Active reading
Active reading means reading with your brain switched on. You ask questions as you go, guess what comes next, and pull out the main point in your own words, instead of just letting your eyes slide over the page and forgetting it all later.
When you read on autopilot, the words go in and right back out. Active reading fixes that by giving your brain a job on every page. You stop and ask why something matters, you predict where the author is going, and you put the idea into your own words. That tiny bit of effort is what actually moves the info into memory.
The most common mistake is thinking highlighting counts as active reading. It usually doesn't. Coloring a page yellow feels productive, but your brain can do it half asleep. Real active reading means you could close the book and explain the section to a friend. If you can't, you skimmed.
Maria is reading a biology chapter on cell respiration. Before each section she turns the heading into a question, like "how does the cell get energy from glucose?" Then she reads to answer it and writes the answer in one line. By the end she has a list of questions she can actually answer.
- 1Before a section, turn the heading into a question you want answered.
- 2Read in small chunks, then pause and say the main point out loud.
- 3Write each key idea in one short line, in your own words.
- 4When something confuses you, mark it and come back to it.
- 5At the end, cover the page and try to explain it from memory.