okay let's talk about our next self-study skill
reading this is another very common question oh teacher how do i self-study
reading well let's look at a few skills first choose a story you know already
use an online dictionary for meaning and pronunciation while you read
and lastly write synonyms next to new words
so let's go ahead and go through these
first choose a story you know already read a story in english that you know very well in
your native language for example i know the story harry potter so so so well i have read the books
in my native language many times so when i want to practice reading in another language well
a great place to start for me is harry potter because i know the characters i know
the story and this helps me to understand or infer which means guess the meaning of
words in sentences right because i already know the story so it could be any story for you just
think what's a story you know very well and then find that in english find that book in english
this helps your comprehension or your understanding and your language development
because you learn slowly how to infer the meaning of words in sentences or in a paragraph or in a
story right so because you know it it is a little easier to understand and maybe more interesting
because it's a story you know and like the next self-study skill for reading is use an online
dictionary while you read so maybe you're reading a book or maybe you like to read on a kindle or
a tablet you can always have your phone nearby to use an online dictionary while you read of course
when you read there will be words you don't know phrases you don't know things that will
be confusing right so always have a dictionary nearby when you see new words when reading you
can look them up in an online dictionary so one of my favorites is cambridge dictionary
this is dictionary.cambridge.org something like that just search cambridge dictionary
it will go from language to language there are many different languages and you can see
meanings what does the word mean and how do you use it in a sentence
you can see the translation what is the word in your language and you can click to
hear how the word sounds and practice your speaking as well right so this is very useful
i think when you are reading remember all of our language skills help each other
when we get better at writing we get better at speaking in reading and even listening
and when our reading gets better it helps our other skills too
so don't be afraid to write the meaning or translation above the word and read the sentence
out loud a few times to help your speaking and your reading comprehension or your understanding
of what you're reading it helps to do it maybe three times to really help your understanding
right so make sure to use a dictionary while you read and don't be afraid to write in your book
if you are uh maybe you are reading on a computer or tablet
just keep a notebook and write the words on on there as you go along
all right our last self-study method for reading is write synonyms next two words
so what is a synonym a synonym is a word with the same meaning as another word so if i see the word
big some synonyms or words with the same meaning are large and sizable and we can use these all in
almost the exact same way in most sentences right synonyms are a great way to improve our reading
comprehension and again also our speaking as we learn different ways to say the same thing this
is even uh as a native english speaker something we learn as we grow up uh as as we go from
kindergarten all the way through high school and so on we learn how to expand our vocabulary
and use more words and bigger words and more descriptive words so you can do that too
right this is a natural part of learning a language and you can make it happen for yourself
by writing out some synonyms so maybe you see a big word or an unfamiliar word which means
not familiar don't know it right we are we don't recognize it
so write synonyms maybe you see a really a word oh what is that so yes we can look up the meaning
in translation and it's helpful to write down synonyms for that word so let's say you're reading
and you see the word sizable and you think what does that mean sizable
so you look it up and maybe above the word you write the words big and large and this helps
you make the connection this is another word i can use for big or large you can also write
synonyms for small common words to expand your vocabulary so let's say you see the word large
and you look up a synonym above it you write sizable you can go both directions with this
but this is a great way to expand your language and improve your vocabulary and your reading
and of course because all of our skills are connected read the sentence again with each new
synonym maybe you write three synonyms for a word well read the sentence switching out with each new
synonym most of the time as long as it's the same part of speech so all adjectives for example then
uh we can often use them in the same way but we might need a different ending right