Study advice often treats reading as the passive thing to avoid. That's half right. Rereading the same page five times is weak revision. But reading is how understanding gets built in the first place, and recall practice only works on material you've understood.
Read for structure first
Before reading a chapter line by line, look at its shape: the headings, the figures, the summary and the questions at the end. Methods like SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, review) all start here, because knowing where an argument is going makes each paragraph easier to place.
Read one idea at a time
Dense textbooks pack several ideas into one paragraph. Slow down and separate them. That's why every Type to Study lesson puts one idea per sentence, with the key term highlighted and a diagram beside it that lights up the step you're reading.
Know when to stop reading
The signal is simple: once a page feels familiar, rereading it stops paying. That's the moment to switch to producing it, by explaining it, typing it from memory or answering questions on it.
- First contact: read for understanding.
- Same day: produce it once (type it, explain it, or answer a question).
- Following days: short retrieval practice with flashcards.
- Before the exam: a full mock exam under time pressure.
Reading and typing together
In Type to Study every lesson has both a Read mode and a Type mode. Read it to understand it, then type it to make it stick. The recall pass then tells you, honestly, which key terms you've really learned.