English Reading Comprehension: How to Improve

To improve your reading comprehension in English, you don't need to read difficult texts or look up every single word in the dictionary. What helps most is reading texts at your level often, learning to work out meaning from context, and actively checking what you have understood. In this article you'll find concrete techniques you can apply starting with your next reading session, with examples in English and their translation.

Choose texts at your level (or slightly above)

The most common mistake is starting with texts that are too complicated: an original novel, a specialized press article, or a technical manual. If almost every sentence contains unknown words, you spend all your energy decoding instead of understanding.

A practical rule: a text is suitable if you understand the general idea without help and only a few words per paragraph slow you down. If you struggle to follow the thread, go down a level. If you understand everything effortlessly, move up a little.

As a guideline, according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR):

• A1–A2: short texts about everyday topics (routines, shopping, travel, family).
• B1: simple stories, short articles, emails and opinions on familiar topics.
• B2: longer articles, argumentative texts and somewhat more abstract topics.

Read first to get the general idea

Don't try to understand everything on the first read. Do a quick read to answer three questions: What is it about? Who appears in it? What happens or what is being argued?

Before you start, pay attention to:

1. The title and subheadings. They give you a preview of the topic.
2. Images or highlighted data, if there are any.
3. The first and last sentence of each paragraph. In many English texts, the main idea appears at the beginning of the paragraph.

This technique, known as skimming, gives you a map of the text. Then, on a slower second read, the details fit together much better.

Work out vocabulary from context

Stopping at every unknown word breaks your rhythm and wears you out. Before looking it up, try to figure it out. Ask yourself what kind of word it is (verb, noun, adjective) and what meaning would make sense in the sentence.

For example:

• The streets were crowded, so it took us an hour to cross the city. (Las calles estaban abarrotadas, así que tardamos una hora en cruzar la ciudad.)

Even if you don't know crowded, the second half of the sentence gives you the clue: something made the trip slow.

• She was exhausted after working twelve hours. (Estaba agotada después de trabajar doce horas.)

Twelve hours of work suggest tiredness. You don't need the dictionary to get the idea.

Make use of cognates, but carefully

Many English words look like their Spanish counterparts and mean the same thing: important (importante), problem (problema), information (información). They are a great help.

However, watch out for false friends:

• actually means "en realidad", not "actualmente".
• embarrassed means "avergonzado", not "embarazada".
• library means "biblioteca", not "librería".

If a sentence doesn't make sense with the meaning you assumed, you may be dealing with a false friend.

Pay attention to connectors

Connectors are the words that link ideas and tell you where the text is heading. Recognizing them greatly improves your comprehension, because they tell you whether a contrast, a cause or a conclusion is coming.

Some of the most common ones:

• Contrast: but, however, although (pero, sin embargo, aunque)
• Cause: because, since (porque, ya que)
• Result: so, therefore (así que, por lo tanto)
• Adding information: also, moreover, in addition (también, además)
• Sequence: first, then, finally (primero, luego, por último)

Example:

• The hotel was expensive. However, the view was amazing. (El hotel era caro. Sin embargo, las vistas eran increíbles.)

When you see however, you already know that the second sentence is going to qualify or contradict the first, even if you don't understand all of its words.

Reread with a different goal

Rereading isn't a waste of time. Each read can have a different purpose:

1. First read: general idea.
2. Second read: important details (names, dates, reasons).
3. Third read (optional): notice useful expressions or grammar structures you want to learn.

On the third read you can discover patterns that you'll later recognize in other texts, such as used to for past habits:

• When I was a child, I used to walk to school. (Cuando era niño, solía ir andando al colegio.)

Check what you have understood

Reading passively gives you the feeling that you understand more than you really do. To find out for sure, test yourself when you finish:

• Summarize the text in two or three sentences, in Spanish or in English.
• Answer questions about the content: who? what? where? why?
• Distinguish between what the text says and what you assume. Many wrong answers come from adding information that doesn't appear in the text.

If you can't summarize a paragraph, go back to it. That way you pinpoint exactly where your understanding broke down.

Manage new vocabulary well

You don't need to write down every unknown word. Choose only the ones that:

• appear several times in the text,
• are key to understanding the main idea, or
• you think will be useful in your everyday life.

Write them down with the sentence they appear in, not on their own. It's easier to remember She missed the bus (Perdió el autobús) than a list with miss = perder, echar de menos. Context helps you remember the meaning and also how the word is used.

Read a little, but often

Consistency usually gives better results than long, occasional sessions. Reading ten or fifteen minutes a day exposes you again and again to the same structures and common words, and little by little you'll recognize them effortlessly.

Some ideas to keep the habit going:

• Read about topics that interest you: sports, cooking, travel, technology.
• Alternate between different types of texts: stories, dialogues, simple news, instructions.
• Tie your reading to a fixed time of day, such as breakfast or your commute.

Start today: your first 15-minute session

Choose a short text in English at your level on a topic you like. Read it once without stopping to get the general idea. Then reread it, trying to work out two or three words from context, and underline the connectors you find. To finish, write a two-sentence summary and answer the question "what is the most important thing in this text?". Repeat this small ritual every day and you'll notice that each reading feels a little easier.