ShadowFront: FrontoOmbraGvatsekvi (FOG): SPEED-READING.

INTRODUCTION

The average college student only reads between 250 and 350 wpm. There are people who can read more than a thousand words per minute! The free speed reading course provided on this website is designed to help you become one of those who's reading comprehension is amazing.

You can double your reading speed and understand the materials you are reading. Many people, probably you included, find reading rapidly a very difficult task. You're probably afraid that as you increase your speed, you may not be able to understand the concepts and information being read.

You don't have to put up with a reading speed that causes you to take a month or more to finish a novel. Even worse is not being able to find what you're looking for in a reference or technical book and you need to complete an assignment in school, or at work, before the due date.

According to studies, the relationship between reading speed and comprehension is directly proportional to each other. That is, an increase in rate entails an increase in reading comprehension. This free speed reading program will help you double your reading speed and increase your understanding of the materials being read.

Not only will your new reading skills be beneficial, learning the skill of speed reading is simple and takes only a few techniques to apply. Speed reading is not only useful in reading for pleasure but is absolutely necessary when used in learning and studying. In these cases, time is essential. And if you can make things faster and a lot easier, you're less likely to get stressed out.

"Speed reading can change your life for the better." -Sherrick DuCannibis

IMPROVING READING RATE

Do you know that almost anyone can double his reading speed while maintaining equal or even higher comprehension with what he is reading? In other words, improving the speed with which he gets what he wants from reading is not a problem for anyone at all!

Isn’t that great to hear?

It is a fact that an average college student reads between 250 and 350 words per minute (wpm) on fiction and non-technical materials. But the reading speed that is considered “good” should be around 500 to 700 wpm. And yet, other people can read 1,000 wpm or even faster on these kinds of materials. What makes the difference? Actually, there are three main factors involved in improving one’s reading speed: (1) the desire to improve, (2) the willingness to try new techniques and (3) the motivation to practice.

Learning to read rapidly and well presupposes that you have enough vocabulary and necessary comprehension skills. When you have achieved your understanding to the level where you are able to comprehend college-level materials, then you can say that you are completely ready to speed reading practice in earnest.

However, don't let a lack of vocabulary skill hinder you. The idea is to learn to read and comprehend far more rapidly than you do now. Part of that process will be also improving your vocabulary by simply reading more frequently and being exposed to a wider range of word usage.

SPEED-READING & COMPREHENSION

Speed has a vital role in the reading process and an understanding of it is essential. Research has shown a close relation between speed and understanding.

Progress charts of thousands of individuals taking reading training were deliberated and it has been found in most cases that an increase in rate has been paralleled by an increase in comprehension; also, where rate has gone down, comprehension has also decreased. Although there is at present little statistical evidence, it seems that slow (or word-by-word) reading prevents thorough understanding of the material. The factors producing slow reading may also be involved in lowered comprehension.

Most adults though are able to increase their rate of reading considerably and rather quickly without lowering comprehension. These same individuals seldom show an increase in comprehension when they reduce their rate. In other cases, comprehension is actually better at faster speed of reading.

Such results, of course, are primarily dependent upon the method used to gain the increased rate. Simply reading more rapidly without actual improvement in basic reading habits like vocabulary, grammar, etc. usually results in lowered comprehension.

By improving your comprehension of what you read, and reading more frequently, you can also gain vocabulary skills through association of unfamiliar words within the context of the material you are reading. Initially, you may have to slow down a bit, and sometimes come to a halt while you consult a dictionary. But with continual, frequent reading, you can build vocabulary skills by understanding how words are used within the context of what you are reading.

BASIC CONDITIONS FOR INCREASED READING RATE

Your program for maximum reading speed increase should establish 4 basic conditions. These include:

1. Have your eyes checked. Reading uses the eyes as the most basic and essential tool. So before getting on a speed reading program, make sure to have your eyes examined by eye doctors for any correctable eye defects you may have. Often, very slow reading is related to uncorrected eye defects. Taking care of the eyes is also as important.

2. Eliminate the habit of pronouncing words as you read. Reading silently is 2-3 times faster than reading aloud because sounding out words in the throat takes a lot more time. If you are aware of sounding or "hearing" words as you read, try to concentrate on key words and meaningful ideas as you force yourself to read faster.

3. Avoid regressing (rereading). The average student reading rate of 250 wpm regresses about 20 times per page. Rereading words and phrases is a habit which will slow your reading speed down to a snail's pace. Usually, regressing is not necessary anymore since the ideas you want will still be explained and elaborated more fully in later contexts. Furthermore, the slowest reader usually regresses most frequently. Because he reads slowly, his mind has time to wander and his rereading reflects both his inability to concentrate and his lack of confidence in his comprehension skills.

4. Develop a wider eye-span. This will help you read more at each glance and will let you learn to read by phrases or thought units, instead of word-by-word.

READING RATE ADJUSTMENT

Poor results are inevitable if the reader attempts to use the same reading rate generally for a-1 types of material and for all reading purposes. He must learn to adjust his rate depending on what his purpose in reading is and how difficult it is to read the material. This ranges from a maximum rate of easy, familiar, interesting and particular materials, to minimal rate on material which is unfamiliar in content and language structure or which must be thoroughly digested. The effective reader adjusts his rate while the ineffective one uses the same rate for all types of material and purpose.

Rate adjustment may be done completely as a whole or internally within the article. The former is called overall adjustment in which the reader establishes the basic rate at which the total article is read, while the latter is referred to as internal adjustment that involves the necessary variations in rate for each varied part of the material. As an analogy, let’s take for example a 100-mile mountain trip. Since this journey will be a relatively hard drive with hills, curves, and a mountain pass, you decide to take three hours for the total trip, averaging about 35 miles an hour. This is your overall rate adjustment. However, in actual driving, you may slow down to at least 15 miles per hour on some curves and hills, while speeding up to 50 miles per hour or more on relatively straight and level sections. This is your internal rate adjustment. Thus, there is no actual fixed rate in which good readers follow inflexibly in reading a particular selection, even though he has set himself an overall rate for the total job.

Overall rate adjustment depends on your reading plan, your reading purpose, and the nature and difficulty of the material. The general reading rate to be used should be specified in the plan. The purpose will then fully determine the rate to be used. For example, to understand information, skim or scan at a rapid rate; to determine value of material or to read for enjoyment, read rapidly or slowly according to your feelings; or to read analytically, read at a moderate pace to totally absorb the ideas. The nature and difficulty of the material, on the other hand, requires an adjustment in rate in conformity with your ability to handle that type of material.

Obviously, level of difficulty is highly relative to the particular reader. Take for instance Einstein's theories. Though they may be extremely difficult to most laymen, they may be very simple and clear to any physics professor. Hence, the layman and the physics professor must make a different rate adjustment in reading the same material. Generally, difficult material will entail a slower rate; simpler material will permit a faster rate.

Internal rate adjustment involves selecting differing rates for different parts of a given article. In general, speed should be decreased with the following ideas/thoughts: (1) unfamiliar terminology or unclear words in context; (2) difficult sentence and paragraph structure; (3) unfamiliar or abstract concepts; (4) detailed, technical materials; (5) materials on which you want detailed retention. With these parts that slower reading pace is necessary, one should: try to understand unfamiliar words, phrases, and sentences in context; slow down enough to enable you to untangle difficult syntactic constructions; look for applications or examples of your own as well as studying those of the writer; otherwise, read on and return to it later.

On the other hand, increase in speed is necessary when you meet the following: (1) simple material with few ideas which are new to you; (2) unnecessary examples and illustrations; (3) detailed explanation and idea elaboration which you do not need; (4) broad, generalized ideas and ideas which are restatements of previous ones.

Remember to adjust your reading rate sensitivity from article to article in order to keep your reading attack flexible. It is equally important to adjust your rate within a given article. Practice these techniques until a flexible reading rate becomes second nature to you.

