Hello. Can you believe we're almost done with our course? Well, we've definitely kept you busy with a lot information thus far. During the last communication lessons, we will focus on reading strategies. We will study what we should do before, during, and after we read in order to have an effective reading experience. So, let's begin. Before we start to read an article, we need to follow these steps. First, find the purpose or reason that explains why you're reading the article that you chose. This is important because it will determine your interest level and eagerness to get through a text. For instance, you could write one or two questions that you would like the article to answer for you, and that will help you as you read along. Whether we read for fun or we read because we have to, it's a good idea to think about why you're reading. Next, once you've figured out your purpose for reading a specific article, it's a good idea to predict what information you might find out while reading. For example, we usually do this by thinking about what the article could answer for us. And we also try to think about what vocabulary we may encounter. As I mentioned earlier, not only do we predict the information we might run into, but we should also predict language we might find along the way. So, one way to do this is to brainstorm a list of vocabulary words on the topic that you will read about before you start reading. Keep that list of words nearby so you add new words you encounter as you read. Once you've completed those three steps, you should now preview the entire text from beginning to end by skimming. You can do this by reading the title and all the subheadings within your text. If there aren't any subheadings then you can also read the first sentence of each paragraph to have an idea of the content of the article. Like I said, this is called skimming. Next, you can scan the text for numbers, and you can underline or highlight any figures you can easily find. Once you've finished scanning for numbers, try to predict what is the main idea of the text, and see if your prediction matches with the real main idea once you've finished reading the text in full. Now, once you've previewed your text, you can now read carefully. As you read, get in the habit of underlining key points connected to the main idea. This will make it easier for you to refer to the text later. Also, remember to highlight new words. And before you reach for that dictionary or translator, try to figure out the word using the context that you're given. Sometimes you might be able to do this if there are good clues in the sentence, or even the paragraph, which could have enough information for you to figure it out. If you're not able to use the context to figure out the meaning of a word then proceed to using a dictionary and make sure you keep a running list of these new words, the word form in order to remember if they are nouns, or verbs, or adjectives. And remember to write a clear definition. Sometimes, it is also useful to write the sentence with the word in it. So, you can remember how it was used in context. While you read, it is important to engage with the writer. Now you may ask yourself how am I supposed to that? Well, a good method for this is to write questions or comments on the side of the page as you read along. This will keep you reading actively and make your reading experience one that feels as if you're having a dialogue with the author. While you read, think about these questions. What's the author's tone? What's the author implying? Is the author trying to compare and contrast something? What is the author not telling me, and why? Even when you don't understand something, you can even write a question mark on the side. Or when you like a sentence you can comment or put a checkmark. However you choose to ask your questions and make your notes, this will result in your becoming a better reader as you move along your text. After you read there are three key tasks that you must complete. One, add new words to your running list of vocabulary. Two, you need to ask yourself did the reading answer my questions from pre- reading activity? And three, think about whether you agree or disagree with the information you read and why. Completing these tasks will help reflect on what you read and will also allow you to formulate an opinion based on the information in the text. So what are our key takeaways today? Well, we know now what we should do before we read. Find a purpose, predict, brainstorm vocabulary, and preview the text. Then, during your reading, highlight new words you encounter and underline key points related to the main idea to keep you focused. And once you're finished reading, don't forget to evaluate the text and add any new words to your vocabulary list. Hopefully, our reading strategies will help you in the future. We will go ahead and apply them in our last lesson as we look at our reading together following these steps. Thank you for joining our communication lesson today in our English for Finance and Economics Course. See you next time.
