Skimming and scanning

Skimming

Skimming is a reading technique that can help you to read more quickly and decide if the text is interesting and whether you should read it in more detail

Skimming ia a fast reading techinique. Use it to obtain the gist of a piece of text(i.e. to quickly identify the main ideas in the text)

HOW TO SKIM:
Read the title, subtitles and subheadings to find out what the text is about
Look at the ilustrations to give you further information about the topic
Read the first and last setence of each paragraph.
Don't read every word or every setence

Scanning

Scanning ia a fast reading technique. It's a way of reading to look for specific information in a news

HOW TO SCAN:
Don't try to read every word. Instead let your eyes move quickly across the page until you find what you are looking for.
Use clues on the page, such as headings and titles, to help you.
If you are reading for study,start by thinking up or writing down some questions that you want to answer. Doing this can focus your mind and help you find the facts or information that you need more easily

The difference between 'SKIMMING' and 'SCANNING'

The term skimming is often confused with scanning. Remember:

Skimming is used, for example, to get the gist(O ponto essencial) of a page of a textbook to decide
whether it is useful and should therefore be read more slowly and in more detail.

Scanning is used to obtain specific information from a piece of text and can be used, for example, to find a particular number in a telephone directory.

Sometimes you can use both reading methods. After you have skimmed a piece of text to decide whether the text is of interest,
you may wish to use scanning techniques to locate specific information in a text.
Scanning can be used to read through the ads in a newspaper, or for browsing TV schedules, timetables, lists,catalogues or web pages for information. For theses tasks you don't
need to read or understand every word

Scanning is also useful when studying or looking to find specific inormation from a book or article quickly as there is not always time to read every word.