FACTORS THAT REDUCE SPEED-READING RATE

Some of the factors which reduce reading rate include:

(a) limited perceptual span i.e., word-by-word reading;
(b) slow perceptual reaction time, i.e., slowness of recognition and response to the material;
(c) vocalization, including the need to vocalize in order to achieve comprehension;
(d) faulty eye movements, including inaccuracy in placement of the page, in return sweep, in rhythm and regularity of movement, etc.;
(e) regression, both habitual and as associated with habits of concentration;
(f) faulty habits of attention and concentration, beginning with simple inattention during the reading act and faulty processes of retention;
(g) lack of practice in reading, due simply to the fact that the person has read very little and has limited reading interests so that very little reading is practiced in the daily or weekly schedule;
(h) fear of losing comprehension, causing the person to suppress his rate deliberately in the firm belief that comprehension is improved if he spends more time on the individual words;
(i) habitual slow reading, in which the person cannot read faster because he has always read slowly,
(j) poor evaluation of which aspects are important and which are unimportant; and
(k) the effort to remember everything rather than to remember selectively.

These conditions, as you may notice, may reduce not only the reading rate, but comprehension increase as well. Thus, eliminating them is likely to result in increased comprehension as well. This is an entirely different matter from simply speeding up the rate of reading alone.

In fact, simply speeding the rate especially through forced acceleration may actually worsen the real reading problem. In addition, forced acceleration may even destroy confidence in ability to read. The obvious solution then is to increase rate as a part of a total improvement of the whole reading process. This is a function of special training programs in reading.

BEFORE SPEED READING

How many times have you promised yourself to read more but just never found enough time? If only you could do it quickly and more efficiently.

Effective and efficient readers learn to use many styles of reading for different purposes which include skimming, scanning, and critical reading. Before reading, you need to identify the purpose why you’ll be doing such activity: Are you looking for background information on a topic you know a little bit about already? Are you looking for specific details and facts that you can marshal in support of an argument? Are you trying to see how an author approaches her topic rhetorically?

Knowing your purpose in reading helps focus your attention on important aspects of the text. Before turning those pages, take a moment first to reflect and clarify what your goal really is.

There are a lot of ways to familiarize yourself with the background of the text, and gain a useful overview of its content and structure before actually absorbing and digesting the text. Seek information about the context of the reading, its purpose, and its general content. Look for an abstract or an author’s or editor’s note that may precede the article itself. Read any background information that is available to you about the author, the occasion of the writing, its intended audience, and more useful information.

After viewing the title and noting general ideas that are accessible to you as a reader, you can continue to browse pages and scan paragraphs in order to get the gist of what material the text covers and how that material is arranged. As soon as you finished looking over the text as a whole, read through the introductory paragraph or section, noticing that some authors will provide an overview of their message as well as an explicit statement of their thesis or main point in the opening portion of the text. Considering the background information, the messages conveyed by the title, note or abstract, and the information from the opening paragraph or section, you should be able to proceed with a good hunch of the article’s direction.

In order to become aware of your reading situation, ask yourself questions like:

What do I want (or need) to know and learn?
In which context do I want (or need) this?
Which texts could suit these needs?
What made me choose this text?
How deeply an understanding of the text do I need?
How much time have I got?
How do I want to proceed?

CONSIDER YOUR PURPOSE IN READING

To help you determine a purpose, consider the following ideas:

Are you looking for brief information, main ideas, complete comprehension, or detailed analysis?
How will this text help you?
Is this the best material to meet your goals?
What does background or summary information provided by the author or editor predict the text will do?
Does there seem to be a clear introduction and conclusion that can be useful? Where?
What claims does the author make at the beginnings and endings of sections?
Are there key words that are repeated or put in bold or italics to help you skim and scan?
What kinds of development and detail do you notice? Does the text include statistics, tables, and pictures or is it primarily prose? Do names of authors or characters get repeated frequently?

Look for Specific Words

Scan a section for key words.
Skim to the words that provide meaning and may be useful for you and your purpose.

Fairly logical isn't it? Before you leave home in your automobile, you generally have an idea of the purpose, even if it is nothing more than just driving for the fun of it. Likewise, it makes sense to have a goal and a defined reason before you begin reading. This is particularly true when you are getting ready to read technical material.

BECOME AN IMPATIENT READER

Speed readers are considered impatient readers. They read with a purpose and want to find answers immediately. They can’t wait to find out what the whole text is all about that they usually make predictions and guess the answers.

Some readers say, "If I think ahead while I am reading, my predictions may be wrong."

The truth is, predicting is useful because all your concentration is focused on the reading and you are actually making senses of it. Speed readers predict what the text is likely to tell them next, but they are not upset if a prediction is wrong, they quickly adjust their expectations.

Different Speeds for Different Material

You do not need to read every word to understand a text; however some texts will require careful reading, so you need to know when to adjust your reading speed. Skim a text, and then decide if a slower reading approach is necessary.

Speed Reading Practice Activity

In order to avoid reading every word you must increase the rate your eyes move across the page. As a practice activity, choose an easy material for to read. Sweep your eyes faster across the page than you’ve ever done before. Do not mouth the words; do not even mentally say them. Start with short practice periods, e.g. 3 minutes, record your rate (how many words have you read in 3 minutes?), and then continue with longer period of time or more complicated texts.

The First Steps in Speed Reading

Your starting position and reading gesture is important. You should sit up straight, hold the book down with your left hand, and use your right hand to do the pacing.

Being a good reader before is a plus factor in attempting to speed read. Otherwise, it may be quite difficult and may take some time. Speed reading program will not work if you have problems in comprehension and vocabulary. In fact, it may hurt you to try to rush through stuff that you can't comprehend. Yes, you may be able to read fast, but you just won’t understand what you have read. At least, you should have the basics down already first.

SPEED-READING TIPS

Read to the end! Do not get tired or discouraged and just stop reading. Ideas can become clearer the more you read and the further you go with the reading materials. When you finish reading, review to see what you have learned, return to those ideas that are seems unclear, and reread them in order to grasp their ideas. When you begin to read, you should:

Look for answers to the questions you first raised;
Answer questions at the beginning or end of chapters or study guides;
Note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrases;
Read only one section at a time, and recite the summary of each section afterwards;
Reread captions under pictures, graphs, etc.;
Reduce your speed for difficult passages;
Stop and reread parts which are not clear; and
Study graphic aids.

KNOW HOW DEEPLY TO STUDY THE MATERIAL

Where you only need the shallowest knowledge of the subject, you can skim the material. This is done by reading only chapter headings, introductions and summaries.

If you need a moderate level of information on a subject, then you can scan the text. Here you read the chapter introductions and summaries in detail, but may speed-read the contents of the chapters – picking out and understanding key words and important concepts. At this level of looking at the document, it is worth paying attention to diagrams and graphs.

Only when you need detailed knowledge of a subject is it worth studying the text. Studying is skimming the material first to get an overview, and afterwards reading it in detail while seeing how the information presented connects to the overall structure of the subject. An effective method of getting the deepest level of understanding on a text is to use a formal method such as SQ3R .

Do you read every article of every magazine, or every chapter of every book? If so, you're probably spending a lot of time reading stuff you don't need. Remember: You don't need to read all of what you DO read. Be choosy. Select the chapters and articles that are important. Ignore the rest.

HOW PEOPLE READ

Our conscious brain takes in 16 bits of information per second, compared to our non-conscious brain that absorbs 11 million bits per second. Can you imagine the difference? That is the reason why we hate to do stuff consciously – because it does take effort and discipline.

Our non-conscious brain structures process tons of information coming from our sense-organs such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood circulation, not to mention, instincts and emotions – all without our awareness. It’s a work-horse!

The eyes, our primary tool in reading, only take in information when they are stopped. If you want, you can verify this by holding a book up in front of someone and let them read a certain part in it. Watch their eyes as they read though don't tell them what you are observing.

What feels like continuous motion is actually move -> stop -> read, move -> stop -> read, and so on. Speed readers minimize the number of stops by maximizing the number of words taken in at each stop.

