The Best Way To Improve Your Reading Skill:  READ!

Inpired by Dr. Bushrui and devoted to my studies, I was able to grow
tremendously as a reader.  Pursuing topics that I felt passionate about, I read
daily while taking notes in the margins.  At first, my own improvement went
unnoticed.  I was able to close out sounds that surrounded me, something I had
previously never been able to do.  When I came upon a word that I didn't know, I
guessed what it meant from the context and confirmed the meanings of words
that repeatedly appeared in the text.  Eventually, I was guessing the meanings of
fewer and fewer words.  When it came to conversations and writing, I was better
prepared to discuss the topic and could give sound examples to support my
views.  It suddenly dawned on me a couple years later how significant Dr.
Bushrui's advice had been.  We often envision something that we want and
wonder how we could possibly achieve it, but how sweet is it to have something
that you value while looking back at the path you took to realize that goal.
SCANNING
Scanning rapidly covers a great
deal of material in order to locate a
specific fact or piece of information. 
It is very useful for finding a specific
name, date, statistic, or fact without
reading the entire article.  Keep in
mind what you are searching for,
and anticipate the form the
information is likely to appear.
FINDING THE MAIN IDEA
Finding the main idea can be
difficult for the reader with so much
information contained in the
reading, but by following this simple
method, you will be more
successful in doing so.  Instead of
guessing the main idea by taking
the entire reading into
consideration, try merely reading
the first sentence of each of the
paragraphs.  As the first sentences
of the paragraphs are topic
sentences, they get directly to the
heart of the message being
conveyed.  This will allow you to
focus on the key points of the
paragraph, thus better enabling you
to discern the main idea.
SKIMMING
Skimming is a method of rapidly
moving the eyes over text with the
purpose of getting only the main
ideas and a general overview of the
content.  It can be useful in pre-
reading, reviewing, and reading a
text.
 
Reading & Writing
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Reading & Writing
When asked how I could
improve my English skills at the
age of 21, Dr. Suheil Bushrui,
University of Maryland
professor and the man whom I
admire most, gave me an
unequivocal answer with a trill,
"Read!"  Having followed his
advice, I know how powerful
this is despite its simplicity.
TIMED WRITINGS
Preparing for Midterm & Final Writing Assessments
The ACLI regularly conducts 30-minute timed writings in order to assess
the levels of its students.  Such writing tests are used to place students in
writing courses, assess progress, and to discern whether or not each
student has achieved the objectives of their course.  The results of these
tests are used to bolster the case for promoting a student to the next level
or holding another back.  As these tests are important, students are
advised to get accustomed to writing under pressure by practicing with a
stop watch.  The online stopwatch is an ideal tool with which you can
practice.  Students are encouraged to practice throughout the semester on
their own.  Timed writings will occur at least twice during the term: 
midterms and finals.
Before jumping straight into the
body of your paragraph, take some
time to map it out first by
brainstorming, listing, or mind-
mapping.  After gathering ideas, 
organize your ideas into an outline,
see below.  Students need to
practice this regularly so that they
will be able to do these things even
when they are under the pressure
of a time limit.  During 30-minute
timed tests, take about 5 minutes to
plan, 20 minutes to write, and the
remaining 5 minutes to proofread.
PARAGRAPH PLANNING
Outline Format
Topic Sentence (TS)
  I.  First Major Point
     a.  support
     b.  support
  II.  Second Major Point
     a.  support
     b.  support
Concluding Sentence
1984
1984
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