Speed Reading
August 28, 2004 7:37 PM Subscribe
Is speed reading for real? Or is it just some gimmick? Have any of you managed to use specific techniques to significantly increase the pages/minute you read without much affecting comprehension or retention?
Shaddup, gyan, you're not helping.
It's for real, but it's mostly a matter of learning to skim effectively. I generally find that I read the first ten or twenty pages of a new text much more slowly than I do the rest, until I've picked up the author's style... after that I've learned which bits I can safely skip. You'll always miss details when speed reading; it's only really useful for getting the gist of the argument.
posted by ook at 8:31 PM on August 28, 2004
It's for real, but it's mostly a matter of learning to skim effectively. I generally find that I read the first ten or twenty pages of a new text much more slowly than I do the rest, until I've picked up the author's style... after that I've learned which bits I can safely skip. You'll always miss details when speed reading; it's only really useful for getting the gist of the argument.
posted by ook at 8:31 PM on August 28, 2004
I'm a speed reader, but a natural one. I read a speed-reading-how-to book for kicks once, and of the TOP TEN SPEED SUPER TECHNIQUES (or whatever), the only two that were part of the way I read were:
- Don't say the words aloud(?) in your head.
- Don't hop from word to word, keep your eyes moving smoothly over the page.
I don't 'skim' or anything like that. YMMV, of course.
posted by Jairus at 10:10 PM on August 28, 2004
- Don't say the words aloud(?) in your head.
- Don't hop from word to word, keep your eyes moving smoothly over the page.
I don't 'skim' or anything like that. YMMV, of course.
posted by Jairus at 10:10 PM on August 28, 2004
There was a discussion of this a while ago that you might want to go over, too.
posted by LairBob at 5:06 AM on August 29, 2004
posted by LairBob at 5:06 AM on August 29, 2004
Moving from, say, 200 wpm to 600 wpm is totally doable and you will improve in comprehension. See earlier thread mentioned above. I used to teach a one-hour workshop at BYU.
posted by mecran01 at 10:37 AM on August 29, 2004
posted by mecran01 at 10:37 AM on August 29, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
Consider a popular novel. How much do you actually comprehend and retain when reading word for word, and how much do gloss over while your mind wanders? After a short speed reading course, I was reading popular fiction at the rate of 150 pages per hour with almost 95% retention. At my word-for-word reading rate, I retained only about 60%.
For studying for exams, however, speed reading helps identify areas of the book that need your further attention at a slower reading pace.
posted by mischief at 8:30 PM on August 28, 2004