SHORT SPEED-READING EXERCISE

Here's an exercise that will help you develop effective eye movements. Try looking at the following sentence in three ways:

First, focus your attention: look only at the first "S" in success.
Second, adjust your focus / attention: look to be able to see at the entire word, "success".
Third, adjust your focus so you are seeing three or more words at the same time.

Because you can't say three words at the same time, you can't subvocalize if you are reading three words at a time. Thus, elimination of vocalization from thought is necessary. Although many think that verbalization is essential to linking words with concepts, common experience shows that this is not so.

For example, if someone asks a mechanic how a car works, he surely knows what to answer but will have a problem in how to respond. The subject of his thought is too complex and multi-dimensional to be expressed in linear forms. He may be able to visualize and manipulate concepts -- and find answers -- to mechanical problems in his mind without ever putting those thoughts into words.

The same is possible with abstract ideas (which are also often highly complex and multi-dimensional), though it takes practice because there are no definite "images" to fall back on. In some cases, especially when the thought involved is quite complex, removing the verbal component not only speeds up the thinking process, but can even lead to intuitive leaps that verbal thinking might have prevented.

Consider the way in which you are reading this text. Most people think that they read the way young children do – either letter-by-letter, or at best word-by-word.

The truth is, we do not read letter-by-letter or word-by-word. Notice the way your eye muscles actually move when reading a printed text. Instead, we are fixing our eyes on block of words. Try to move your eyes to the next block of words, and go on. Effectively you are not reading words, but blocks of words at a time. The period of time during which the eye rests on one word is called a fixation.

You may also notice that you don't always proceed from one block of words to the next. Sometimes, you may move back to a preceding block of words if you are unsure about something or if you don’t understand what it meant. These disruptions to the forward flow of reading are called skip-backs.

Only speed readers have been trained to create mini eye-movements, while the rest of us make-do reading with micro eye-movements. The former produces speed reading because they engage our peripheral-vision to chunk words simultaneously, not just one-word at a time; while the latter is automatic, and keep adjusting our eyes to place the words we read on our foveal centralis, the sharpest focusing area of our retina.

REDUCING FIXATION TIME

The minimum length of time needed for a fixation should only be quarter of a second. By pushing yourself to minimize the time you take until you reach such rate, you will get better at picking up information from very brief and few fixations. This is a matter of practice and confidence.

Pay Attention

Most people read in the same way that they watch television – in an inattentive, passive way. What they should know is that reading takes a lot of effort and you must make the effort. A wise teacher once told me that you can learn anything if you do three things. That is,

PAY ATTENTION, PAY ATTENTION, and PAY ATTENTION.

If you are having difficulty focusing and concentrating, you may want to hop over to Forces Of Mind and read a free book than can help you acquire the valuable skill of concentration. The book - The Power of Concentration - is a classic master work about the subject, possibly one of the best ever written.

One of your primary goals in speed reading is probably to learn and comprehend as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. This comes with a price. You will have to spend time acquiring the skills you desire.

Once you have made this priceless investment in yourself, you'll have an asset that no one can take away from you. You'll have the capacity to rapidly learn, adapt, and cope with our constantly changing world.

SPEED-READING TECHNIQUES

Relationship between Rate of Reading and Comprehension

Research shows that there is a big relationship between rate and comprehension. Some people read rapidly and comprehend well; others read slowly and comprehend badly. Thus, there is some reason to believe that the factors producing slow reading are also involved in lowered comprehension.

Good comprehension depends on whether you can extract and retain the important ideas that you’ve read, not on how fast you read them. If you can do this fast, then your reading speed can be increased. If you pair fast-reading with worrying about comprehension, your reading speed will drop because the mind is occupied with your fears and you are not paying attention to the ideas that you are reading.

But, if you concentrate on the purpose of reading (locating main ideas and finding answers to your questions), your speed and comprehension should increase. Your concern should be not with how fast you can get through a chapter alone, but with how quickly you can comprehend the facts and ideas that you need.

Reading Comprehension

Comprehension during speed reading is easier than during standard reading. This is because the mind is busy looking for meaning, not rereading words and sentences. The average reader spends about 1/6th of the time rereading words than actually reading them. Rereading interrupts the flow of comprehension and slows down the process, that’s why the habit of it should be eliminated.

How to comprehend easily? Scan the chapter first. Identify the sections to which the author devotes the most amount of space – what where the text focuses. If there are lots of diagrams for a particular topic, then that must also be an important concept. If you're really under time pressure, you can skip the sections to which the least amount of space is devoted.

Take note on headings and read the first sentence of every paragraph more carefully than the rest of the paragraph. The main idea is usually situated there. Read the important parts and the main ideas. Focus on nouns and main propositions in each sentence. Look for the noun-verb combinations, and focus the mind on these. Then, close the book and ask yourself what you now know about the subject that you didn't know before you started.

Reducing Skip Backs While Reading

Important: Don't reread the same phrases from the text!

Poor readers read and reread the same phrase over and over again. This habit of making "regressions" doubles or worse triples reading time and often does not even result in better comprehension. A single careful, attentive speed reading may not be always enough for completely comprehending the matter you are reading, but is often more effective than constant regressions in the middle rate of a reading. It is best to work on paying closer attention and doing a preview first before the careful reading.

To help reduce the number of times that the eyes goes back to a previous word or sentence, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, a pen or any pointed material. Your eyes will follow the tip of your pointer, smoothing the flow of speed reading. The speed at which you read using this method will largely depend on the speed at which you move the pointer; so if
you want to speed up your reading, you also have to increase your pointing rate.

SKIMMING

Skimming refers to reading quickly to gain a general impression as to whether the text is of use to you. You are not necessarily searching for a specific item because it only provides an 'overview' of the text.

Skimming is somewhat like reading the morning newspaper. You don’t actually start at the top left corner and read every article on every page. You read the headlines, reject many of the articles that you don’t find relevant, and read only those that interests you, sometimes in a hit and miss fashion – reading the headline, the first paragraph, skipping down to check out the names of the people.

Why Should I Skim?

Contents of most reading materials are not all important and relevant. Some of them are simple supporting details in which absence of them still makes the text complete. In other words, they are only trash. You wouldn’t waste your time reading the trash at all, would you?

The important items may be skimmed and ear-marked for later reading. The critical may be skimmed to confirm that they are really critical. What is left in the “really critical” stack will demand intensity. Even then, you may want to skim each one before you read in detail.

Skimming on a regular basis develops your ability to learn with this strategy. It also improves other reading rates such as for studying and for average reading (that will be discussed later on this chapter). It builds your knowledge and vocabulary base so you have the background to rapidly absorb these ideas as they appear in other context.

How to Skim Read

Read the title. This focuses your attention on the topic.
Read the introduction. This may be the first paragraph or two. It usually describes, in general, the entire selection will be about.
Read the first sentence in each paragraph. Often as many as 80% of the paragraphs start with a summary or topic sentence. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph simply elaborate. You may skip the elaboration unless it is obviously necessary such as the definition of a very important term. When you skim, you really are only looking for general ideas.
Read the conclusion. This may be the last paragraph or two. It usually summarizes the article, specifies an opinion, or makes some recommendations based on the general content.
Test your comprehension. Look away from the article and tell yourself in a sentence or two what the entire article was about.

SCANNING

When you’re looking for, say for instance, a car service phone number in the telephone directory, you don't read every listing, do you? Instead, you skip over a lot of unrelated information and scan for a visual image of the name of the company on the relevant page.

It is like looking for a friend at the basketball game. You do not look at each individual face across every row of seats. Because you have a visual image of your friend’s face, you scan the audience until you see him. Scanning printed words is similar to this.

Why Should I Scan?

You scan to locate a single fact or a specific bit of information without reading everything in the whole text material or even in just a chapter. Perhaps you have a list of terms that you know are going to be on the next biology test. You have already encountered them during the lecture in class so while reviewing, you just look up each word in the index, go to the given page number, and scan for just that word. When you find them, you read the sentence in which they appear. If it is not yet clear to you, then you may want to read the entire paragraph.

