There are many steps that are to be followed if you want to be good at reading comprehension. Here are some of them:
The first thing is the ability to read the text and this means you must know the language. If you don’t know French, it does not make sense to read something that is written in French!
Next is the ability to process what you read. By this we mean that you must use all your learning inside and outside school to relate to the words and sentences written and start making sense out of them. Again, if your skills in vocabulary or your learning are poor you would not be good in reading comprehension because you would waste too much time in processing the information.
Also, the interaction between the words makes you think outside what is written. If you can recognise words rapidly and easily then your understanding is that much faster and better. Your understanding would be better if you have carefully listened to your English teacher and did all the home work properly. The understanding would also be helped by your own experiences.
One other important skill is the ability to make inference. Obviously, the writer is trying to tell you something. You must use all your skills to infer what he is trying to say. More often than not, you tend to read something that you are interested in and have some knowledge about. However, if your reading comprehension skills are good you should be able to infer from any subject that you are being exposed to for the first time. Imagine the following scenario:
You are thrilled when your parents announce that they want to take you on a holiday. They have not told you where they are taking you. But I know where they are taking you. I also know one of the main tourist attractions that you are going to visit. The description is in the text that follows! - Take this quiz and see for yourself how much you can understand about the attraction you are going to visit in your imagination.