Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the mountain of words in an English text or found yourself struggling to express your ideas clearly? Don't worry; you're not alone. Learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) can be a challenging journey, but there's a simple yet powerful tool that can make it easier: summarizing. Let's dive into how this handy skill can help you ace your ESL journey.

1. Boosts Vocabulary and Speaking Skills

You're probably experienced frustration of finding the right words to express your thoughts. Summarizing can be your vocabulary booster. When you condense a text or video into a concise summary, you're selecting the most fitting words to capture the content. This practice helps you explore and master new words, enriching your vocabulary in the process. Plus, summarizing trains your mind to structure sentences effectively, a skill that's indispensable when improving your English fluency.

2. Encourages Retention

Think of summarizing as your secret weapon for decoding complex ideas. When you summarize, you pick out the main ideas and crucial details, making it easier to grasp the heart of the matter. This improves your retention of information. You'll find yourself navigating through articles, books, and videos with more ease, as remembering the bigger picture is often simpler than memorizing minor details. Not only that, but summarizing new vocabulary helps you remember what the word means. If you can explain the vocabulary or content in your own words, it shows that you have successfully absorbed and understood the information!

3. Encourages Critical Thinking

Critical thinking isn't just about questioning and analyzing; it's also about processing information. Summarizing encourages you to engage deeply with content, dissecting it to find the gems within. By extracting the most significant information, you not only become a better thinker but also a more discerning reader and listener. This is a skill that will not only benefit your EFL journey or test taking but your overall intellectual growth.

In a nutshell, summarizing isn't just a tool; it's your EFL superpower. It helps you discover new words, retain knowledge, and refine your thinking. 

So, start summarizing today, and watch your English proficiency soar---

"But wait! How do I practice this skill?"

4. How to practice summarizing

Let's go over the steps to add to your study time:

1. Find something to read or watch. (If you would like, you can also take notes about the main points! [see step 3])
2. When you've finished it, close the media. Do not look at it while you are summarizing! You will more than likely retain the main points. (If you keep rechecking the media, you might confuse yourself!)
3. Write sentences about the 5Wh questions + How. Do not include minor points like numbers, background information, excessive details, or quotes. Don't repeat any details either!
4. The summary should be much shorter than the media! For example, a small newspaper column would only need about 3-4 sentences.
5. After you've finished your summary, you can finally open the media again. Check the media to see if you answered all the Wh questions!
6. Correct your summary, and practice again with a new piece of media!