How to Scan

Flip through the pages to see how the information is organized. It may be alphabetical, chronological, topical categories from most important to least important, or the standard essay format of introduction, body, and conclusion.
Turn to the section most likely to contain the specified details.
Keep a visual image of the key word in mind.
Run your eyes over the material in a search for that keyword visual image. Don't be tempted to stop and browse. You can do that some other time.

LIGHT READING

Reading for leisure tends to be 'light'. Thus, the main purpose of the reader in performing this type of reading is when he/she has ample time in such activity and no other obligations whatsoever. Light reading is done according to the following:

Read at a pace which feels comfortable.
Read with understanding.
Skim the boring, irrelevant passages.

An average light reading speed is 100-200 words per minute. This form of reading does not generally require detailed concentration.

So where does light reading fit in with speed reading? Well, how about being able to zip through magazines, novels, and other less demanding text at a much faster pace. You'll be able to not only read more of the material you enjoy in a shorter time, but you'll retain more of what you read.

Light reading can include breezing through the classics and other popular works. Getting through these materials at a faster pace will help give you a more well-rounded exposure to the world at large.

Broadening your base of knowledge through reading classic works will boost your self confidence and self esteem. Why not read through these valuable materials at record speed?

WORD-BY-WORD READING

This type of reading is time consuming and demands a high level of concentration. According to what it’s called, such reading type is done by reading a word after every word. Some material is not readily understood and so they require a slow and careful analytical read.

People use this type of reading for unfamiliar words and concepts, scientific formulae, technical materials, and the like. It can take up to an hour just to read a few paragraphs or chapter of the text.

This is where learning the skill of speed reading can add tremendous value to your life. With the proper techniques, you will be able to work through this type of material at a much faster pace than you are accustomed to.

In fact, the quality of your life may very well depend upon acquiring the skill necessary to absorb more technical and difficult material. Failure to process and absorb difficult information will put you at chronic disadvantage in your financial and social life.

You will not blaze through technical material in a few minutes of reading, regardless of the speed reading technique applied. But you can get through it faster and with a greater level of comprehension by applying the proper methods.

Is the effort required to learn the proper speed reading skill worthwhile? What if you could increase your absorption of knowledge by a factor well above where you are now. Do you think this would improve the future quality of your life?

READING TO STUDY

The main method used in reading to study is called SQ3R. Its aim is to understand the material in some depth. The method involves five simple steps, namely Survey, Question, Read, Recall and Review, in which the name came from.

Survey: skim through to gain an overview and not key points.
Question: devise questions you hope the text will answer.
Read: slowly and carefully.
Recall: from memory, write down the main points made by the chapter.
Review: revisit and answer the questions you first raised. Compare these to your recall and establish how well the text has answered them. Fill in any gaps by further reading

This is a tried and true way to learn. But, why not speed up the process. This is where learning valuable speed reading techniques can help you save time and absorb more material.

RADICALLY INCREASING READING SPEED

Speed reading helps you to read and understand texts more quickly. It is an essential skill in any environment where you have to learn bulky pieces of information fast, as is situations like fast-moving educational and professional environments.

You are now getting into the heart of the methods and techniques that will raise your reading speed and comprehension levels. Don't hesitate to return to this material as often as necessary.

Here are some of the relevent topics:

The Key Speed Reading Insight
Speed Reading Technical Issues
Self-Pacing Techniques in Speed Reading
More Speed Reading Tips
What Causes Slow-Reading?
Tips for Increasing Reading Rate

In the world we live in, the quality and the future of your life are directly impacted by what you know. Only a few gifted individuals are lucky enough to find financial security through their physical skills. The rest of us are dependent on what we know to provide what we have in life.

The ability to absorb and retain information has never been as important in civilized societies as it is today. The pace of learning just to keep up is accelerating, much less getting ahead. Speed reading is a skill you cannot afford to be without.

Just because this information is being provided at no charge to you is no reason to discount its usefulness. Please, make good use of it. Improve not only your life, but the world around you with your new found knowledge.

THE KEY SPEED-READING INSIGHT

The most important thing you need to know about speed reading is to identify what information you need from a document before you start reading. For example, if you only want an outline of the different computer programming languages, then you can skim the document very quickly and extract only the essential facts.

On the other hand, if you need to understand the real detail of the document – how program X differs from program Y and Z – then you need to read it slowly enough to fully understand it.

You will get the greatest time saving from speed reading by learning to adjust your reading type depending on your purpose and need. Essentially, you will be establishing a goal. How you read is going to vary depending on your need.

This is simply a form of mental organization to help prevent floundering. If you have a clear sense of direction, then part of the battle is already won. Additionally, having a better idea of what you are needing from the reading material will help develop a higher level of interest.

Logically, with a higher level of interest in what you are reading, you will absorb more of what you read. That's the whole purpose in the first place, isn't it? It's just that we want to do it better and faster.

SPEED READING TECHNICAL ISSUES

Even when you know how to ignore irrelevant details, there are other technical improvements you can make to your reading style which will increase your reading speed.

As what we had mentioned earlier, most people tend to read the way young children do – either letter-by-letter or word-by-word. But the truth is, reading is about fixing the eyes on one block of words, then moving them again to the next block, and so on. Thus, you are reading blocks of words at a time, and not individual words one-by-one.

A skilled reader is able to read the most number of words in each block. He/She will dwell on each block for an instant, and will immediately then move on. Through this technique, it reduces the amount of work that the reader's eyes have to do. It also increases the volume of information that can be read in a period of time.

A poor reader, on the other hand, spends a lot of time reading small blocks of words. He/She will skip back often, resulting to decrease in reading speed. Plus, this irregular eye movement will make reading tiring. That is why poor readers tend to dislike reading, and may find it harder to concentrate and understand any reading material.

Speed reading aims to improve reading skills by:

Increasing the number of words in each block:
Consciousness is a must in trying to expand the number of words that you read at a time. Practice will help you to read faster. You may also find that you can increase the number of words read by holding the text a little further from your eyes. The more words you can read in each block, the faster you will read!
Reducing fixation time:
The minimum length of time needed to read each block is probably ¼ of a second. By pushing yourself to reduce the time you take, you will get better at picking up information quickly.
Reducing skip backs:
To reduce the number of times your eyes goes back to a previous text, run a pointer along the line as you read. Your eyes should follow the tip of your pointer to smoothen the flow of your reading.

SELF-PACING TECHNIQUES

Speed reading is not a big incomprehensible subject. Professional speed reading classes mainly teach a handful of quick methods that help a person focus his or her attention better. The eye is drawn to movement. Speed reading methods put that motion on the material being read.

Your starting position is essential. You should sit up straight, grip the book down with your left hand, and use your right hand to do the pacing.

You should already be an able reader before you try to speed read. Speed reading will not help you if you have problems in understanding the meaning of the words. In fact, it may be fruitless for you to try to rush through things that you can't comprehend. You should have the basics down already first.

Before you start speed reading, you should do a survey of the data first and foremost to get a general idea of what you will be undertaking and of the type of writing. The self-pacing methods below used in speed reading can help in increasing one’s focus and understanding. They can also help in breaking one’s habit of reading and reading again.

The Hand Speed Reading Technique

The first technique is to simply place your right hand on the page and slowly move it straight down the page, drawing your eyes down as you read. Keep an equal, gradual motion, as if your right hand has its own free will. Your eyes may not be exactly where your hand is, but this simple movement will allow you to go faster. Don't start, read a little, stop, read a little, start, read a little. Keep the movement slow and easy. Only do it once per page. If you are "left-handed" use your left hand as the dominant pacing hand.

The Finger Speed Reading Technique

Lift your fingers and make two even bounces on each line. Each time you bounce, you are ought to be making a fixation of about sets of 3-4 words. This should be done with a balance arm muscle and not just wiggling the wrist.

