Voiceover] It takes me a long time to read in English, I have to read things three or four times before I understand them.
– [Voiceover] When I started learning English reading several years ago, the most challenging part for me is the vocabulary. Because if I cannot recognize several words in a paragraph, I just cannot grasp the meaning of the whole paragraph, or the passage.
– [Voiceover] When I read, I’m not sure which information is important, and which information is not so important.
– [Voiceover] When I first started reading in English, I would stop often to look up the words I didn’t know. But the more I read, the larger my vocabulary becomes. I have also learned that I don’t need to understand every word in a passage. I try to figure out words from context, and only look up words when I absolutely have to.
– [Voiceover] When I read, I take notes about important points. When I take notes, I put things into my own words.
This helps me better understand what a reading passage is about.
– Let’s address some of the concerns you have
about reading, by preparing together.