Tips on Reading Comprehension Questions

Throughout the year in all middle school grades, we look at various reading-comprehension exercises. Here are some tips to make your experience successful!

• Don't panic! You are not expected to understand every word of the text.
  
• Take a positive approach to your reading. Concentrate on what you do understand, not on the difficult words and phrases.
  
• Have a good look at the title of the text as well as any illustrations. They may give you some important clues. Most importantly, read the question(s) carefully and use that as a guide when reading through the passage.
  
• Read the whole text before attempting to answer any questions. It is usually better to read the text twice at a brisk pace, than to struggle along once, slowly.
  
• Be clear as to exactly what each question wants. For example, should you be picking out precise details (for example, the date of someone's birthday) or should you be reading the whole passage in order to draw some broad conclusions (for example, a comparison of two people's attitudes to television)?

Be aware of different ways of finding out the meaning of words. For example:

• Can you guess the meaning of a difficult word in a sentence if you understand what all the other words mean?
  
• Can you find similarities between Spanish and English words? (e.g., farmacia = pharmacy)
  
• Can you find links with other Spanish words? (eg una mesa = a table: una mesilla = a small table)
  
• Are you aware of language patterns? (e.g., 're' in front of a word often means again: recomenzar = to start again)
  
• Use your knowledge of grammar. For example, if you can identify a plural, a verb tense, an adjective, an adverb or a preposition, you will be in a better position to make an intelligent guess at a meaning.
  
• Use your knowledge of Spanish-speaking countries. For example, knowing about Spanish food or the music of Mexico could be very useful if your passage falls in one of those categories.
  
• If you have to write answers in Spanish, be as clear as possible; but remember you will not be penalized for small mistakes when the point of the exercise is reading comprehension.
  
• Don't spend too long on a difficult item. Come back to it later.

Now decide which strategies will work best for you and practice using them as much as you can! The more you practice them, the more you are likely to remember to use them during the exercises.