The Card Speed Reading Technique

The next method is to utilize a card or a folded-up piece of paper on top of the line of print to block the words after you read them. Move it down the page slowly and evenly and try to read the lines before you cover the words up. This helps break you of the habit of reading and reading a line of text over and over again. It helps you pay more attention the first time. Be sure to push the card down quicker than you think you can go. Slide the card down once per page.

The Sweep Speed Reading Technique

Another tactic is to use your hand to help draw your eyes across the page. Slightly cup your right hand. Keep your fingers together. With a very loose and fluid motion, sweep your fingers from left to right, underlining the line with the tip of your tallest finger from about an inch in and an inch out on each line. Use your whole arm to move, balancing on your arm muscle. Imagine that you are dusting off dirt from the page.

MORE SPEED-READING TIPS

Once you start reading, don't stop! Read the text straight through. If you have any question after you have completed reading the material, go back and reread the relevant sections.
Reread the marked sections of the text (the items you indicated that you didn’t quite understand).
Write a small summary at the beginning of the chapter – consisting about 3-4 sentences. If you ever need to return to the text, the information is much more easily found with summary markings.
Read once. You can't read everything all at once (and wouldn't want to). If it's important, read it now. If it's not, let it wait.
Read the title and the first paragraph more carefully than the other parts of the section.
If there is a summary at the end of a chapter, read it.
Get a grasp of how the material is organized.
If you need more background, seek another source.
A paper and a pen at hand while reading is helpful. Make sure to have both beside you before beginning to read.
Use the cursor on computer as a pointer when you read text on the screen. The cursor will then act as a finger, and your eyes will most likely follow for moving object.
Use a guide (pencil, finger, ruler, etc.) to stop regression.
Train yourself to bypass your automatic response to mentally speak each word. Instead, read words and phrases at a time, using only the peripheral vision.
When you are reading it is often useful to highlight, underline and annotate the text as you go on. This emphasizes information in the mind, and helps you to recall important details after reading the material.
Underline relevant information in a section as if you were preparing brief notes from which you could study.
Underline all definitions of terminology.
Mark or label examples that represent main ideas.
Circle and box special vocabulary words and transitional words and phrases.
Number important or sequential ideas.
Jot down paraphrases, questions, and summaries in available spaces within the text.

WHAT CAUSES SLOW READING

If you find that your rate of reading speed has been decreasing, come back and review the causes listed below. Most of the causes of slow reading can be eliminated simply through recognition of the problem.

Word-by-word reading.
Expanded time of reading each block and increased number of times the eyes goes back to a previous word or sentence.
Slowness of recognition and response to the material; slow perceptual reaction time.
Vocalization and the need to vocalize in order to achieve comprehension.
Faulty eye movements and regression.
Slow reading habit due to past reading experiences.
Inattentiveness and absent-mindedness during reading.
Lack of practice in reading, due simply to the fact that the person has read very little and has limited reading interests so that very little reading is practiced in the daily or weekly schedule.
Fear of losing comprehension.
Poor recognition of which aspects are important and which are unimportant.
The effort to remember everything rather than to remember selectively.

Since these conditions act also to reduce comprehension, increasing the reading rate through eliminating them is likely to result in increased comprehension as well. This is an entirely different matter from simply speeding up the rate of reading without considering if the reader “really” understands what he is reading.

Reading Considerations and Limitations

Slow, word-by-word, critical reading is an essential part of some reading tasks. However, when time and purpose is being considered, the reader must learn to adjust his reading speed and effectiveness. Thus, speed reading is not applicable to all types of reading situations. Learning the skill will, however, enable the reader to add an additional dimension to the scope of his/her current reading skills.

Causes of Slow Reading Speeds

* Individual variables --intelligence, motivation, physiological and psychological traits.

Deficiencies in vocabulary and comprehension levels required by the particular reading material. A student who has difficulty understanding what he/she reads will not be helped by learning to misunderstand faster. A student who is hampered by an inadequate vocabulary will not be helped by learning to skip any faster through unknown or vaguely defined words.
Most frequent causes of unnecessarily slow speeds when the causes listed above are at adequate levels:
1. Inflexibility--the tendency to read everything the same way regardless of what it is, why it is being read, etc.
2. Passivity--the failure to become involved with the material being read, the failure to interact with the author and to anticipate his next thought, his conclusions, etc.
3. Unnecessary and habitual regression or re-reading -- because of lack of concentration.
4. Habitually slow "reaction time" to reading material -- a general "rut" which makes attempts at faster reading extremely uncomfortable at first.
5. WHERE TO BEGIN....with your next reading assignment.
Be FLEXIBLE. Difficulty and purpose determine how to read a selection. College students (especially) must realize that there are reading speeds, not just one reading speed. Speeds must vary with the nature of the reading task and the reader's familiarity with the materials.
Determine PURPOSE for reading this particular selection... What type of information do you have to learn from it?... How long do you have to retain the information?... How does this selection fit into the whole course?... Why has this reading been assigned?... To what use will the information be put?
PREVIEW the selection to determine its difficulty... How familiar are you with this field of study? ... How many unknown and essential words are in it? ... Read the introduction, subheads, italicized sentences, marginal notes, and conclusion. Try to grasp the general thought structure by integrating these isolated clues.
READ
1. Make use of the head-start you got during your preview.
2. Read for ideas and concepts, not for isolated words. Pace yourself fast enough that you have to read concepts ... not words.
3. Concentrate--if you push your rate up to capacity, you won't have time to think about other things. Set reasonable but stiff time goals and race the clock.
4. Think, interpret, analyze the FIRST time you read -- avoid unnecessary re-reading.
5. Note key words (subjects, verbs, objects)--TELEGRAPH the message to yourself.
6. Pace yourself--as fast as your purpose will permit. Pacing will discourage the tendency toward habitual and unnecessary re-reading and helps to keep your attention focused on the page. Try one of the SELF-PACING METHODS listed below ... perhaps uncomfortable and unnatural at first, but most effective after the "newness" wears off.
  - Use an index card, a ruler, or any other straight-edge and move it rapidly down the page as you read. Move it lightly, fluidly, with one hand only. Move it either ahead of you down the page to act as a pace-setter OR let it fall along behind you, covering up what you have read and therefore forcing your initial concentration.
  - Move the edge of your hand or the spread fingers of your hand down the page, reading the lines as they pop up from underneath your hand.
  - Move your finger or pencil point lightly down the margin beside the lines you are reading.
STRETCH when your momentum seems to be slowing down. Stop, close your eyes and squeeze them together tightly for a second, then open them wide. Play around for a few minutes by pacing yourself through "simulated" reading of a book held upside down, page by page, at extremely rapid speeds JUST TO GET THE FEEL OF rapid, rhythmic movement down the page again. With new momentum established, turn the book right-side up and continue reading at your fastest possible speed.
TEST yourself. Stop at the end of each "section" of material and recall periodically what you have just read. Especially in material which you must remember for a period of time, practice reading quickly and efficiently with the intent to recall the important information at the end of each chapter or section or paragraph--depending upon the difficulty of the material. Make notes or underline if appropriate.

Speed Reading Newspapers Method

In reading newspaper articles, look through the headlines and first paragraphs only. Reporters present 80% of the key information of the news in the opening paragraph. The subsequent supporting text should be read only as needed. Follow these strategies:
- Ask yourself what other specific details you want.
- Skim the article for the desired details. Don't read all the words unless you have enough time.
- When finished with an article, go on to the next. This whole process should not take more than 10-15 minutes.

Close Reading Method

Close reading is the essence of the academic learning. It aims to acquire knowledge from materials with full retention of details. It divides into a number of separate steps, each vital, but ends as a whole.

Before reading a difficult piece of writing, take a few moments to close your eyes, relax, and take 2-3 deep breaths.

This way, you can get all the comfort you will need in reading. Believe that you can read with full concentration, recognize key information, and achieve high comprehension quickly to accomplish the needs. Believe you can, and you will.

This may simply sound like "positive mental attitude." But realization of everything begins with affirmation, doesn’t it?

