Speed Reading

[Clarkey]

Are you a fast reader?

I think I am a slow reader. I hear of people that read a couple books a week and I would love to be able to do this.

I think my problem is that as I read I verbally pronounce each word in my head as I read it, instead of just recognizing it's meaning. It's not that I have trouble comprehending what I'm reading or have a poor vocabulary, but for whatever reason I am really slow (probably just average).

Have any of you guys done anything to speed up your reading skills? I know there are programs out there but the ones I have seen advertised look incredibly gimmicky. I want to be more productive and take in more information and I think reading quicker would help a lot.

[Hack&Lube]

Just train to stop pronouncing the word in your head, you said you had no problems with comprehension so just scan the page with your eyes.

I don't know why you'd want to do it though. I can read a novel in about 4-5 hours and it hurts my eyes like you wouldn't believe. It's not worth it for the time saved. It's only effective for studying. I've never really cracked a textbook open until the night before and usually go through the whole thing in my cram session. That's good training because you're also desperate, fearful, and pumped with adrenaline at the same time.

In fact, my tendancy to do this for the past few years (worst was a 1000+ page novel for an English course once that I read the night before the in-class written final) has ingrained in me a natural aversion to reading. I almost hate it now because my mind has associated it with pain and suffering. I don't think I've going to be able to enjoy reading again until I'm retired.

[habernac]

I took an advanced reading course wayyyy back in Jr high as I was reading at an elevated level. I can fly through books as well, but it is both a blessing and a curse. I find you don't enjoy them for as long as others do, due to the speed in which you get through the material.

[Cheese]

you mean like the Evelyn Woodhead speed reading course?

When I was in Elementary school many moons ago they taught us to speed read. It was one of the single best things I have ever learned.

In my occupation I have reams of info I need to go thru for various excersizes. I am 100% positive that without the skill of speed reading I would not have advanced as far as I have. I would also suggest that this skill actually served me better than all the math I ever learned...now done by various computer programs.

If a book interests me I can read it and understand it within a day or two easily....dependant on length and writing style. I dont always do it though as it does take a lot of concentration.

[flamingchina]

One simple suggestion for speed reading is using your fnger.
Point to the words, and make your eyes follow your finger.
slowly make your finger go faster.
here are some suggestions to help:
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/suggest.html

[return to the red]

reading books is overrated, if a book is any good they will make it into a movie anyhow . Anyhow I think the old saying of "practice makes perfect" applies directly to reading and the speed you do it at...perhaps that's why It took me 20 minutes to read the other responses before this

[Maritime Q-Scout]

it's weird, when I read for enjoyment I definately take my time. However when researching for school, I can zip through documents and articles really quickly. I think it's because when I "speed read" sort of speak I'm searching for info as opposed to appreciating what's been put into written words.

I find when I read a book, novel, comic, whatever, I can tell you were I got my info, where it falls in the book etc, oh you have to read the Batman Comics Hush, they're about ______. When researching I find I say to myself "I know I read this... but where?" or tell a classmate "I read an article on subject X, it said this, but I don't remember what article it was or where I found it."

A blessing and a curse, but again I have two different approaches when it comes to why I'm reading.

[Patek23]

I could just always read quickly, I can get through 1000 page novels in 5-6 hours, Since I enjoy reading as well as reading various books on various topics it helps to be able to take them all in, in quick times so that the gap between things is not large so that I can then compare and contrast. I wish my writing skills were as good as my reading ones..........

[Clarkey]

I downloaded a speed reading program, I'm going to work on it during the holidays.

[FlamesAddiction]

In university, when I had a stack of books I'd have to read, I would read the first few paragraphs of a chapter or section completely and then only the first and last sentence of each paragraph until the concluding paragraph, and then I'd read the whole paragraph.

I found this technique would help me read a very large amount in a short time and still get most of the details.

[photon]

I tend to tear through books too.. it's funny but a significant portion of my luggage allotment goes to books when I go on a trip. My wife always shakes her head cause I'm done the first one usually about the time we get there

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

In university, when I had a stack of books I'd have to read, I would read the first few paragraphs of a chapter or section completely and then only the first and last sentence of each paragraph until the concluding paragraph, and then I'd read the whole paragraph.

