Speed reading can improve your life. Speed reading can also improve your ability to assimilate information at an astonishing rate, in turn, making you a more valuable employee. While the ability to read quicker may be advantageous for some, for others it is more a matter of improving their comprehension of what they have read as well as being able to hold the information.
The average rate a person will read at is about two words per second with good retention, for most that will be fast enough. Engaging the use of a speed reading course has shown to improve a persons reading speed by four to six words per second without any loss of retention to the material. Over time, with the use of a speed reading course, you will be able to increase your reading speed 10 or more words per second with better than average comprehension.
The Course
Speed reading courses are designed to help readers choose the words worth reading and which ones are not. Being able to look at a word without having to concentrate on each and every letter to visualize the word is already practiced by most readers. By using a speed reading course you will be able to eliminate more words in a sentence increasing your rate of reading.
Speed and Quality
Perhaps one the biggest challenges in speed reading is what is termed subvocalization. Children are taught early on to read to themselves causing them to sound out every word in their head as they are reading. With speed reading, the words are not silently read in their mind while going through the material and only the words that have meaning to the context of the material is retained to become part of the comprehension of the material.
Different instruction techniques are taught for speed reading and they may not all have the same desirable outcome for each person looking to improve their reading speed. Unlike repetitious physical tasks where the same movements performed with practice will enable a person to perform the task quicker, speed reading attempts to train the brain to recognize only the words that are important to the materials being read without the need to hear them in their mind. However, similar to physical tasks, practice in speed reading will increase their reading speed as time goes on.
Some belive that speed reading is a technique set aside for genius types only. Not true. Speed reading is a skill that all can acquier. There are steps that you must follow that will help to increase your reading speed and most importantly your comprehension as well.
Learning To Speed Read
There are a number of ways that you can learn the art of speed reading. The first step on your journey is to take a speed reading test so that you can gauge your current level and give you a base to see how you are progressing.
Next you will want to find some form of speed reading instruction. Some prefer audio tapes that take you though various tips and tricks of learning how to accelerate your reading. Others prefer books or a combination of book and audio.
The method you choose is up to you,the important thing is to stick with it and check your progress every step of the way.
So, what are the direct and indirect benefits of learning to speed read? The answer to this question very much depends at what stage in your life you are at. Here are some to consider:
High school / pre-college students
High school, pre-college, students are normally considered to be primary target groups for a speed reading programs. Basically, the reason why such students are seen as ideal candidates is because they at an age where they can still absorb new ideas without too onerous consideration ? an important facet with learning to speed read.
Another upside to teaching high school students to speed read is the fact that they can take in far more information from their greater reading skills. Also, with advanced reading skills, students should also be able to comprehend more of what they are reading. Furthermore, with potentially the toughest period of their lives ahead of them, so far as obtaining information from reading is concerned, learning to speed read at this time is seen as being extremely advantageous.
College students
If a college student has not learnt, for one reason or another, to speed read by the time they enter college, it is generally considered essential that they do so within their first year (along with learning short-hand!). Practically speaking, this is likely to be the busiest time of a person's reading life. Moreover, students are often required to read huge amounts of materials, comprehend them, condense them and then comment on them. Having the ability to speed read is nothing short of a God-send skill.
Work employees
Even though you may not have learnt to speed read prior to entering the workforce, this doesn't mean that you no longer need to learn speed reading. Consider this: three quarters of all the world's reading materials (which includes every book and magazine ever written) is contained within the filing cabinets of offices! And, even in this electronic age, with data protection laws in place, we are still required to read vast amounts of information at work each year.
Learning to speed read will not only allow you to read quickly, with greater comprehension of the material, but it'll also provide you with more time to be getting on with the other tasks in your daily working life!
Pleasure
Again, even if you are only reading for pleasure, the mere fact you have more chance of comprehending that romance novel if you have the skills at-hand that allow you to speed read should be sufficient to convince you of the value of learning this essential skill. Of course, pleasure reading is a lot more enjoyable than technical reading, so if you do have speed reading skills, this will allow you the chance to read even more of those books you always wanted to read, but didn't have time for!
Language students
One final group that we should not overlook is ?English as a second language? students. Clinical evidence has shown that ESL students who have the ability to speed read have a far greater chance of comprehending the English language and are more inclined to stick to learning English. This is not to say, of course, that speed reading is the answer to all your English language problems, but it is an additional weapon to help you conquer the language barriers!
Conclusion
So, to sum up, it doesn't really matter at what stage in your life you are at, provided that you read at anytime during the day, even if it is only the daily newspaper, you are likely to benefit from the skills acquired from learning to speed read. You are also likely to be able to comprehend more of the information you read. And, there's every chance that because you understand and comprehend what you have read, your long-term memory will be able to retain this information for a future time. All-in-all, some very good reasons to learn speed reading now!
Both Francis Hesse & Melvin Ng are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Francis Hesse has sinced written about articles on various topics from amino acid, Speed Reading and Cars. Francis Hesse will help you find all you need to become a proficiant speed reader.