Exploratory Reading Method

Exploratory reading is the half-way point between skimming and close reading. It is similar to pleasure reading. You want to acquaint yourself with the subject, but you do not need complete understanding and retention. Perhaps you are reading supplementary material which you will not be held accountable for, or perhaps you only need to gain general knowledge from a text which will be available if you need to look up specific references.

Reading to Learn Method

Intensive reading or reading to learn is the style we employ when we want to gain a detailed understanding of the information contained in any reading materials, particularly educational or technical ones.

Following are some strategies on reading different academic materials that belong to this category:

Reading Computer Books

Spend some time reading the chapter headings and sub-headings from the index page.

Get familiar with the framework of the book – how the book is organized and broken down into its sub-components.

Skim the book: Read a sentence here, a sentence there; look at a diagram here, a diagram there.

Look for new terminology, diagrams, and graphs that you haven't come across before.

After skimming the book, read the entire book through superficially. During this time, only concentrate on the sections of the book that you already know or understand, and completely skip over entries in the book that you don't.

Lastly, read the book again and this time, study the material. This will essentially be the third time that you've looked at the book, and a lot of the content, the structure and the feel of the book will be familiar to you. You should be able to tackle the entire book much easier.

Reading Textbooks and Research Reports

Determine a purpose. What is it that you want to get from the printed page? Terms and definitions? Problem and solution? Research method?

Preview the printed pages to see how the ideas are organized. These include the title, the introduction, and the headings. Also, read the conclusion if there is one.

Read rapidly, only slowing down when you approach something relevant to the purpose you set.

Mark the lines or words that you want to remember. When you reach the end of the last page, quickly look back at the marked text for a rapid review. This should answer the question or purpose that you set before you started reading.

Reading a Novel

Read any information on the book cover or in the foreword that gives you ideas about the content of the story or about the author's reasons for writing the book.

Read the first chapter slowly and carefully. It should introduce the main character and the problem or conflict that he/she faces. The first chapter also develops some character traits and introduces other characters who influence attempts to resolve issues.

Plan how much of the book you will read at one sitting. If you become seriously restless after thirty minutes, plan to read for thirty minutes at a time. A more mature plan is to read one chapter at a time.

Determine what time of day you will always read making it a regular habit.

If reading a novel is an assignment for a book report, write a summary paragraph about the events in every chapter you have finished reading. Add a comment about anything else you think is significant. After you finish the last chapter, you should have a summary of the entire book composed of those chapter summaries that you wrote. Organizing it will then give you a good and effective book report.

You can also use a pacer such as the finger or a pen point to increase reading speed and reduce regressing back although it is not really necessary. Remember, you are reading fiction and do not need the detailed precision that you do while reading academic subjects.

Reading Math Books

First and foremost, do homework exercises even if most professors do not require you to submit them. Home works are for your benefit, not the professor's. The exercises will train your mind and sharpen your intuition.

Math books are meant to be read slowly. No one speed read it and expect to get any benefit out of it at all.

Go over each difficult paragraph several times. If you are still uncomfortable with it, read ahead a page or so, then come back to the difficult passage.

Math books are meant to be read with paper and pencil in hand. Use the paper and pencil to work through any steps that the book skips over.

Try to see more than just procedures. Learn the concepts, and the procedures will seem obvious.

Activate Reading Method

During activation, we stimulate the brain probing the mind with questions and exploring parts of the text to which we feel most attracted. We then concentrate on the most important parts of the text by scanning quickly down the center of each page or column of type. When we feel it is appropriate, we dip into the text for more focused reading to comprehend the details. When we activate, we involve our whole brain, connect the text with our conscious awareness, and achieve our goals for reading.

ON SUBVOCALIZATION

The reason subvocalization, or silent reading, is not being advised by teachers is that professional academics believe it is unnecessary.

The three areas of the brain involved in such activity (excluding our eyes) are the Auditory Association Area (AAA) that handles complex processing of sound, Vernicke’s Area (VA) that gives us comprehension of written and spoken language, and Brok’s Area (BA) that creates speech production and articulation.

In simpler terms, without subvocalization, (or auditory reinforcement), there is no reading, nor understanding of the spoken word. Subvocalization is a necessity but not for every word, just the ones not within our vocabulary.

Speed Reading and Subvocalization: Good or Bad?

Subvocalization is the tendency to pronounce words as they are read. Activating parts of the brain related to pronouncing limits the reading speed to 250 wpm only. This common flaw is what limits performance of average readers.

On the other hand, subvocalization is not always such a bad thing. Although it helps slow things down, it has a number of benefits rather than disadvantages.

At the same time that verbalization reduces your reading speed; it might be helping in retaining information in the mind, simply because it repeats the ideas as they are formed in your mind.

Also, slowing down to subvocalize may help one to find meaning, or, depending upon the source, subvocalization may only provide meaningless distraction.

Sometimes it may be wise to choose to comprehend without listening.

Sometimes, without listening, we may not comprehend.

The trouble with this is, you tend to lose a certain amount of processing on the info. If you speak this way, it may result in the phenomenon of "opening your mouth without thinking".

Eliminating Subvocalization to Increase Reading Speed

Although subvocalization may be advantageous in certain ways, it limits your reading to the speed of normal speech to about 200-300 wpm only – not to be considered a “good” reading rate.

So how can we get rid of the “inner voice” that reduces our reading speed? Here are a number of ways to speed-read by eliminating subvocalization:

Increased the rate at which the eyes move across the page to the point where it would be impossible to subvocalize.
See -> Understand seems much more efficient than See -> Say -> Understand.
Adjust the focus of the eyes (or attention). As a practice, look at any nearby image and zoom in on a particular aspect, say for example a button on a shirt. Adjust then the focus of your eyes so you can see the entire shirt.

These are the primary processes in which you can use to increase your reading speed by increasing the number of words you take in at each eye stop.

DO YOU VOCALIZE IN YOUR MIND WHILE READING?

Or sometimes, when you’re reading a book, can you hear your voice as if you’re like the narrator of the story? If not, then good for you that you don’t have to undergo a process of eliminating the voice within the inner you that silently pronounces the words you’re reading.

But for those who habitually talk or pronounces words as they read, how is it really not to vocalize?

When you're learning to read, you try to tell yourself to cut out subvocalization to improve your reading speeds, but that's wrong. Subvocalization actually improves your reading speed as most people can speak faster than they can read. Only, when you speed-read you should just subvocalize the necessary words and take the rest as given.

Isn’t it that when you are reading something that you’ve already read before, or have been reading very often, so that you already know what it says, you just see the words and know what they say, instead of hearing them?

Eliminate the Habit of Pronouncing Words as you Speed Read

One key to reading at a much faster rate is learning not to mouth the words while trying to read. It is important to develop the habit of seeing the words but not reading them to yourself. The rate in which you speak is a lot slower than the rate in which you are capable of reading. Try to see the words instead of mouthing each individual word.

Instead of seeing a book during reading, your brain hears a voice that pronounces the word sounds printed on the page. Quite simply, you don't see a book - you hear it. This is what happens to most of us when reading; but it shouldn’t be the case. Vision is faster and more powerful than hearing. By becoming a more visual reader you will instantly increase your reading speed. Let's begin this process together.

Eliminate the habit of pronouncing words as you read. If you sound out words in your throat or whisper them, you can read slightly only as fast as you can read aloud. You should be able to read most materials at least two or three times faster silently than orally. If you are aware of sounding or "hearing" words as you read, try to concentrate on key words and meaningful ideas as you force yourself to read faster.

The eyes move across the written page in a series of quick jumps, or what we have defined earlier as fixation. By speeding up the eye movements, the eyes make fewer fixations and take in more words per fixation. This helps break the habit of subvocalization, since your eyes will be moving faster than you can possibly subvocalize.

Stop Talking to Yourself when you Speed Read

Don't read aloud to yourself. Generally, reading aloud to yourself does not help you study more effectively. If you move your lips while you read, you're not reading efficiently. If you read aloud or move your lips while you're reading, you are reading slowly, so stop moving your lips. Try putting a finger over your lips. Your finger will remind you not to move your lips. Make an effort to read faster and retain more - after a while, you'll be surprised how little effort it will take.

