brain that absorbs 11 million bits per second. Can you imagine the difference? That is the reason why
we hate to do stuffs 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.
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 people 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.
following sentences 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
http://www.mbssites.com 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. Instead, we are fixing our eyes on
block of words. Notice the way your eye muscles actually move when reading a printed text. 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
http://www.mbssites.com Only speed readers have been trained to create mini eye movements, while the rest of us read
with micro eye-movements. The former produces speed reading because they engage the 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.
What they should know is that reading takes a lot of effort and you must exert 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.
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.
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.
http://www.mbssites.com 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; hence, you will not be paying attention to the ideas that
you are reading.
However, 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.
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 rereading should be eliminated.
How to comprehend easily? Scan the chapter first. Identify the sections to which the author
devotes the most amount of space. 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. http://www.mbssites.com
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 go 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.
reading are classified into:
1. 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.
http://www.mbssites.com 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 earmarked for later reading. The critical ones 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 this strategy. It also improves other
reading rates such as for studying and for average reading. 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
1. Read the title. This focuses your attention on the topic.
2. Read the introduction. This may be the first paragraph or two. It usually describes, in general,
what the entire selection will be about.
3. 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
http://www.mbssites.com 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.
4. 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.
5. Test your comprehension. Look away from the article and tell yourself in a sentence or two
what the entire article was about.
2. Scanning
When you’re looking, 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
http://www.mbssites.com 1. 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.
2. Turn to the section most likely to contain the specified details.
3. Keep a visual image of the key word in mind.
4. 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.
3. 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 has ample time in such activity. Light reading is done according to the
following:
• Read at a pace that feels comfortable.
• Read while 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.
4. Word by Word Reading
This type of reading is time consuming and demands a high level of concentration. It is done by
reading a word after every word. Some materials are not readily understood, so they require slow and
http://www.mbssites.com careful analytical reading. People use this type of reading for unfamiliar words and concepts, scientific
formulas, technical materials, and the like. It can take up to an hour just to read a few paragraphs or
chapter of the text.
5. 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 thoroughly to gain an overview and note 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 http://www.mbssites.com