Reading Levels: Different Ways to Read Different Books

2.1 Systematic Skimming

This can be applied to almost everything you read so I will take an example of an article here.

First, you look at the title of the article and if it’s appealing, you open it.  Then you scroll through the article and read the sub-heads to see what the article is all about. If it seems interesting, you scroll back to the top and read the first 30-50 words of the intro and then scroll down to the first subhead. After reading a few sentences under it, you proceed to do the same for each subhead till you reach the conclusion and get the overall point/idea of the article.

We use this kind of reading when we lack the time to read the material in-depth or when we need information urgently.

2.2 Superficial Reading

The second sub-type is when you simply read. You go from page to page, reading every single word but not stopping at any. It doesn’t matter if you understand it or not, you simply move along. You don’t ponder the arguments presented by the author or try to write in the margins.

This type of reading is most commonly used for entertainment and information.

This is what people usually do when they read newspapers, taking in every information at their disposal. When discussing what they’ve read, they often regurgitate someone else’s opinion without questioning it.

But this kind of reading is also used for relaxing, for example, when you are reading Bridget Jones’s Diary or Twilight. So if you want just information and relaxation, you mostly use this kind of reading level.

But if you want to understand, you need to use the next level.

from Hacker News https://ift.tt/3yjapvR