DAT RC is harder for non-native English speakers, but the gap closes faster than students expect. The score difference is rarely about intelligence or effort. It is almost always about the order of the work.
Most ESL students prep RC the way they prep biology. Big content review, then practice. RC does not work that way. Here is the order that produces the biggest jump in the shortest time.
For non-native speakers, RC prep is vocabulary first, then speed, then strategy. In that order.
Phase 1, vocabulary
Spend the first 3 weeks heavy on vocabulary. Not random vocabulary. The 173 high-frequency answer-choice words that appear on tone, best-describes, and synonym questions across nearly every form of the test.
See our vocabulary guide for the full breakdown. For non-native speakers, this list alone is often worth 2 to 3 score points because tone questions punish students who guess at words.
Pair the vocabulary with daily reading of academic-style English at native speed. Articles from The Atlantic, Aeon, and Nautilus are good sources. The point is exposure to the rhythm of academic argument.
Phase 2, reading speed
After 3 weeks of vocabulary, shift to reading speed. ESL students typically read DAT-style passages at 130 to 180 words per minute compared to 200 to 250 for native speakers. That gap is the entire reason most ESL students do not finish the section.
Train reading speed for the next 4 weeks. Use the techniques in our reading faster guide: cover the line so you cannot regress, breathe through your mouth to suppress subvocalisation, and use a finger pointer to chunk words.
Goal by end of phase 2: 220 to 240 WPM with 70 percent comprehension on a DAT-style passage.
Phase 3, strategy and patterns
Now that you have the vocabulary and the speed, you can finally use a real strategy. Pick one strategy, see our 10 strategies guide, and drill it on 30 timed passages over the final 5 weeks.
Tag every wrong answer by question pattern. Most ESL students discover that inference is their hardest pattern, not because they cannot infer, but because the language of inference questions is itself layered. See our inference guide.
What to skip
- 1General English vocab apps.DAT RC vocabulary is small and specific. The 173 word list. Studying broader vocabulary is wasted time.
- 2Reading novels for fun, slowly, at home.Pleasure reading does not build test reading speed. Time-pressured reading does.
- 3Translating in your head.If you are translating English to your native language to understand, you will run out of time. The fix is not faster translation. It is reading in English without translation, which the speed drills above will train.
Most ESL students who follow this order go from a 17 to a 22 in 12 weeks, and from a 22 to a 25 with another 6 weeks of pattern drilling. The score is reachable. The order matters.
Related: Vocabulary guide · Reading faster · Improvement plan