How to summarize any article in English based on your level

welcome to speak English with Tiffany I

am teacher Tiffany let’s jump right in

alright there are two phases to

summarizing an article in English the

first phase is the reading phase now the

first time you read the article you need

to remember three things you need to

skim the entire article quickly and

totally from beginning to end number two

don’t worry about any unknown words many

times English learners get frustrated or

confused when there’s a word they don’t

know but you don’t have to worry about

this the first time you read an article

and number three find three key points

you want to find out what the articles

actually talking about just by quickly

reading over it from beginning to end

the second reading now you’re going to

read the article a second time this time

there are six things very quickly to

remember first you must find the main

point or main purpose remember in the

first reading you found the three key

points but this one is finding the main

point what’s the focus of the article

number two circle the key terms in the

article now these are not difficult

words these are the most important words

for example if the article is talking

about food circle the words that relate

to food or if the article is talking

about some type of news or some type of

policy that’s coming out in the

government you want a circle words that

are connected to that topic three divide

the article into sections remember

you’re trying to organize the

information even before you start

writing okay so section 1 section 2

section 3 blocks of information that are

similar to each other okay number 4

identify the time period or dates was

this article written last year or this

year or yesterday or today and also what

time period is the article talking about

for example is the article talking about

an event that will happen next year you

need to figure out the time period this

is all during the second time you’re

reading the article number five

recognize the people involved as you’re

reading through the article you want to

find out who is this article relating to

who is it talking about okay and last

number six search for the location in

the article where is this taking place

is it in America is it in Europe is it

in Asia where exactly is the article

talking about okay let’s keep going and

the third reading two things to remember

now for the second reading you did a lot

of extensive highlighting and organizing

for the third reading you want to get

more focused number one you want to

highlight the key sentence of each

section

remember this phase the reading phase is

helping you to organize your thoughts

and organize the information and number

two you’re finding the result or outcome

of the article

so after you’ve highlighted the key

sentences which will help with the

organization now you’re gonna find the

result what is the end result of this

entire article why was it written okay

now we enter the second phase the

writing phase now I’m going to show you

how to summarize based on three

different levels beginner intermediate

and advanced the first is the beginner

level and it’s going to be separated

into three different sections

the main purpose the key points and your

opinion this will be the same across

every level beginner intermediate and

advanced alright so first we have the

main purpose section sentence number one

is where you will state your main

purpose now you’ll see at the bottom

this is the information that you

collected from phase one in the reading

phase you’re going to use this

information as a part of the writing

phase okay so again sentence number one

is the main purpose sentence number two

the details about who and

so the people involved and what happened

and sentence number three details about

when or the time period where or the

location and why okay now the second

section the key points section has five

sentences sentence number four is the

number of key points okay in the article

the number of key points sentence number

five point number one

Cindy’s number six point number two

sentence number seven point number three

and sentence number eight the summary so

you see how all of these things are

organized which is going to make your

summary amazing okay and the last

section your opinion there are two

sentences sentence number nine the

conclusion of the article and sentence

number ten is your opinion now remember

sentence number nine is just referring

to the result of the article and in

number ten you’re just giving your

opinion because it’s a summary of the

article

you read all right let’s keep going now

the intermediate level now this is how

you do the intermediate level summary

now again the three sections are the

same main purpose key points and your

opinion for the intermediate level there

are six sentences in the first section

so you’ll notice it kind of expanded

sentence number one is the main purpose

sentence to who plus a description which

means you’re going to give more

information about the individuals the

article is talking about sentence three

what plus a description again more

information sentence number four when

plus description since it’s five where

plus a description and sentence six y

plus a description now don’t worry

in a few moments I’m going to show you

exactly what patterns you need to make

these sentences perfectly okay now the

key points section is also expanding

there are six sentences for this section

sentence number seven the number of key

points Cyndi’s number eight point number

one plus the description

what you’ll notice is we’re expanding

and giving more details based on our

level

so the beginner level gives less detail

but as you increase the level you give

more information for your summary now

since it’s number nine point two plus

the description since it’s ten point

number three plus the description

sentence eleven the summary sentence

number one and sentence twelve is the

summary sentence number two

so now this time we’re giving two

summary sentences and finally the your

opinion section now in this section we

now have three sentences sentence 13 is

the conclusion sentence number one

sentence 14 is the conclusion sentence

number two so we’re expanding our

information as it regards to the

conclusion in our summary and citizen’s

15 is your opinion so for the

intermediate level summary you’re gonna

