In the process of reading, we often come across two words:
One is scanning and skimming.
While both of these words involve speed reading to some extent, there are some important differences between them.
Understanding these differences can help us better understand and apply both reading skills.
First, let's learn a little about scanning.
Scanning is a purposeful way of reading, often used to look for specific information or details.
In this type of reading, we look for specific keywords or phrases throughout the text to determine if there is information we need.
Scanning usually requires a careful reading of every word and sentence, and although we may not fully understand everything about an article, this type of reading can be very useful when looking up specific information such as a **number, zip code, or specific date.
In contrast, skimming is a broader way of reading that aims to quickly get the gist or gist of an article.
When we do skimming, we usually do a quick look at the title, paragraphs, and key sentences of the article to get an idea of the topic, structure, and main points of the article.
This can help us quickly determine if the article contains the information we need, or understand the overall content of the article.
Skimming is especially useful when reading long articles or books, as it helps us quickly filter out sections that are relevant to our interests or needs.
It's important to note that scanning and skimming are not mutually exclusive reading skills.
In many cases, we can use both of these techniques to improve our reading efficiency.
For example, when we need to find specific information, we can use skimming to quickly skim through the article, find the section that may contain the information we need, and then do scanning to read the relevant section carefully and get the details.
To sum up, scanning and skimming are two different reading skills that have their own characteristics and uses.
Scanning emphasizes reading every word and sentence carefully to look for specific information, while skimming focuses on quickly getting the gist or gist of the article to sift through the information.
Understanding the difference between these two techniques can help us better use them and improve reading efficiency and comprehension.