speed reading > articles
Reading better and faster
For most people, it is easy to learn to read faster. Your reading rate is often just a
matter of habit. But to begin, you may need to try to change some habits and try these
tips:
1. Pay attention when you read and read as if it really matters. Most people
read in the same way that they watch television, i.e. in an inattentive, passive way.
Reading takes effort and you must make the effort. A wise teacher once told me that you
can learn anything if you do three things:
PAY ATTENTION
PAY ATTENTION and
PAY ATTENTION.
There are some simple methods that you can use to pay better attention and get more out
of your textbook reading time. Different authors call it different things, but many
researchers say that you will improve your comprehension if you somehow
"preview" the passage before you actually sit down and read every word.
To do a preview you:
- take 30 to 60 seconds.
- look over the title of the chapter.
- look at all the headings, subheadings and marked, italic or dark print.
- look at any pictures or illustrations, charts or graphs.
- quickly skim over the passage, reading the first and last paragraph and glancing at the
first sentence of every other paragraph.
- close the book and ask yourself:
- What is the main idea?
- What kind of writing is it?
- What is the author's purpose?
You might not think that you could possibly answer these questions with so little
exposure to the material, but if you do the preview correctly, you should have some very
good general ideas. If you have a general idea of what the passage is about before you
really read it, you will be able to understand and remember the passage better.
When you finally get to the point where you are actually slowly reading the passage,
read in a "questioning" manner -as if you were searching for something. It
sometimes helps if you take the heading or title of a chapter and turn it into a question.
For example, if the heading of a section in the text is "The Causes of the Civil
War", take that title and switch it into a question like: "What are the causes
of the Civil War?". Now you have a goal; something to look for; something to find
out. When you are goal-oriented, you are more likely to reach the goal. At least you'll
remember one thing about the text which you have just read.
2. Stop talking to yourself when you read. People talk to themselves in 2 ways,
by:
- vocalizing, which is the actual moving of your lips as you read, and
- sub vocalizing, 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 (words per minute).
Reading should be an activity which involves only the eyes and the brain. Vocalization
ties reading to actual speaking. Try to think of reading as if you were looking at a
landscape, a panorama of ideas, rather than looking at the rocks at your feet.
3. Read in thought groups. Studies have shown that when we read, our eyes must
make small stops along the line. Poor readers make many, many more fixations (eye stops)
than good readers. Not only does this slow you down, but it inhibits comprehension because
meaning is easier to pull from groups of words rather than from individual words or even
single letters. Try to read in phrases of three or four words, especially in complete
clauses and prepositional phrases. Your mind may internalize them as if the whole phrase
is like one big meaning-rich word.
4. Don't keep re-reading the same phrases. Poor readers habitually read and
re-read the same phrase over and over again. This habit of making "regressions"
doubles or triples reading time and often does not result in better comprehension. A
single careful, attentive reading may not be enough for full comprehension, but is often
more effective than constant regressions in the middle of a reading. It is best to work on
paying closer attention the first time through. Do a preview first before the careful
reading and try the tips I mentioned above. You'll remember better without the rereading.
5. Vary your reading rate to suit the difficulty and type of writing of the
text. Poor readers always read at the same slow rate. An efficient reader speeds up for
easier material and slows down for the hard. Some things were not meant to be read quickly
at all. Legal material and very difficult text should be read slowly. Easier material and
magazines and newspapers can be read quickly. Poetry and plays were meant to be performed,
and if not acted out, then at least, spoken out loud orally. This obviously will conflict
with good speed reading method which forbids vocalization. Religious writings and
scripture were originally written to be recited and listened to by an audience which was
likely to be intelligent, but illiterate. The "fun" of poetry, plays, or prayer
is not really experienced if you "speed read" the text.
by Dennis Doyle
Flash trainings
Do You Have an Idea for a Game?
Would you like to have a game or movie constructed around the logo of your
company? Would you like to promote your web site by using online flash games? I
can create very effective Flash games for you. No risk! You needn't pay anything
for your game until you have received it and tried it out on your site.
Online Flash games are a very effective way to invite people to your site. You
can use Online games to very effectively market and promote your site.
I have all the source for games or movies at my site. I can adapt it to your
specifications. Just send me an e-mail. The are more then 300 flash games at my
site. Flash games for(:) kids, math, drawing, mind, logic, action, etc.
You can find a game that will uniquely enhance your site. Just send me an
e-mail. Then we can figure out together how I can develop an online promotion
game that meets your specific requirements.
As a bonus, I can help promote your pages with my flash on your site, which
can draw another 10 to a 100 more visitors a day to your website. Also, with
these increased visitors to your website, the Google Page rank of your site will
increase dramatically!
You can also download my flash games or flash film to your site for free;
simply by including a link to my site.
|
Feature Highlights |
| > By using Speed reading software, you can improve
facilities of speed reading. You needn't practice special exercises; it
is just enough to read and periodical practice. Look at
free online speed reading trainings. All text
contain 50% of garbage. |
| > Remove 50% of letters
and you will read the text. Try to understand this simply idea and you speed
reading will up. Human mind read the words as china hieroglyph. You can
mix the letters and read the text. Try to
understand this simply idea and you speed reading will up. You can read the text
by groups of words. If you
strips the text you can also read the text. The
speed reading will by up if you wide the
span eyes. Use the full version of speed
reading software "Speed reading is
not magic". |
| > Habitually returning to what is already read, that
usually decreases the speed of reading, no longer happens. Reading each word
individually becomes unnecessary because skillful fast readers do not
individualize the text when reading at high speeds. |
| > You become accustomed to grasping a whole word or a
group of words at one glance. In this way you activate your peripheral vision
facilities. You study how to read without haste, because the program responds to
the speed you have chosen and does not react to your haste. The "Magic Speed
Reading" inclues 15 different computerized trainings. |
| > Speed reading is not magic :) |
|
|
| |
