Quote:
Originally Posted by Beginner-reader
I read a lot... online. . . . I usually don't read books for university because I have too much trouble understanding most of them. . . . That's what I've been doing--setting 15-minute alarms and and taking small breaks in between. I haven't been taking notes during my breaks but I've been thinking about the material instead.
I'm very tempted to try and read it for six hours straight tomorrow, but I don't think I'd absorb much information that way. Then again, if I don't finish it very soon, I'm afraid my Kindle will feel unloved.  |
Allow me, as a professional student, to offer my $0.02. Most of what you read online is like what you'll find in the New York Times, which somewhat famously can be understood with a vocabulary of 500 words or less. Which is to say, most online reading (from blogs to Facebook to news feeds) is fairly simplistic. However, most academic reading is not simplistic. The authors of textbooks are trying to pack as much semantic content (the thoughts behind the words) into as few words as possible.
So the fact that most of your reading is done online explains why you find academic material challenging. (That, and academic material is
supposed to be challenging because it is
supposed to be on the cutting edge of what we know.)
Now, as a student, allow me to suggest that you read for a solid 20 minutes during which time you have awesome concentration. Then you take a break during which time you do not think about the material in any way. Instead, during break time you should do something physical or use a different part of your brain (such as by reading romantic poetry as a break from doing math, etc.) That way you will recuperate your ability to focus as much as possible. Or just watch The Simpsons. One other really powerful technique, if you find that you are getting distracted (and you can do this before exams if you want a better mark), is to write down a list of all the things that you're thinking about. This will trigger a response whereby you will consider them resolved, temporarily at least, and not think about them while you study or write an exam.
The least of your worries is how your Kindle feels, after all, the robot revolution hasn't begun yet so there is no motivation to worry about the feelings of our slave automatons.
tldr; read a higher level of writing on a daily basis to bridge colloquial language and academic language; clear your mind before studying.