Spot reading

When we read a text we can do it in different ways, in some cases it is for fun, so we just want to spend a pleasant time enjoying a novel, but in matters of study, we usually read with the aim of acquiring certain knowledge or extracting a particular information. That said, the times, types and speeds of reading vary significantly depending on what interest we have in reading.

Among the most popular types of reading, one of the most commonly used is spot reading. Many of us make use of this technique without anyone having to teach it to us, we learn it by mere intuition and necessity. Taking into account the importance of using this resource for every student, we believe it is convenient to share with you some considerations and basic elements that will be useful, whether you want to improve this style of reading or if you are interested in approaching it.

What is point reading?

Punctual reading is not useful for all kinds of needs, but it is focused on those texts for consultation or from which we seek to extract a particular content. It is a fast, effective and very precise reading style to meet certain objectives. This technique focuses on focusing on the essential aspects of the text and not on the filler. When we access certain bibliographic material with the objective of solving a task, we may not be interested in the book as a whole, but in finding a certain concept or definition.

But, here some logical questions begin to arise: How can I know where to find what I am looking for if I don't read the whole material? Punctual reading does not mean that you are going to read only what you want to read, this would only be possible if you have located beforehand the place where what you want to read is located. That is why the first thing to do is to do a quick reading, something similar to sequential reading, in order to sweep the whole text and locate what we need to go deeper into.

With good practice you will only have to look through the page to discard what does not interest you from what is really useful, then you can underline or make a mark in the places where you should stop to save time. If you have a table of contents or a guide, this task will be much easier, so you should start by reviewing this.

Recommendations

Use punctual reading to consult texts that you do not want to know in depth in an integrated way, in this way you will save time in the contents that are not important in order to focus on what you need to analyze.