have 15 total sentences broken up into

three sections

very organized okay and last the

advanced level and remember stay tuned

in a few moments I’m gonna explain very

clearly all of the patterns you need to

write these summaries okay advanced the

advanced level again three different

sections

the main purpose the key points and your

opinion for the main purpose in the

advanced level you have seven sentences

okay

CIND is number one your opinion before

reading the article now as you can see

in the advanced level you need to give

more of your opinion about the

information being discussed so the first

sentence is about your thoughts or your

ideas the second sentence is the main

purpose of the article Cyndi’s number

three number four number five number six

and number seven are the same as from

the intermediate level now their

patterns will be different but the

information is the same so let’s keep

going

the key points section also expands when

we go to the advanced

the level this time there are nine

sentences that we need to write for the

advanced level summary okay and the

first sentence in this section is the

same as the intermediate level the

number of key points sent is number nine

point number one plus a description now

you’ll notice sentence number ten is a

little bit different it says detail or

key sentence so what’s happening is

we’re expanding the information on each

of the points in the advanced level for

the key points section okay you’ll

notice you’ll see that in sentence 12

and sentence 14 now sentence 15 and 16

are also a little different because you

have two summary sentences now okay and

now the final section is your opinion

now like the intermediate level there

are three sentences but what you’ll

notice is that sentence number 19 says

your opinion after so this is your

opinion based on what you read from the

article and you kind of can compare it

to the opinion you had before you had

the article and now the opinion you have

after reading the article okay

now let’s jump right into actually how

to write these summaries okay so let’s

say that we read an article about the

benefits of eating healthy now the first

section that we need to write for our

summary is the main purpose on the Left

we have the three different levels

beginner intermediate and advanced so

we’re gonna see how to write the main

purpose section based on your level so

let’s look at the beginner the first

sentence for the beginner is the main

purpose the main purpose so the first

sentence says this article showed the

benefits of eating healthy now the

pattern that you want to use is this

article so no matter what the article is

that you read your first sentence will

use the pattern this article okay let’s

move on to the next

the next sentence is going to talk about

the who and the what it says it talked

about all adults and explained how they

can eat healthy so in this sentence the

second sentence the pattern is it talked

about dot dot dot and explained remember

sentence number two for the beginner

level includes details about who and

what okay and the third sentence for the

beginner level is details about when

where and why okay let’s read it it was

written because last year in the United

States many adults were sick so in this

sentence the pattern we will use is it

was written because dot dot dot in all

right remember so for this sentence we

have when where and why so for the

beginner level in order to write the

main purpose you need three sentences we

have how many patterns three patterns

okay let’s keep going now for the

intermediate level now for the

intermediate level you need six

sentences now the first sentence is

going to be also about the main purpose

but the pattern is a bit different so

let’s read it this article was written

in order to show the benefits of eating

healthy so you can see that in this

sentence the pattern is this article was

written in order to this is a little bit

different than the beginner level

because the intermediate level requires

a more complex English sentence okay

let’s go on the second sentence is who

plus description okay let’s read it

focused mainly on all adults who live

and work in America so for this one the

pattern is it focused mainly on and then

dot dot dot who remember the description

so you want to give more information

okay let’s keep going on to the third

sentence the third sentence deals with

what Plus description let’s read the

article made a point to show how they

can eat healthy especially on a daily

basis now in this sentence let’s see the

pattern is the article made a point to

show okay now in general this expression

or this pattern just means emphasized or

thought that it was important so for

example I can say he made a point to

show me his new shirt meaning he put an

effort into doing something so the key

here made a point to okay and the second

part is especially especially okay so

once again the article made a point to

show dot dot dot especially remember

because it’s a description alright let’s

move on to number four sentence number

four deals with the when plus the

description so let’s read it was written

on December 20th of last year which was

close to Christmas so for this one the

pattern is it was written dot dot dot

which okay it was written dot dot dot

which all right let’s move on to number

five sentence number five deals with

where plus the description okay let’s

read it the exact place that the article

talked about was the United States which

is quite populated now for this sentence

we have a longer pattern the exact place

that the article talked about

was so it’s a very long pattern but it’s

very good to use this pattern when you

are writing a summary of an article and

it needs to be done at an intermediate

level okay and the second part is which

okay all right let’s move on the sixth

sentence for the intermediate level

summary is y plus description

let’s read it this was because so many

American adults were sick last year so

for this sentence the pattern is this

was because alright so for the

intermediate level we have a total of

six patterns that we need to use when we

are summarizing an article okay let’s

keep going to the advanced level the

first sentence for the advanced level is

your opinion before reading the article

so let’s read the first sentence prior

to reading this article I only focused

on exercising for my health so for the

