Most textbooks used in Spanish classes (whether in schools or in adult education) will include reading comprehension exercises. Reading comprehension exercises in textbooks will vary according to the level of the students in the class and may often also be designed to test students' knowledge of a particular area of vocabulary or of particular grammatical forms. Generally, there will be a passage of text (which might be as little as a few words), and students will be expected to answer one or more questions on that text. Students might be asked to answer questions in writing or in speech, and sometimes students will answer questions in Spanish rather than in English, adding an element of writing or speaking practice to the reading exercise.
Online resources for Spanish reading comprehension come in many forms. They may be used in a classroom setting or by students working to learn Spanish independently. There are many online resources that are similar to textbooks, with passages of Spanish and questions for students to answer on that text. Many online resources also allow for more interactive learning when doing reading comprehension exercises, using audio and video as well as text. This means that reading comprehension is not isolated from other types of learning, which helps replicate the experience of being in a Spanish-speaking country better than purely text-based learning.
Once learners have mastered basic Spanish, they may be able to understand newspapers and magazines produced for Spanish-speaking people. Newspapers and magazines may use particular language styles (such as colloquial, formal or legal), and understanding these might be difficult initially, but it is a vital skill for advanced learners to master. Being able to read local newspapers and magazines is important for anyone looking to spend time in a Spanish-speaking country. In a classroom situation, a teacher might ask students to read a passage from a newspaper or magazine and then ask questions on it or hold a discussion. Independent learners could simply read, using a Spanish-English dictionary to look up unfamiliar vocabulary.
Advanced students, especially those studying Spanish at the college level, will be expected to be able to read Spanish literature. Being able to do so can also be a great source of pleasure. As with newspapers and magazines, Spanish literature is likely to use particular language styles and forms that learners new to it might not have encountered before. Also as with newspapers and magazines, teachers might ask questions on or discuss particular passages or books. Advanced learners might write essays on Spanish literature, just as they might in English literature courses.