Why reading with closed eyes is your go to reading method
Reading can be a very frustration process. It takes time, isn’t as smooth as speaking or listening and you need to be very focused. When we read a text in a foreign language, it isn’t as effortless as it is with a text in your native language.
There are a few tips to bring more joy to reading. For example you should read something that you enjoy. Reading about something that you are interested in is extremely useful as it helps you to stay engaged with reading and gives you a reason to keep reading. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t switch books! If a book turns out to be not that interesting or too hard to read, then just pick up another book instead. However if you find a book that was very interesting and not too hard to read, look for other books that are written by the same author. This guarantees that you will have a better understanding.
Also, if reading is something that you struggle with to be consistent with there are a few things you can do. Setting objectives is a great way to start. Objectives are repeating goals, which can be on a daily or weekly basis. You don’t have to be too specific about these, for instance one objective could be to read a page a day. To greatening the chances of actually doing these objectives, is to start on an easy level. They should be so easy that you can not not do them. Then over time you can gradually increase your objectives.
Additionally milestones are great reasons for consistent reading. Those should be orientated on a long term basis. For example they can be to reach a certain degree of understanding. Also, when you reach a milestone, you should celebrate it and do something that you love doing. Doing so will give you new motivation to do even more.
Reading with “closed eyes”
As we already know, reading in a foreign language is really challenging, therefore reading with “closed eyes” can make reading more fun and more enjoyable. What I mean by “closed eyes” is that you don’t pay extra attention to words you don’t know. This might sound counterproductive at first, but trust me, looking up each word you don’t know isn’t going to help you either. This method can be compared with a normal conversation. You wouldn’t interrupt the other person each time you don’t understand a word they say, right? Also don’t get too frustrated when you’re not understanding the text the first time you’re reading it. Instead, re-read the text! Thereby, you come across those informations you already know (a little reward) and also get to focus more on the paragraphs that you didn’t understand the first time. Each time you re-read a text you gather new words and new information. So don’t hesitate to re-read a text as often as you want! But what happens if you come across the same word over and over again and don’t get it? Well, then it is a good time to look up the word. Additionally, looking up words, if they appear five or more times in a short succession, is a good idea. However, if you decide you look up a word, you should always read to the end of the sentence and re-read the paragraph after you’ve looked up the meaning.
