14 Tips To Improve Text Comprehension

A good understanding of the text is essential for successful reading. With improved comprehension, it becomes significantly easier to retain, summarize, and apply the content of a book. Here are 14 practical tips to enhance text comprehension:

1. Expand Your Vocabulary

A sufficient vocabulary is the foundation for good comprehension. Mark or write down any words in the book that you don’t fully understand, then look them up and note their meanings. A notebook dedicated to unknown words and their definitions can serve as a vocabulary book in your native language, allowing easy reference and reinforcing long-term memory through spaced repetition. Additionally, understanding key terms specific to the book’s topic is crucial; consider learning these before you start reading and pay attention to how the author defines and uses them. Further methods to expand your vocabulary can be found here.

2. Dive into the Subject Matter

After learning the topic’s key terms, deepen your understanding by exploring articles, videos, or other books on the subject. Then, create a mind map that captures your prior knowledge, helping you connect new information to what you already know as you read. Afterward, you can revisit the mind map to see what new insights you gained from the book.

3. Gather Information on the Author

Learning about the author can enhance your understanding of the book. Use the book’s author bio to discover when and where it was written and what other books the author has published. Understanding the author’s purpose and intentions, often outlined in the book’s introduction, helps you better grasp and contextualize the content.

4. Get an Overview

Before diving in, skim the book to gain a sense of its content and structure. Review the following sections:

• Title page and back cover
• Table of contents
• Index
• Central chapters and their summaries
• Preface and conclusion

5. Formulate Questions for the Book

Once you’ve skimmed the book, create questions you hope it will answer. This not only boosts motivation but also helps you know what to focus on as you read. Take notes on any information that addresses these questions. If you still have questions after reading, seek answers in other sources.

6. Set a Reading Goal

To stay motivated, define a concrete reading goal. Ask yourself why you’re reading this book and what specific outcomes you want to achieve. Answer questions like:

• Are you reading for information or understanding?
• What do you hope to learn?
• What do you want to apply?

You might even undertake a project related to the book. For instance, if reading about Java programming, try developing a specific Java program as you progress, which makes reading more focused and efficient, boosting comprehension and recall.

7. Adjust Your Reading Speed

Tailor your reading speed to the content. Don’t read too slowly if it’s unnecessary, nor so fast that you miss understanding. Adjusting your pace depends on the type of book, its structure, and the author’s writing style. Within the same book, slow down for definitions and key points, but skim through examples if needed.

8. Visualize the Content

Visualizing what you’re reading improves comprehension, especially for stories or examples. Visualization also aids understanding of concepts or processes. Picture individual components and how they interact and enhance this mental image with sensory details like sounds or scents for a more vivid experience. If mental visualization is difficult, try sketching on paper.

9. Question and Reflect on What You Read

A valuable reading technique is to question and reflect on the content. Review the information at the end of each reading session to assess its validity. Consider whether the author’s claims are true or false, using additional sources for comparison if needed. Reflect on the content by recalling key points and explaining them to yourself. Also try to link them to prior knowledge. If you forget something, revisit the text, which strengthens memory and comprehension. Then, generate your own examples, ideas, and applications.

10. Take Regular Breaks

For longer reading sessions, regular breaks prevent loss of concentration. Try taking 5–10-minute breaks every 45-90 minutes, but adjust the duration based on your own needs and the material.

11. Train Your Concentration

Along with breaks, you can train your concentration, reducing the need for breaks and extending reading time. Techniques like meditation can improve focus. Practice focusing on one thought or clearing your mind entirely to learn how to ignore distractions and direct your attention longer and more intensely to improve your text comprehension.

12. Read Syntopically

A very effective method for increasing text comprehension is syntopic reading, where you read several books on a topic at the same time. This gives you different opinions and perspectives on the same topic, which you can then compare and connect. You will also gain broader knowledge of the subject area, so that your understanding of the text increases and you can better assess the accuracy of what you have read. At the same time, you can make connections between different passages from different books. For example, you read multiple explanations and examples of a concept from different authors. For more information on syntopic reading, see the book review: How to read a book by Mortimer J. Adler.

13. Highlight Key Points

Highlighting makes you consider what’s important or relevant as you read, enhancing comprehension and helping you filter and retain key information. Highlight the main points, circle keywords, and use the margins or a separate notebook for notes. Learn more tips for making highlights and notes here.

14. Summarize the Book

After reading, use your highlights and notes to create a summary. Visual formats like mind maps, concept maps, diagrams, or charts work well, especially for complex material, and can be combined with the Feynman technique. Summarizing improves understanding by encouraging reflection, rephrasing in your own words, and consolidating in long-term memory through spaced repetition.