Skimming or scanning reading text and then rereading it is the biggest change in my reading. It has helped me to better understand the text especially after rereading it. For example, skimming through the article by Chris MacDonald on bribery and international business helped me to better understand the text which was complex and with many vocabularies. As such, I had to continue using my highlighter so as to track and check the meaning of vocabularies such as diligent and promulgation. I also maintained the writing of notes after rereading the text to help me understand Chris MacDonald’s main point.

However, I changed my reading habits, from writing a simple summary after rereading the text, to paraphrasing the notes so that I could personally understand the text better. By paraphrasing the text after rereading it, I understood MacDonald’s main point as showing the importance of international business standards in reducing bribery and other forms of corruption. To fully understand MacDonald’s complex text, I read the text three times to help me understand better while looking for meaning of new vocabularies.

My vocabulary habit of highlighting new words did not change, especially with MacDonald’s text, as I had to understand them first before continuing reading the text. However, I had to reread some sentences like those containing the words diligent and promulgation, and paraphrasing the in a way that I understand. Additionally, I have maintained my scope of reading including text messages and novels but my focus is more serious in understanding the content especially vocabularies. Additionally, I continue try to review the words daily so I don’t forget.

These practices have strengthened my reading abilities but not as close as my abilities in Arabic. My weakness where I read a chapter and not finish has improved as I am able to concentrate on reading especially by rereading text and after checking out vocabularies. The lack of interest in reading has also improved as I have been able to check out many academic vocabularies that have helped me to read newspapers and complex articles like MacDonald’s. For instance, my understanding of MacDonald’s article was better than I expected especially since I understood terms like international business, legal system and drafting process. However, the vocabularies are still a challenge but using dictionaries, I have learned even to connect difficult words together while paraphrasing helps me to understand text better.