SCAN AND SKIM READING
Although they are essentially different, scan reading and skim reading are both quite successful strategies. Being able to use these two strategies will help you both in your exam and general study sessions. If you can master them, you can be sure that learning will never be the same for you.
What precisely are they then? Skim reading is, to put it simply, reading a sentence, paragraph, or even a text to grasp the gist of it without going through it completely. Conversely, scan reading involves searching the text for specific information without devoting a lot of time to it. When combined, these two strategies can help you save valuable time throughout the exam’s reading section. Not to mention that they will develop into a very useful tool for everything involving information research or learning something new.
SCAN AND SKIM READING
Skim Reading
Skim reading, also known as skimming, is reading through more content in a much less amount of time. Instead of studying every detail in the text, the goal of skimming is to grasp its main ideas. This strategy is ideal for situations where time is limited, such as while preparing for an exam or taking one; nevertheless, it is also appropriate for cramming.
Several approaches can be taken during skimming. One method of skimming text is to scan the paragraph’s first sentence fast. This sentence must, by definition, introduce the subject that will be discussed next. This implies that you can spare yourself the trouble of reading the rest of that paragraph if the sentence seems unrelated to the subject you are searching for. Although it may seem careless, all it takes is experience to build good judgment and a particular feeling for things like this. To put it another way, you get better at identifying pertinent material in a paragraph based on its opening sentence the more you practice.
SCAN AND SKIM READING
Some authors prefer to ask a query at the beginning of their paragraphs. The first sentence might not be beneficial in the situation. As they are most likely to contain the solution to that query, you should instead focus on the final few phrases of that paragraph. You determine if the paragraph might have the information you need based on that knowledge. In general, even in cases where the paragraph’s introduction provides a clear overview, it is a good idea to review the final phrases. Obviously, the final phrases reach a conclusion that may be worthwhile to read through even if you are only skimming the material.
When skimming, you might want to quickly look through the whole paragraph for the following:
– Typographical irregularities – words that are written in bold, italics or are underlined. Such text decorations are used for a reason — the author might have used that to draw your attention to it.
SCAN AND SKIM READING
– Asterisks* and footnotes 1
– Capitalized words. Naturally they are easy to spot because of upper case first letter. These are usually proper nouns, and thus they cannot be paraphrased, which means they are very helpful when searching for keywords.
– Numbers (digits) – easy to spot, hard to paraphrase.
SCAN AND SKIM READING
SCAN AND SKIM READING