IELTS General Reading Preparation

Students often consider the IELTS Reading section one of the most difficult sections of the IELTS exam because it consists of texts taken from journals, newspapers, magazines, etc. Students find it difficult to read and follow  these texts. These are up to 2500 words each. 

The IELTS General Reading test consists of 3 sections and 40 questions. The first two sections consist of two or three reading passages and whereas the third passage consists of a bit complex and lengthy passage. 13-14 questions are asked in each section of the test. 

The IELTS Reading test is designed to evaluate your ability to read, comprehend and interpret information in the English language. Therefore, to help you prepare for the IELTS General reading test. Given below are some tips to enhance your preparation:

1. Practice Reading every day

One of the most important efficient ways to build your reading skills is by practising reading regularly. You can practise reading newspapers, articles, magazines. You can also practise reading previous years papers. Set reading goals for yourself. It will help you to stay focused and improve your ability to read different and difficult topics with ease. 

2. Read in parts

Long, complicated reading can be made understandable by breaking it down into smaller pieces. Shorter portions will help you retain information effortlessly. It can also help you maintain the rhythm of your reading and build confidence in understanding the lengthy passages. 

3. Vocabulary

While reading the texts, always highlight the difficult terms and phrases and look for those words’ meaning. Once you can find the meaning of those words, get familiar with those words’ synonyms as well. It will help you build your vocabulary. Set targets for yourself. For example, target at least 5 to 7 words and idioms every day. As you begin to learn new words and phrases, try to implement them while having conversations with friends and family.  

4. Implement skimming and scanning techniques

Follow and implement skimming and scanning techniques while reading the texts. It can also help you develop and improve your reading comprehension skills and locate key information. You can do that by previewing the texts you have read. For example, apply these techniques to find out the titles, important dates or names, key features or main ideas of the texts. 

5. Determine the intent

As you practise reading various kinds of texts, practise determining the intent of the text. It helps you learn various meanings and themes of texts. Knowing and understanding the text’s intent can help you grasp the details and locate the key information effortlessly. For example, try to locate supporting ideas, text features etc. 

6. Learn and Improve Paraphrasing skills

Another effective way of improving your IELTS reading skills is to paraphrase the texts you read. Find different and difficult words and look for equivalent words or phrases. But make sure to take care of the correct grammatical structure and original meaning of the text. Your paraphrased content should be clear so that it does not exceed the suggested word limit and must include all the essential information.

7. Summarise the content

Do not confuse summarising with paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is  restating the text or passage using other words. In contrast, the summary is a brief overview of the text. Summarizing will help you remember all the necessary information and details. It will also enable you to focus on key terms and phrases of the passage. 

See also:

• Tips to Improve IELTS Reading Skills
• True False Not Given IELTS Reading
• IELTS Reading recent actual test
• IELTS past paper pdf
• IELTS General Reading Practice Test