so, it was mentioned in another thread, and I have always been interested in it…
how should i learn to “speed read”?
i have a couple of textbooks that i really must get through, but hate reading them.
any thoughts/links/books?
[quote=“drvnkd”"]
so, it was mentioned in another thread, and I have always been interested in it…
how should i learn to “speed read”?
i have a couple of textbooks that i really must get through, but hate reading them.
any thoughts/links/books?
[/quote]
I mentioned Howard Berg, pick up one of his books.
I can go over the fundamentals;
Learn to read without saying the words in your head. This (for me) changed the way I read completely. Consider this: Ever hear the phrase “A picture tells a thousand words?" Well, when you look at a picture, you’re not naming everything you see in your head. You just understand. This is the first barrier in to speed reading. Practice counting while you read. Don’t let that inner voice read the words aloud. What ended up happening to me over time was I can start reading a book, and “forget” I was reading (like when you’re driving but snap out of it and don’t remember you driving for the last 2 miles) I don’t really remember reading the last few pages, rather it played like a movie in my head and I can recall every detail.
There are other areas of speed reading techniques, such as “schema”, reading two lines at the same time ( something I cant do) and reading those lines from left to right and right to left.(cant do that either). The multiple line reading stems from looking at the sentence as a whole, as a “picture” and taking in key words + schema to make sense of it. I practiced this and didn’t enjoy it, so I no longer do it.
The other thing mentioned is not to pause for a word or to stop and re-read/decipher a previous sentence that you didn’t take in all the way. This is based on the fact that when books are written, they’re not all 1-liners; pretext and post text of that sentence will give you enough information to decipher what you may not have fully understood. In fiction I never have to go back anyway, in non-fiction I find it necessary to go back, as this is probably information that should be retentive to learn from.
Lastly, speeding reading calls for a pointer, like your finger, to guide you through the words and to keep a steady pace. I do this all the time without thinking about it now.
Anywho, hope this helps!
About the zoning out thing, it happens to me when I’m reading something that I would rather not be, say my accounting book, but I can say I never remembered anything while I was zoned out.
[quote=“TgDn32,post:3,topic:26346"”]
About the zoning out thing, it happens to me when I’m reading something that I would rather not be, say my accounting book, but I can say I never remembered anything while I was zoned out.
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Actually, most speed reading techniques should really only be applied to non-ficton or “story” books (like history or something). There’s a key difference in reading text to see see a picture, and reading text to understand a concept. I never “speed read” on those kind of books either.
Also, it’s not really zoning out when I made reference to reading, that was more of a point that you’re doing something without a second thought. My reference to me doing so was an indication of prime reading- I didn’t zone out, I understood what was going on, hence it playing like a movie in my head instead of staring at words on paper.
[quote=“Schema,post:4,topic:26346"”]
Actually, most speed reading techniques should really only be applied to non-ficton or “story” books (like history or something). .
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this is how it was explained to me from my mom (speed reader) but it did also help with texts in school. also, if you are ot of practice it will be harder to retain the information. you cant bring back your speed reading skills once a semester and rock the house.
another technique is to train yourself what words are important along with being able to spot punctuation to structure those words accordingly. this is what helped me the most, and then to apply it to school to make it more effective i would jot notes as i read. at the end of 4 or 5 chapters i had about 6 pages of notes, but it was all the good stuff, and then to make sure it stayed with me i would red it over before i test the next day. stuck like glue.
usually I read the caption and look at the pics. hehe
Definitely not saying every word makes it much easier… I kinda look at all the words and then make sense of it as my eyes return to the next line.