Speed read your way to success

Speed reading is a relatively unknown subject for most of us. At school and university, students read notes and textbooks at a leisurely pace unmindful of the speed. However, development of reading skills, including speed reading, is an important subject taught at many foreign universities. Speed reading experts tell us that we must be able to speed read effortlessly in order to achieve our objects.

Speed reading does not mean reading fast without paying attention to comprehension. For instance, you can run your eyes through the printed page very fast without absorbing the salient points. Such speed reading is a mere waste of time. A trained speed reader knows how to read fast and comprehend what he reads. This way he achieves his final target - learning a subject well in a short time.

Some students and even adults are too lazy to read books, magazines, and newspapers. However, in order to learn any subject you have to read notes and books. If you fail to read them, you will not pass examinations. Reading is not confined to students. Even adults working as teachers, bankers, or executives are compelled to read so many books, reports and letters. Therefore, they have to find a way to speed up their reading.

Speed reading helps us in many ways. It facilitates learning a subject fast and effectively. When you read, you improve your vocabulary and general knowledge. A person who reads a book fast is at an advantage to save his time for other activities. What is more, when you read a book fast and understand its contents, it generates self-confidence.

Speed reading, like any other subject, cannot be mastered in a day or two. If you really care to learn this fascinating subject, you have to study the history, theory and various techniques of speed reading. What is more, you have to know the functions of your eyes and the brain. If you cannot sit straight and read a book with concentration, your brain will not pick up any information. So, you need concentration in order to train your eyes and the brain to get the maximum out of reading.

Experts say that our eyes are amazing. An untrained person will not know how to guide his eyes effectively. If you happen to meet an expert in this area, he will tell you the ways to develop advanced skimming and scanning skills. When these faculties are well developed, you need a suitable environment to do your reading. If you are living in a noisy environment, you may not get the full benefit out of your reading. Even if you happen to live in a quiet environment, you will have to do several exercises and tests in order to become a speed reader.

One of the major problems students face is poor concentration. Some people read books while listening to the radio or watching television. Although your eyes are amazing, they cannot be at two places at the same time. If you care to improve your concentration, sit at a hard desk or table and start reading. Do not allow the radio or television to interrupt your concentration. Some university students also have the bad habit of talking to others while reading.

Poor comprehension is another major problem faced by readers. If you cannot understand what you read, the whole exercise is meaningless. Developing a rich vocabulary will help you to overcome this problem. However, dictionary reading alone will not improve your vocabulary. The best way is to do vocabulary exercises regularly. Vocabulary has to be improved gradually and methodically for several years.

Pressure of work in the modern era sometimes forces us to scan newspapers and magazines instead of reading them. Scanning simply means glancing over the reading material to find out a particular piece of information your brain is searching. For instance, you buy a newspaper immediately after a bomb explosion to find out how many had been killed or injured. You will scan the list of names to ascertain whether there is anyone known to you. Similarly, when you stumble over a difficult word, you reach for the dictionary and scan it until you find the word and its meaning. You also scan the telephone directory to find a particular number.

Skimming is a little different from scanning. You may have been swallows skimming over the water looking for insects. When you skim through a book, you note only the main points. Sometimes, you skim through all the newspapers to find out what is happening in Kilinochchi, when you skim, you can usually read about 1,000 words per minute.

Another common problem that hinders speed reading is known as ‘sub-vocalisation’. In layman’s language, it simply means that you tend to “mouth” the words you are reading. Although it begins in your childhood, even adults are prone to do it. You may not be able to eliminate it completely. One advantage of sub-vocalisation is that you will be able to recall certain facts after reading a book.

A child uses his index finger and moves it along the printed words when he attempts to read a book. Originally this was thought to be a hindrance to speed reading. However, modern research has confirmed that you accelerate your reading speed by doing so. Adults can, however, use a ballpoint pen instead of their index fingers for this purpose.

While reading a book you tend to go back and re-read a particular section. This kind of regression or back-skipping retards your reading speed. If your comprehension skills are good, back-skipping is really unnecessary.

Some children and adults suffer from certain reading disabilities. Sometimes they read words incorrectly giving rise to confusion. Most children get over this problem quickly. However, if an adult has this problem, he needs help. The only danger is that such people tend to read very slowly.

Then we have a host of other problems that impede speed reading. Some students and adults cannot remain seated in one place for a long time. Every now and then they get up and go out for a cup of tea. They are also easily distracted by external sights and sounds. Some of them do not finish one job and begin something new. The worst offenders are those who fidget. Their constant movements sometimes annoy other people.

Those who face these problems do not listen to their teachers. They easily become a nuisance to the whole class. There are many university students who behave erratically and nobody takes the trouble to correct them. However, we still do not know whether it is simply indiscipline or hyperactivity.

It is not possible to go into all the aspects of speed reading in this column. However, it is worth remembering that learning to speed read has been acclaimed around the world. Most successful presidents, artists, scientists and composers have been great speed readers. For instance, John Stuart Mill, the Britist utilitarian philosopher, was a genius who read books by taking in entire pages in ‘one visual gulp’. As a child he was trained to read a book and discuss its contents with his father.

To be a speed reader you have to be an organised person. Knowledge is one thing; organised knowledge is a billion things!