Getting back to reading and how we learn, one of the biggest reasons why we learned to read incredibly slowly in the first place is that as a child in school, we learned to read by sounding out the words. When you pronounce the words you have to read with your tongue. And you know our tongue can only pronounce about 200 to 400 words a minute. According to the 'latest' research, our memory is not stored in our tongue.
People talk to themselves in 2 ways, by:

Vocalizing, which is the actual moving of your lips as you read,
Subvocalizing, which is talking to yourself in your head as you silently read.

Both of these will slow you down to the point in which you find that you can't read any faster than you can speak. Speech is a relatively slow activity; for most, the average speed is about 250 wpm.

CHUNKING

Humans cannot mentally-speak four-words-at-the-same-time, but rather just one-at-a-time. Agree? When we chunk, for example the phrase “speed reading is necessary” as if it is a single-word: speedreadingisnecessary, we short-cut subvocalizing which requires us to pronounce a single word, and then the next, and the next, linearly.

Chunking is the process of choosing groups of words by panning across our peripheral-vision left, center-right. The more we scratch the old-record by taking in words simultaneously – 3-4 at-a-time, the more we distort the sounding-out of words – and subvocalization dies a slow-death.

Speed Reading Tip - Use Pen and Finger

The pen/finger thing is actually optional rather than necessary. In fact, there are some experts who discourage this artificial way of pacing oneself. Their reason: If you were to actually follow a pen or finger moving smoothly across a page with your eyes, reading would be impossible because everything is a blur! The whole idea behind picking up your speed is to take in larger chunks per line at a time.

GETTING THE MAIN IDEA

Getting the main idea in reading is central to effective studying. You must learn what the author's central idea is, and understand it in your own way. Every paragraph contains a main idea. Main ideas are perfect for outlining textbooks. Make it a habit to find the main idea in each paragraph you read.

Reading and Extracting Important Details

Extracting important details mean that you locate in your reading main and most significant ideas. There is usually one important detail associated with every main idea. The more important details you can identify, the easier it will be to review for examinations because you have made a link between an idea and information that supports it. The more links you can make between details and ideas, as well as ideas themselves, the more powerful will be the efforts of your study.

The first things to ask yourself are: “Why you are reading the text? Are you reading with a purpose or just for pleasure? What do you want to know after reading it?” In other words, identify your purpose.

Once you know this, you can examine the text to see whether it is going to move you towards this goal. An easy way of doing this is to look at the introduction and the chapter headings. The introduction should let you know whom the book is targeted at, and what it seeks to achieve. Chapter headings will give you an overall view of the structure of the subject.

After grasping ideas from chapter introductions, ask yourself whether the book meets your needs. Ask yourself if it assumes too much or too little knowledge. If the book weren't ideal, would it be better to find a better one?

Take 1-2 minutes to skim through the article to find the core idea. Know what is being expressed. Do you need more details? If not, find another article.

Read lightly and flexibly. Know what you need. Slow down to fulfill your purpose, answering questions that are most important to you. Since very few words carry the meaning, speed up to pass redundant or useless information.

BE AN ACTIVE READER

Before you even look at the text, scan it, and read it, ask first the question, "What am I going to learn here? What is the author's conclusion? How does the author present the topic? What are the key points to the argument?" Such questions function to engage you in the activity. If you ask a question in a lecture, you always remember the answer to the question. Similarly, if you become an 'active reader' you are much more likely to retain the information that you amass.

Answer the Questions at the End of each Chapter

Most academic textbooks that students own contain exercises or quizzes at the end of each chapter to evaluate you on how much have you learned during the whole reading activity. It would be very helpful to answer these questions. If you have come across an item in which you can’t really answer, go back and read. At least, you would know what topics have you or have you not known.

Think about the text in three ways.

Consider the text itself, the basic information right there on the page. (This is the level of most high school readers and many college students);
Next think about what is between the lines, the conclusions and inferences the author means you to draw from the text;
Finally, go beyond thinking about the text. What creative, new, and different thoughts occur as you combine the knowledge and experiences with the ideas in the reading?

Question While you are Surveying

Turn the title, headings, and/or subheadings into questions;
Read questions at the end of the chapters or after each subheading;
Ask the question, "What did my instructor say about this chapter or subject when it was assigned?"
Ask the question, "What do I already know about this subject?"

This variation belongs to what we called and discussed SQ3R Method. This method has been a proven way to sharpen study skills.

Stop reading periodically to recall what you have read. Try to recall main headings, important ideas of concepts presented in bold or italicized type, and what graphs charts or illustrations indicate. Try to develop an overall concept of what you have read in other and thoughts. Try to connect things you have just read to things you already know. When you do this periodically, the chances are you will remember much more and be able to recall material for papers, essays and objective tests.

Reading Critically

If you are not satisfied with basic understanding of a text, this advice sheet will give you some ideas on how to read between the lines. In other words, you will be able to distinguish opinions from facts; and you will be able to form your own judgment on the issues raised in a text. This advice sheet will also give you advice on how to make use of text organization to understand a text.

Recite After Each Section

Ask the questions about what you have just read and/or summarize, in other words, what you read
Take notes from the text but write the information in other words
Underline/highlight important points you've just read
Use the method of recitation which best suits of the particular learning style but remember, the more senses you use the more likely you are to remember what you read - i.e.,

Remember the triple learning strength: Seeing-> saying, hearing, and writing.

LIMIT POINTS OF FIXATION

Your eye must be still in order to comprehend information. As you read, it jumps quickly from point to point along the line you read. Unfortunately, much of our reading is redundant. For example, the average reader will read, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." with the following point of focus: was, best, times, was, worst, times, was, age, wisdom, was, age, foolishness." As you may notice, this is incredibly redundant.

Your peripheral vision takes in much more than two or three words. So on the first reading stop, it picked up "It was the best..." Unfortunately, the second stop picked up, "was the best of times..." Rather, one should read the phrase selecting: best, worst, age, age. With this simple adjustment, we reduced reading time by roughly two thirds.

What types of reading reflect flexibility?

Preparation for a very difficult and unfamiliar course or for a new and complex scientific theory may demand that you read to remember everything. Here you are probably reading about 200 to 250 words per minute. You read small groups of words and frequently reread for clarification. You may find yourself mouthing the words. In these situations, you read to remember everything.

Working on a research project may demand that you read a wide range of related literature in search of possible solutions to problems or of new information to support or deny an issue. Many of the ideas in these materials will be familiar to you; in fact, ideas that appeared on one source may also appear on the other. But since you are looking for the new and different, this allows you to race rapidly over the known information and to slow down to analyze the new. Consequently, you need a strategy that allows you to efficiently tackle each document.

Spare time may allow you to relax with a good novel or a favorite magazine. Pleasure reading appears to demand very little of you. But you often carefully skim over the descriptions of the scenery to focus on the action of the main characters. Those who delight in a leisurely perusal of the Sunday morning newspaper often skip articles by noting the headlines and moving on to topics of interest.

What factors outside your control influence your speed of reading?

Background knowledge about certain has a powerful influence and helps on your reading speed. If you already know a lot about the subject of the material, you may glance at it and discard it as a waste of time. Or you may race through the reading mentally predicting what comes next. You do not reread anything because you feel confident that you understand it. No vaguely recognized words slow you down.

On the other hand, if you do not know much about the subject, you must read slowly in an attempt to absorb the new ideas and eventually locking them down together with the old information you already know.

Occasionally, vocabulary becomes the greater problem. You may have to reach for the dictionary for clarification. You may reread a sentence or a paragraph to figure out what the author is suggesting.

Another problem for people who use English as a second language is that they have the knowledge, but they don't have the English word for what they know. Also, children who have not been read to before entering school are at a disadvantage when they entire first grade and try to learn to read. They know English, but they don't know "book talk."

