That “I Don’t Get It” Feeling: Understanding and Strengthening Your Reading Comprehension
Ever finish a page, close the book (or scroll to the bottom of the screen), and realize… you barely remember what you just read? Or maybe you read the words, but the meaning feels slippery, like trying to hold onto water? That persistent sense of “I feel like I have low reading comprehension” is incredibly common, frustrating, and often carries an unwarranted weight of shame. But here’s the crucial thing: feeling this way doesn’t mean you’re stuck. Reading comprehension is a skill, and like any skill, it can be understood, practiced, and significantly improved.
First, Acknowledge the Feeling (Without Judgment)
It’s easy to spiral into thoughts like, “Am I just not smart enough?” or “Why can everyone else get this except me?” Please pause that inner critic. Feeling lost while reading happens to everyone sometimes. Complex material, dense jargon, fatigue, stress, unfamiliar topics – these can all temporarily derail understanding. The key difference is whether it’s a rare occurrence or a persistent feeling that impacts learning, work, or enjoyment.
Low reading comprehension isn’t about intelligence; it’s about the specific cognitive processes involved in making meaning from text. It means the connection between decoding the words (reading them aloud or silently) and constructing their meaning isn’t happening as smoothly or deeply as you’d like.
What Does “Reading Comprehension” Actually Mean?
It’s more than just knowing what individual words mean. True comprehension involves a multi-layered process:
1. Literal Understanding: Grasping the basic facts directly stated in the text (who, what, where, when).
2. Inferential Understanding: Reading “between the lines.” What is the author implying? What conclusions can you draw? What predictions can you make?
3. Evaluative Understanding: Forming judgments about the text. Is the argument logical? Is the evidence strong? Do you agree with the author’s perspective?
4. Critical Understanding: Analyzing the author’s purpose, bias, and the techniques they use to convey their message.
5. Connective Understanding: Linking the text to your own knowledge, experiences, and other things you’ve read or learned.
When you feel your comprehension is low, it often means one or more of these layers isn’t firing on all cylinders.
Why Might You Feel This Way? Common Culprits
Understanding the potential causes is the first step toward finding solutions:
Vocabulary Gaps: Encountering too many unfamiliar words is like hitting roadblocks constantly. It forces you to stop and decode, breaking the flow and making it hard to grasp the overall meaning.
Background Knowledge Shortfalls: Reading about quantum physics is tough if you lack basic physics concepts. Comprehension builds heavily on what you already know. If the topic is entirely new, it’s naturally harder to connect.
Lack of Active Reading Strategies: Passively skimming words rarely leads to deep understanding. Without strategies like predicting, questioning, visualizing, or summarizing, meaning can easily slip away.
Focus and Concentration Challenges: Distractions (external noise, internal worries, the ever-present phone) or conditions like ADHD can make it incredibly hard to sustain the focus needed for complex text.
Reading Speed vs. Comprehension Speed: Sometimes people prioritize reading fast over reading deeply. If you’re rushing, you’re likely sacrificing understanding.
Underlying Learning Differences: Conditions like dyslexia primarily affect decoding (reading the words), which then heavily impacts comprehension. Others, like specific language impairments, can directly affect understanding language structure and meaning.
Mindset and Anxiety: Believing “I’m bad at this” or feeling anxious about understanding can create a mental block, making it even harder to concentrate and process information effectively.
Turning “I Feel Like I Don’t Get It” into “I Understand This!”
The good news? Comprehension isn’t fixed. Here are powerful strategies to build your skills:
1. Become an Active Reader (Not a Passive Passenger):
Preview: Before diving in, scan headings, subheadings, images, captions, and the introduction/conclusion. This activates your prior knowledge and sets expectations.
Question: Turn headings into questions. Ask yourself what, why, and how as you read. What is the author trying to say? Why is this important? How does this connect to what I already know?
Predict: Guess what might come next or what the author’s conclusion will be. This keeps your mind engaged.
Visualize: Create mental pictures of concepts, processes, or scenes described.
Clarify: Don’t just skip unfamiliar words! Pause, use context clues, look them up, and make a note. This is crucial for building vocabulary.
Summarize: After a section or chapter, pause and mentally recap the main points in your own words. Can you explain it simply? If not, reread that part.
2. Tackle Vocabulary Systematically:
Keep a “Word Journal” – jot down new words, their definitions, and an example sentence.
Use flashcards (physical or apps like Anki or Quizlet) for spaced repetition review.
Focus on root words, prefixes, and suffixes – understanding these building blocks helps decipher many new words.
3. Build Your Background Knowledge:
If a topic is completely new, start with simpler sources (like well-written encyclopedia entries, introductory videos, or podcasts) before tackling complex textbooks or articles.
Make connections constantly: “This reminds me of…” or “This is different from…”.
4. Slow Down and Focus:
Minimize distractions. Find a quiet space, put your phone away.
Use a pointer (your finger or a pen) to guide your eyes – this can improve focus and pace.
Don’t be afraid to reread challenging sentences or paragraphs. Speed comes after comprehension improves.
5. Check Your Understanding Continuously:
The “Explain it to a 10-Year-Old” Test: After reading, try to explain the main ideas simply. If you can’t simplify it, you haven’t fully grasped it.
Look for Supporting Evidence: Can you point to specific sentences or details in the text that back up the main ideas?
Discuss It: Talking about what you read with someone else is a fantastic way to solidify understanding and expose gaps.
6. Mindset Shift: Embrace the Challenge
Replace “I don’t get this” with “What part is tricky?” or “What strategy can I try?”
View difficult texts as workouts for your brain – they make you stronger.
Celebrate small wins! Understanding a complex paragraph or learning a new word is progress.
Be patient and persistent. Building comprehension takes consistent effort.
When to Seek Additional Support:
If you’ve tried these strategies diligently and still struggle significantly, or if reading is consistently causing high levels of stress, consider:
Talking to a Teacher or Tutor: They can provide personalized guidance and identify specific areas needing work.
Educational Assessments: A professional evaluation can pinpoint underlying learning differences (like dyslexia or language processing disorders) and lead to targeted interventions and accommodations.
The Takeaway: Empowerment Over Frustration
That feeling of “low reading comprehension” is a signal, not a sentence. It’s your mind telling you it needs different tools or approaches to unlock the meaning on the page. By understanding what comprehension truly involves, identifying potential roadblocks, and actively practicing proven strategies, you can build this essential skill. It requires effort and patience, but the rewards – deeper learning, greater confidence, access to new worlds of information, and simply enjoying a good book – are immense. Don’t let the “I don’t get it” feeling hold you back. Start actively engaging with text today, one paragraph at a time, and watch your understanding grow. You’ve got this.
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