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Skim reading

What is skim reading?

Skim reading is doing a quick read to get a general understanding of the text.

You should understand what the whole passage is about.

You should be able to summarise what each paragraph is about.

Why do I need to skim read?

There are two main reasons to do a skim read.

There are questions about the main idea of paragraphs.
You know where to look for the answer. When you know what each paragraph is about, you can search it straight away for the answer.

How much time should I spend doing a skim read?

This depends on your level

Maximum 5 minutes - this still gives you more than one minute per question.

When you are more confident and able, you can reduce your skim read to 2 - 3 minutes.

DON'T DO A VERY FAST SKIM READ IF YOU DON'T GET AN UNDERSTANDING. YOU ARE JUST WASTING YOUR TIME.

How can I do a skim read?

There are a few techniques you can practice to help improve your skim reading.

Topic sentences and final sentences. The first sentence of a paragraph is usually a topic sentence and let's the reader know what the paragraph will be about. The final sentence can be a summarising sentence.
Focusing on content words and ignoring function words. Content words are words that give a sentence its meaning such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Function words are just there for a grammatical purpose such as articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.
Skip unknown words. If there is a word you do not know, skip it! Focus on the words you can understand.

How do I practice and improve my skim reading?

This technique can help you improve your skim reading.

Step 1 - do a skim read of a paragraph in timed conditions.

Step 2 - write down what you think the paragraph was about.

Step 3 - read the paragraph again slowly. Look up any words you don't understand.

Step 4 - look at your original summary of the paragraph and think if you were right or wrong. If you were wrong, look to see what it was that confused you.

Frequent general reading will always improve your skim reading as you get more used to grammatical structures and vocabulary.