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 seaching 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
- 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 (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 (eyestops) 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.
adapted from : http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/speed1.html
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