PTE Course Tips: How to Improve Your Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is vital for PTE success. Many test takers tend to overlook it during their PTE course review, dismissing it as a natural and inconsequential language skill. However, this is a serious miscalculation. Reading—not just to skim and take in information but to actually understand and retain it—is a complex and continuous process. To think of it otherwise will significantly limit your PTE review.

This is the reason why excellent training facilities, like the PTE review center in Baguio, dedicate lessons to help their students develop their comprehension skills. They acknowledge the importance of reading comprehension, not only in the exam’s reading section but its writing, speaking, and listening sections as well.

Here are some of the tips that PTE course instructors will give you about reading comprehension.

• Evaluate how you read
Understand your reading limitations. This will allow you to identify your weak points and take effective measures to overcome them. Read different kinds of materials and take note of your reading performance. How much time passes before you feel your concentration, retention, and comprehension falter? Determine how your reading stamina differs when you read academic materials like essays and journals compared to when you read casual literature like magazines and blog posts.

• Build up your reading stamina
Once you establish your reading performance status, start building up your reading stamina. For example, if you start to lose focus after ten minutes of reading, slowly start adding minutes to your planned reading sessions. Try to concentrate for 12 minutes next time. And, when you accomplish that, try to concentrate for 15 minutes next time, and so on. 

• Interact with the text 
Underline, encircle, or highlight important information. Jot down supplementary notes on the text’s margins. Use a pencil if you are reluctant to write anything on your PTE course materials. You can also take down notes in a separate notebook or take down notes verbally using a tape recorder. Just make sure you write down or mention the chapter and page that you are tackling.

• Broaden your vocabulary
Reading comprehension involves understanding the connection of words and their collective message. To determine a text’s meaning accurately, you must first understand each word individually. So, expand your vocabulary. Keep a dictionary handy when you peruse English materials. Consult your dictionary whenever you encounter an unfamiliar word in a text.

• Pay attention to context clues 
In the PTE exam, you are not allowed to consult your dictionary. If you encounter an unfamiliar word in the test, do not panic. Analyze the information surrounding that word and try to discern its implied meaning. Train yourself to use context clues during your PTE review.

Reading comprehension is made up of interconnected cognitive processes. Amongst other things, it requires you to recognize texts, identify their connections, and discern their literal and implied meanings. To improve your reading comprehension skills, you must hone these abilities individually and collectively.

Use these tips to enhance your reading comprehension skills. Keep in mind that, just like any other skill, it can be improved with hard work and practice. Enroll in the PTE review center in Baguio to learn more ways to develop your reading comprehension skills.