Peoria's Q of 10/06/99 about reading comprehension:

Unlike pleasure reading, TIME articles are sometimes beyond my ability. Should I spend more time in reading intensively? Or should I read more articles, I mean, what you call 'exposure'?

How could I improve my reading comprehension effectively?

I guess it really depends on what your goals are. If you want to understand Time articles very well, you should probably spend some time with Time articles (and a dictionary) every week. Try to keep in mind, however, that you don't have to understand every word or phrase in order to understand what the article's author wants to say.

I know that this would be the opposite of what we do in the Time class, but in that class we are taking our time in order to pick up new vocabulary and cultural background. When you're reading for information only, you can usually get that information without opening a dictionary again and again while reading the article.

If I were in the U.S. now (and not teaching English), I probably wouldn't look up any words that I didn't know. I would just assume the meaning and keep going. Doing this and not sweating the difficult words will definitely help you get more exposure. Over time, that exposure will help you , to some extent, deduce the meanings of words and idioms and figure out the background referred to in the article.

What do I suggest? Try to do both, and don't get frustrated when it gets difficult.

1. Prepare the Time articles for the Time class carefully, and ask me in class about any point that isn't clear.

2. Read things that you enjoy reading at home, and only look up the words that you are truly curious about. Try to read more and enjoy it more, and put it down when you get tired or frustrated. Frustration is really unproductive.

Finally, reading comprehension (like listening comprehension and speaking fluency) seems to improve in relation to how much of it a student does--the more you read, the better you'll get at it. When studying any language, try to do a lot of what you enjoy in that language. This will help you learn naturally, and will encourage you to do even more.