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        How to Learn English by Reading Short Stories.

                  http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/learn-english-reading

 

Short stories are, well, short! That means you can spend more time on them. You can use this extra time to prepare, reinforce (strengthen) your learning and so much more. The great news is that all the studying methods you’ll learn through reading short stories can be applied to pretty much any kind of reading.

Here are a few things you can (and should) do before you begin reading your short story:

  • Skim the text. Skimming means to look through the text without reading every word. Try to get a general idea of what the story is about. Pick out major ideas, names, the setting (where the story takes place) and other tidbits of information. Doing this will help you understand the story better once you actually read it, since you’ll be starting with a good idea of what to expect.
  • Scan for unfamiliar words. Look through the story in search of unfamiliar words. Look them up. When you come across the word in your reading, you won’t have to stop since you’ll already have that word defined.
  • Look at the shape of the story. Are there a lot of short or long paragraphs? Is there a lot of dialogue, or none at all? The shape of the text can tell you a lot about a story before you even begin. For example, a story with many long paragraphs probably means it’s a descriptive or slow story, while a story with lots of short paragraphs is probably faster-paced and might have some action.

Great, you’re ready to start reading! Here are some things to keep in mind while you read:

  • Don’t stop too much. While you’re reading, you might find a word you didn’t look up beforehand, or even an entire sentence you don’t really understand. You might want to stop and look it up, but try not to! The more you stop while you’re reading, the harder it is to understand the story as a whole (think about how starting and stopping a car in traffic makes driving more difficult). Just mark whatever you don’t understand and come back to it when you finish reading.
  • Look for important moments and information. Short stories don’t waste much time on unnecessary information—they just don’t have the space to waste! This makes it easier to find the main idea, theme (the overall meaning or message) and plot. As you’re reading, be aware of the important points and moments. You can make a mark next to them so you can find them again later. Doing this will help you understand the story better.

Completing a story doesn’t mean you should immediately move on to the next one. Spend some time going over what you just read. This extra time will help you better understand and remember the things you read. Use these tips after you finish reading:

  • Summarize what you read. Try to explain what you just read in a few short sentences. You don’t have to write anything or even speak out loud (although doing those two things helps, too!). Imagine you’re telling a friend about the story while the two of you are on a short elevator ride. What are the most important people and moments? What’s the story about?
  • Think about the themes of the story. Many short stories are entertaining, but many of them also have a lesson or an idea that they want the reader to learn. You might have noticed a place, a word or something else repeated in the story. You might feel like a moment in the story where one thing happens is actually about something else. You know what happened in the story, but what did it mean? Thinking about the deeper and hidden meaning behind written words can make it easier for you to understand the many different things people mean when they speak.
  • Re-read the story. You read the story once and you got the basics. Now you know what it’s about, what it’s really about and all the words and phrases you didn’t understand the first time. Read the story one more time, and you’ll find that you understand it even better the second time. You might even notice things you didn’t see the first time!

Now that you’re armed with all these powerful learning tips, you’re ready to tackle a short story or two. We’ve made a list of some of our favorite short story collections below. Find one to fit your interests and skill level!

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