Reading habit

Today many college students are having difficulty in reading textbooks. Many read pages after pages but do not understand anything so they have to re-read again and again and it consumes a lot of time. The fact is college textbooks are written differently from high-school textbooks as they have more information with complex concepts. The main reason students do not read well because they are not paying attention and have not developed a good reading habit when they were young. 

To succeed in college, students start to develop reading habit when they are in high school. However today, young people do not like to read anything longer than a hundred pages. They only read something short, easy to understand and get distracted by other things such as TV, movies, and games. Many students do not even finish a book, they only read few pages, jump from chapter to chapter just to get an idea without comprehend anything. This bad habit will lead to more difficulty in college. If they cannot comprehend the materials, they will not succeed. They may pass few tests if their memory is good but they will forget what they learn soon after the test and have to learn them again in the next test. This lead to more memorization and “rote learning” just to pass an exam but do not lead to understanding and knowledge. Without a profound knowledge, they cannot develop skills and without skills, they will not succeed in whatever they do in their career. That is why there are many people with degrees but do not know anything and have to depend on others to help them.

For students who want to study abroad, reading is more important because they will have to read in a foreign language. If they cannot comprehend well in their native language, what would be a chance to comprehend in a foreign language? In every college, there are overwhelming reading materials that students must learn. Without preparation, without strong command of language, without good reading habit, many will fail. To succeed in college, students must develop good reading habit before entering college. They must read more everyday and by review their reading habit to know whether they are good or need improvement. If they read something but could not understand particular words or sentences, if they have to re-read a few sentences then they need to improve their reading habit. It is important to have a notebook to write out words that they do not understand well and then check with the dictionary for the meaning. They need to make notes of ideas that they consider important in the notebook. Sometime students need to read aloud to keep them awake enough to read effectively.

When reading, students should do that in an environment that is free from distractions. Library is one of the best places, as long as you are not be distracted by friends. Try to find an isolated area where your friends cannot find you so you can devote hours of reading. Also, try to read during the time of the day when you are awake so that you can concentrate well. I recommend that students set goal for how much they will read in a week and stick to it. If they can do that for few months then they have developed a good reading habit.

Prof John Vu    

Carnegie Mellon University

Original source: http://www.segvn.org/forum/mvnforum/viewthread_thread,1495