My Speed Reading Habits

I want to share my method of speed reading. When I was a student, I usually read my school books before the start of the term. I scanned them and looked at the topics that we will be discussing in school for the year. What interest me are the literary works and most of history-related articles. With Math and Science books, I wait for the teacher to explain them to me but I familiarize myself with the terms firsthand to save face from embarrassment during recitation. I browse my books at night so that I won’t be caught unaware during surprise quizzes. I do some heavy reading during examination week but I do not worry at all that I will be missing important facts because I have stored knowledge regarding the topics. What I do is skimmed over the pages, look for important facts and I do not read the words verbally. Growing up, it helps me with my studies because I pass school with flying colors.

I learned about the speed reading books online. Now that I’m all grown-up and passed the phase of textbooks, I do not give up the taste for reading. I am a more into it because I can buy the books that I want to now that I have a job of my own. But I find these speed reading books helpful. The tips are easy to understand. The articles are concise. The techniques are easy enough to understand and I can practice them on my own. These techniques include identifying words without focusing on every letter, not giving sound to all the words, spending time on some phrases and leaving out others, skimming some sections and not sub-vocalizing some phrases. These books are easy enough to understand even for students. But sometimes, it is not easy to grasp because you need to visualize the directions.

I also learned that there are speed reading courses. These programs are available both in person or software based. These targets professionals and also give tutorials to students. These methods target the specific needs of the individual because different person have different reading habits. The average adult reading rate is 250 words per minute with 70% comprehension. Speed reading courses claim improvement of 500 words per minute while maintaining or improving reading comprehension of their students. Speed reading, however, is a skill that once learned is beneficial. Speed reading courses and books take a variety of approaches on speed reading. While they both claim to increase comprehension, they cannot deny the fact that comprehension is an important factor in speed reading. Comprehension actually improves speed reading. The other factor is retention.

Speed reading courses and books claim that retention is very much enhanced with their different technicalities. Speed reading has grown a long way since the term was coined by Evelyn Wood in 1957. It has benefit people of different ages from different walks of life and race. Personally, however, these skills can be developed with one’s determination and love for reading.

R Smith is the author of this article on Speed Reading. Find more information about Speed Reading Books here.