Reading Skills

Hopefully this course book has given you a lot of tips on how to improve your reading skills.

However, if you struggle with reading because of a learning difference (a physical or hidden disability) or are worried you may have a more serious problem, here are a few final tips that we hope will help:

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• Make sure you have spoken to the Learning Support department about your issues. If you didn't see them during enrolment, pop up to the Study centre, room 235, to arrange an appointment to discuss your needs. They can also advise you on appropriate assessment of your reading needs (if necessary), in or out of college, to help you understand what might be going on.
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• Take a look at the Learning and Study Support page on Support for Reading, which encourages the use of Read & Write Gold and testing your readability, as well as suggesting tips for visual stress, etc.
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• Use audio books to help you keep up with reading longer texts - this is a particularly good idea for studying English language or literature. Speak to the ILC staff about what audio books are available to borrow from the college library and whether they can get one in for you.
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• Always keep a dictionary nearby, and don't be afraid to use it!
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• Set time limits for reading, so that you don't go beyond your concentration limit. There's no point in pushing yourself to do more than you can, or you'll struggle even more. Choose a reasonable length of time that works for you, then take a short break - make a drink or take the dog for a walk! Don't be tempted to break from reading a book to read social media - this will just continue to tire your eyes. Do something different, look away, and come back refreshed...