Written English is different from spoken English. Similarly, people who grew up speaking a different dialect or a different language often must slow down as they read to adjust to the sentence structure of written standard English. Here, frequent reading of popular or of professional materials though boring and uninteresting strengthens your comprehension of standard written sentence structure.

TIPS FOR GOOD EYESIGHT

Here are the top 7 guaranteed ways you can use to make sure your children develop both good eyesight and the visual skills needed for reading excellence while using the computer:

Learn the difference between "eyesight" and "vision". Eyesight is the ability to "see" that most children are born with. Vision is the ability to organize, interpret and understand what is seen. Vision is developed and learned like walking and talking. Your children need both good "eyesight" and good "vision" in order to be excellent readers.
Don’t assume that 20/20 eyesight means that your children see the printed page or computer screen the same way you do. 20/20 is a distance sight indicator and simply means that your children can see a certain size letter from 20 feet away. It is not at all related to reading at near point. Have each of your children read aloud to you often, to insure that what they see on the printed page and computer screen is the same thing you are seeing.
Good vision means that your children use both eyes as a team to track smoothly from line to line, see at far and near, copy from a book to paper, keep letters in proper order and much more. Some children with perfect eyesight still tell me they see letters moving around or jumping. Still others suffer because they reverse the order of the letters that they see. Any weak link in the visual process can affect reading, especially if the visual memory is under stress due to excessive computer, TV or hand-held computer use.
The American Optometric Association recommends a comprehensive vision screening by age 6 months, at 3 years and then again at age 5. This is an absolute must for early detection and prevention of eye problems that affect reading significantly. Ask for both near- and far-point screening as well as a learning related screening. Look for a developmental or behavioral optometrist in your area who specializes in these screenings.
Train your children to look up from the computer and focus on something in the distance every few minutes. Check to see whether their head is too close to the screen. The first one will strengthen their visual skills; the last will indicate if an eye exam is needed.
Get your children outside and have them play catch, ride a bike and participate in sports. This strengthens crucial reading abilities such as tracking, peripheral vision, focusing, eye teaming, eye-hand coordination and improves near- and far-point vision. Many of these skills are not typically learned during sustained computer use and they are essential for both computer use and reading.
Limit computer use for all your children, especially those under three years of age. Children under three learn through their whole bodies and too much time on the computer limits the developmental skills they need to master at this time: crawling, walking, talking, spatial awareness, tracking, focusing, etc.

CALCULATION

To monitor if you’re making progress in reading speed, you should know how to calculate your reading speed. Don’t worry! Calculating the reading speed is a simple process. It’s just a time for reading a page of a book at a comfortable tempo. Simply count the number of words in the first five or ten lines, whatever you feel is representative of the page as a whole, and then count the total number of lines in the page. Then use the following formula:

the number of lines in the page divided by
the number of lines used for the word count multiplied by
the number of words in the word count divided by
the number of minutes it took you to read the page.

The end result will be your calculated reading speed. Obviously, if you increase the number of lines in which you perform the word count, or the number of pages you read, the accuracy of your calculation will increase as well. One page is usually enough, though.

The average reading speed is often held to be around 265 wpm, though I've heard estimates ranging from 250 to slightly over 300.

To measure reading speed rate, locate appropriate reading materials and select a section of text. Mark the beginning of the selection. Read for a certain length of time (use a timer or watch) or for a certain amount of text. Mark the end of the selection, and note the total number of minutes spent reading.

Document the level of comprehension by recalling main ideas from the selection. If one reads for three minutes, one should remember three main points. If one reads for five minutes, one should remember five main ideas. Jot down these main points.

Count the number of words between the two marks, and divide that number by the number of minutes spent reading. This is the rate of reading, expressed in words per minute. There are two simple steps involved in creating your speed test. The first is to have something to read, the second is timing how long you will read it.

This simplest test is to read for a certain amount of time. This might be 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes. After you have read for the allotted time, calculate the number of words read and divide by the number of minutes. This gives the words read per minute or wpm.

To calculate the number of words the best way is to estimate using the following method. Turn to a page in your book which is not the beginning or end of a chapter, and so is a "full" page. Pick a full line at random and count the number of words in the line. There are usually about 10 to 12 words per line. Now count the number of lines in the page. If you multiply the two numbers together you will have an estimate of the number of words per page in that particular book. This will vary from book to book, so you recalculate when you use a different book.

Let’s say you are going to do a 5 minute speed test. Have your clock ready or have a friend time you. Note the point where you have started in your book with a pencil, or write down the page number. Then signal your timekeeper and begin to read for understanding. When the 5 minutes is up, stop and note your position on the final page. Go back to your starting page and count the number of pages you have read.

Multiply the number of pages you have read by the number of words per page calculated earlier, then add the number of words you have read on your final unfinished page. This total will the number of words read in 5 minutes. Divide this number by 5 and you have your words per minute.

Note that it is advisable to start at the beginning of a chapter so the effect of half pages is minimized. Do not worry too much about the exact number of words read, as the estimates are reasonably accurate, and it is the increases in your reading speed which you will find most interesting. For example, going twice as fast, or ten times as fast.

WHY DOUBLE READING SPEED?

In today's business world, ordinary reading skills are not sufficient for you to keep up with the increasing amount of information. If you read at 200-250 words per minute, like most people, you are at a great disadvantage. Learning how to read quickly is actually not difficult and many people will improve their reading speed just by understanding what goes on in their eyes when they read.

What is also important, besides reading quickly, is to understand the information read and how to retain the information. What good is a speed reader if he doesn’t understand a thing he reads? Thus, high speed reading, together with complete comprehension, gives you an opportunity to reach your highest potential as a leader in your field of work.

Information is power. The more you know, the more powerful you become.

To be at the cutting edge of your business, you have to know more than others in your field. Fortunately, information is abundant and obtaining it is as easy as a few clicks on your computer. The challenge is gathering and deciphering useful data that gives you the lead.

High speed reading is one of your most important tools to gain ample information that may make other people see that you deserve to be recognized

Many of the most successful business people you know are probably speed readers. They have to be in order to effectively deal with all the information necessary to run successful organizations and businesses. Though they may not talk about their high speed reading skills, we are certain that those are what brought them to where they are now. And they are not telling you because they don’t want to reveal their advantage over you! It’s their edge.

KNOWING WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW

The most important thing to know is the goal of your reading - what do you want to know after reading the text? Once you know this you can examine the text to see whether it is going to move you towards the goal.

An easy way of doing this is to look at the introduction and the chapter headings. The introduction should let you know who the book is targeted at and what it seeks to achieve, while the chapter headings will show an overall view of the structure of the subject.

While you are looking at the text, ask yourself if it is targeted at you, or assumes too much or too little knowledge. Would other material meet your needs more closely?

The main point is to mentally have an organized approach. Speed reading skills, methods, and techniques provide you with the framework you need. Practice your speed reading skills constantly until they become second nature. Then, by force of habit, you will amaze even yourself with your ability to read and absorb knowledge.

Final Advice and Suggestions

Each individual has his or her own weaknesses, some may find it as one of their enemies and some may find it as a hindrance to growth.

CONCLUSION

But we must all remember that every weakness has a solution to improve and to reduce that kind of weakness. For speed reading I suggest you to first search what hinders you from achieving something, find what’s the best way to overcome that weakness and apply the tips and suggestions above.

Speed reading is one of the best ways to improve not only your reading and understanding skills but also improve your memory and vocabulary of words. I suggest you to try and apply the tips suggested by this book. I assure you that you will not only improve, but also find yourself learning more and exceeding.

Remember that the free information on this website will only work if you apply effort. There is a price you will have to pay, and success will not be instant. Do you want a better life? Absorbing and retaining useful knowledge quickly is your ticket to success.

Do you want more enjoyment and satisfaction from reading that giant back list of novels you've been dying to read? It's yours with a little consistent effort.

Build the skill. The rewards will come. Best wishes for success in your speed reading efforts.

Internet Chess Club

SPEED-READING.