advanced level you need to use the

pattern prior to reading this article

that’s the pattern you need to use for

the first sentence okay so the second

sentence deals with the main purpose it

says however as I read through the

article I realized that the main purpose

of the article was to show the benefits

of eating healthy now since this is the

advanced level summary we need to use a

longer pattern the pattern is however as

I read through the article I realized

that the main purpose of the article was

to dot dot dot exactly one more time

however as I read through the article I

realized that the main purpose of the

article was to dot dot dot okay let’s

keep going

the third sentence deals with who plus

the

it says it focused mainly on all adults

who live and work in America so the

pattern is it focused mainly on dot dot

dot who dot dot dot okay let’s keep

going

sentence number four sentence number

four deals with the what plus the

description it says the article made a

point to show how they can eat healthy

especially on a daily basis so for this

sentence we have the pattern the article

made a point to show and then especially

now made a point to show that just means

it emphasized it showed that this part

is important ok made a point to show

alright next sentence number five the

when plus the description ok let’s keep

going

it was written on December 20th of last

year which was close to Christmas now

again this is the same as the

intermediate level it was written dot

dot dot which dot dot dot

ok this is the same as the intermediate

level ok next we’re plus description for

sentence number six it says the exact

place that the article talked about was

the United States which is quite

populated once again this is the same

pattern we use for the intermediate

level and this is okay because actually

an excellent pattern to use okay so the

exact place that the article talked

about was dot dot and which and the

final sentence for the advanced level

for this section is y plus description

and it says this was because so many

American adults were sick last year once

again this was because dot dot dot

okay so for the advanced level we have a

total of seven patterns that we will use

for the main purpose section okay let’s

keep going on to the next section

alright the next section the key points

section so next in the key points

section we’ll start with the beginner

level okay the first sentence for this

section is the number of key points one

more time the number of key points okay

so the sentence reads there were three

key points in the article so the pattern

for this sentence is actually the entire

sentence for the beginner level you want

to make sure you use this sentence

exactly how it’s written there were

three key points in the article okay

let’s keep going on to the next sentence

sentence number five says point number

one okay it says first eating healthy

gives more energy so the pattern in this

sentence is just first dot dot after you

write first you will write down what the

first point is from the article okay

let’s keep going

sentence number six says point number

two okay it says second eating healthy

helps people think better so the pattern

here is second okay very easy second dot

dot dot let’s keep going next for

sentence number seven it says point

number three

so it says finally eating healthy helps

prevent diseases so for this sentence

the pattern or the word is just finally

since there are only three points in

this sentence we can just use the word

finally and last for the final sentence

in the key point section we have the

summary okay it says these were the

points in the article once again this

entire sentence is the pattern for the

beginner level these were the main

points in the article okay so for the

second section of the beginner level the

key points section there are a total of

five patterns that you will use to write

a summary of an article at the beginner

level okay let’s keep going

this time we’re going to go on to the

intermediate level okay

so the first sentence in this section is

the number of key points

it says the article included many

important points but there were three

key points all right so for this section

the pattern is the entire sentence once

again the article included many

important points but there were three

key points okay let’s keep going

the next sentence in this section is

point number 1 plus description okay it

says the first key point was eating

healthy gives more energy that can be

used throughout the day so for this

sentence the pattern is the first key

point was so instead of the beginner

level which was just first now for the

intermediate level the pattern is the

first key point was okay let’s move on

to the next sentence point number 2 plus

description okay it says the second key

point was eating healthy helps people

think better by enhancing their ability

to concentrate while working and the

pattern here is the second key point was

okay very easy very simple this pattern

for the intermediate level let’s

continue the next sentence is point

number 3 plus description it says

finally the third

keypoint was eating healthy helps

prevent diseases by providing the body

with the nutrients that it needs and in

this sentence the pattern is finally the

third key point was dot dot dot okay

let’s continue the next one is the

summary sentence number one okay it says

these were the three major points stated

in the article

okay now this one as well needs to be

the entire sentence you write it

verbatim or exactly as it is here these

were the three major points stated in

the article let’s go to the next and the

final sentence in this section summary

sentence number two it says in general

the article used these points to

encourage adults to think about their

health more so the pattern in this

sentence is in general the article used

these points to dot dot dot okay all

right so in this section we have a total

of six patterns have to write this

really small okay we have a total of six

patterns through the e right there six

patterns for the intermediate level

let’s keep going to the advanced to

level where it gets a little bit longer

for this section okay so the first

sentence in the advanced level summary

is the number of key points it says the

article included a number of important

points but there are three points that

stood out to me okay so for this one we

have the article included a number of