I found this technique would help me read a very large amount in a short time and still get most of the details.

There is an actual patented (I think) reading comprehension program that teaches this method. Almost. The program would have you go back and read everything after reading the openings and conclusions.

Not a time-saver at all but it works really well for people with comprehension problems.

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

I could just always read quickly, I can get through 1000 page novels in 5-6 hours.

I think the only novel of THAT length that I have read is War And Peace. And it certainly wasn't a one sitting read. Most novels are of the 450 or so page variety (paperback for reference). So you are saying that you can read a typical paperback in about 2 hours 15-40 minutes?

[cheung31]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

In university, when I had a stack of books I'd have to read, I would read the first few paragraphs of a chapter or section completely and then only the first and last sentence of each paragraph until the concluding paragraph, and then I'd read the whole paragraph.

I found this technique would help me read a very large amount in a short time and still get most of the details.

yes this must be a very efficient method as in our engg 251 course, they explained to us that this is an effective way to read large amounts of text, or to just do research.

[Patek23]

Originally Posted by Shawnski

I think the only novel of THAT length that I have read is War And Peace. And it certainly wasn't a one sitting read. Most novels are of the 450 or so page variety (paperback for reference). So you are saying that you can read a typical paperback in about 2 hours 15-40 minutes?

yup.


The 705 page book "The Great Hunt" by Robert Jordan took me one 3 1/2 hour flight to finish.



I read like a mad man, I guess it's a skill I just always had, I'm able to skim over a sentence and understand it without having to think about what it meant while reading the next, I guess immediate recognition is the key so that you can just move through the book fluently. One thing that I guess is something you could work at to increase the speed of your reading is skim over a page and then write down what you thought the page was trying to discuss see how close you are, for some it would take practice but once your able to get that down reading quickly becomes a cinch.

[Jayems]

On a totally unrelated, but similar note...

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe

Kinda neat.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Jayems

On a totally unrelated, but similar note...



Kinda neat.

What is wierd, is that I could seemingly read that faster than I could read normal text.

Here is a test for you to find out more about your reading speed, comprehension and vocabulary skills:
http://www.rocketreader.com/cgi-bin/...sts/perception

Perhaps there are better tests out there, but this isn't too bad...

and just to brag, here are my results:

Dexterity extremely fast - top 5%
Information Processing Speed - above average
Reading speed - 344 words per minute - above average
Comprehension - 3 out of 3 - excellent
Vocabulary - 8 out of 10 - very good

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

yup.


The 705 page book "The Great Hunt" by Robert Jordan took me one 3 1/2 hour flight to finish.



I read like a mad man, I guess it's a skill I just always had, I'm able to skim over a sentence and understand it without having to think about what it meant while reading the next, I guess immediate recognition is the key so that you can just move through the book fluently. One thing that I guess is something you could work at to increase the speed of your reading is skim over a page and then write down what you thought the page was trying to discuss see how close you are, for some it would take practice but once your able to get that down reading quickly becomes a cinch.

This sounds like the equivalent of walking (or running) through an art gallery as fast as you can and dashing out the exit and saying "nice paintings, what's next".

If you are reading fiction at the rate of 200 pages an hour then you are missing most of the book.

[Patek23]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

This sounds like the equivalent of walking (or running) through an art gallery as fast as you can and dashing out the exit and saying "nice paintings, what's next".

If you are reading fiction at the rate of 200 pages an hour then you are missing most of the book.

I read to get told a storyline, not gawk at the artistic values of nouns and grammer in a book, your example doesn't apply. I read a book much like I watch a show of Lost, for the storyline and twists not the boring and dragged out over-production of the show.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

I read to get told a storyline, not gawk at the artistic values of nouns and grammer in a book

Hey, you're the boss. Read for whatever reason you want. All I'm saying is that you are missing most of the book.

Slowing down and trying to appreciate what is actually written isn't such a bad thing.

I've got a copy of The Great Gatsby here and it's only 119 pages long. What would that take you to read, maybe 40 minutes? Do you think you'd understand the book in that amount of time? You would miss the entire point of the story going that fast. Everyone would.