important points but there were three

points that stood out to me now this is

a very long sentence as well but this

pattern is amazing for the advanced

level so again I’ll read it to you and

you can memorize it the article included

of important points but there were three

key points that stood out to me stood

out to me just means something that

really caught my attention or something

that really made me think okay stood out

to me okay let’s keep going to the next

sentence it says point number 1 plus

description okay it says the first key

point was eating healthy gives more

energy that can be used throughout the

day now again this pattern is the same

as the intermediate level okay so let’s

just keep going the next sentence is

detail or key sentence

okay detail or key sentence all right it

says one specific sentence in the

articles stated that the more fruits and

vegetables we eat the more alive we feel

now the pattern is one specific sentence

in the articles stated that dot dot dot

now what you’re gonna do after this is

literally write a sentence that came

from the article okay that it was about

the first key point okay let’s keep

going next

point number two Plus description it

says the second key point was eating

healthy helps people think better by

enhancing their ability to concentrate

while working now again this is the same

as the intermediate level the second key

point was dot dot dot so let’s just keep

going the next sentence deals with the

detail or key sentence okay it says this

point was reiterated in the part of the

article that said sugar clouds the mind

but healthy food revitalizes it I just

want to explain this word very quickly

sugar clouds the mind that just means

sugar makes it difficult to focus when

it’s cloudy you can’t see something

clear in the sky okay and revitalizes

just means to give more energy so the

pattern in this sentence is this point

was reiterated in the part of the art

cold that said dot dot dot okay let’s

keep going

the next sentence says point number

three plus the description okay it says

finally the third key point was eating

healthy helps prevent diseases by

providing the body with the nutrients

that it needs so again it’s the same as

an intermediate level finally the third

key point was dot dot dot okay so let’s

keep moving on since we know this is the

same as an intermediate level and we

have the detail or key sentence it says

the article said that many people suffer

from disease because of poor diets so

for this one it’s the article said dot

dot dot okay and again you’re gonna put

something there that’s from the article

okay let’s keep going now we’re gonna

get into the summary sentence number one

it says these were the three major

points stated in the article okay so the

pattern is these were the three major

points stated in the article this is

exactly the same as the intermediate

level so again we’ll just keep going and

the final sentence summary sentence

number two says in general the article

used these points to encourage adults to

think about their health more this is

also the same pattern that we used when

we looked at the intermediate level okay

so again in general the article used

these points to dot dot dot so for the

advanced level we have a total of nine

different patterns nine patterns okay

beginner level we have five intermediate

level we have six and the advanced level

we have nine and finally the last

section okay now the final section for

your summary is going to be your opinion

now let’s start with the beginner level

so in the beginner

we have two sentences for this section

the first sentence is the conclusion

let’s read it

at the end of the article it said that

eating healthy is important for all

adults so in this sentence the pattern

is at the end of the article it said dot

dot dot okay at the end of the article

it said dot dot all right and the next

sentence the final sentence is your

opinion it says in my opinion this was a

good article so you’re going to write

your opinion and the pattern is in my

opinion dot dot dot so you’re gonna give

your opinion on the article and this

would complete your beginner’s level

summary of an article okay now for the

intermediate level for the intermediate

level there are three sentences now the

first sentence is the conclusion

sentence number one okay it says the

last portion of the article said that

eating healthy is important for all

adults now the pattern in this sentence

is the last portion of the article said

dot dot dot let’s redo that little

squiggly here we go

the last portion of the article said

that dot dot now that’s better okay

let’s keep going the next sentence is

the conclusion sentence number two okay

it says it emphasized once again that

the food a person eats will affect their

entire life the pattern is it emphasized

once again dot dot dot okay now this is

showing that you’re saying once again an

important point from a previous section

in the article summary that you’ve done

okay and the last sentence is your

opinion and it says after reading this

article I also began to realize the

importance of eating healthy so the

pattern is after

reading this article dot-dot-dot you

give what your opinion is and that

completes the intermediate level summary

of an article and finally if we go to

the bottom and we have our advanced

level the first sentence is the

conclusions in this number one and what

will you notice it’s exactly the same as

the intermediate level but let’s read it

the last portion of the article said

that eating healthy is important for all

adults let’s highlight it the last

portion of the article said dot dot dot

the next sentence says conclusion

sentence number two it emphasized once

again that the food a person eats will

affect their entire life

and let’s highlight it it emphasized

once again the same as an intermediate

level and finally your opinion after now

this is a little bit different it says

after completing this article I also

began to realize the importance of

eating healthy so in this pattern we

changed reading to completing this

article and just so we remember for the

beginner level we have two patterns and

for the intermediate and the advanced

level we have three patterns for the

your opinion section now you can

summarize any article in English based

on your level remember to Like share and

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