Speed reading - Wordsmith.org

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Are there any speed readers among us

http://www.wordwizard.com/ch_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18565&SearchTerms=speed,reading

Comments welcome; how do you do it? Do you have any special techniques? How fast can you read with full comprehension?

One speed-reader spots nouns while another watches for the verbs. Another is alert for subject and predicate, each as a unit

Don't you find that a wide column slows you down considerably?

How do you scan; Can you read several lines or an entire paragraphwithout scanning?

Many claim that they never sound out words in the mind's ear, but I find this hard to believe

i was taught speed (controlled reading) for 4 to 5 years in elementary school. (i think we started in 4th grade, but i don't remember exactly, i was always in the top reading group, (and way ahead of the class in reading skills)

the class (huge, baby boomer generation, parocial school classes!) was broken up into groups (3? 4?) and 3 days a week we had 20 minutes of controlled reading.(about 10 to 15 kids to a group)

we sat in a darkened class room.

there was a projector, that had a letter box slot that was further masked, /......./, to make a window shaped like the this.

the window was wide enough for 2 short words (and, we, to, for, etc) or 1 long word (constitution, or similar)

the window moved across the letter box, showing us one or two words at at time. (so the speed was controlled)

after practice (first year)the speed was increased, (and increased, and increased) until by 8th grade my group was reading over 900 words per minute, with greater than 90% comprehension.

i still read fast, (but not so fast as did as child, i guess within the 600 to 700WPM range (i've taken computer times reading test, with comprehension test after, and scored in the 500WPM range, but i know i read much slower on a monitor than i do with text on paper)

i certainly don't sound out words, (but gobble them whole!) and my reading vocabulary is considerable bigger than my spoken one (and i have mangled pronounciations of words, since i only know them from reading, and don't really know them to say (and often have never heard them spoken)

erzats was a word i had a problem with --i misread it (as ezrats)-a not uncommon dylexis problem --but understood it meant, synthetic, immitation, (like erzats butter (ie, olio, or erzats whip cream (coolwhip))

didn't recognize the word when i first heard it spoken (i was merrily thinking ezrats-- something like the name ezra.. ) i remember this words now, because of the embaressing moment it produced.

i am sure there are plenty of other words i don't know how to say, but that i feel quite comfortable reading, (and sometimes, i even know how to spell them, but not often!)

my kids are good readers, (now as adults) and read with reasonable speed and skill, but i read faster than them (and i read faster than my ex ever did)

i think i was lucky to have controlled reading (i am pretty certain controlled reading is brand name for a speed reading system.) we were taught to read every word, but quickly. and to move our eyes, not our heads (the nuns would stand behind the class and tap us gently if we moved our heads)
i know some programs have readers move their finger across a line, and other programs have other methods.

(my school also had SRA (i think this was discussed here recently (i don't remember what sra stood for, but it was a reading program we could use any time, (like if we finished a test and others hadn't we could do SRA reading..) or while waiting for something (like a guest/specialty teacher)

Dale:

I had a friend who had an Evelyn Woods franchise in Northern Virginia many years ago (I was in college and Max was perhaps 40.) He gave me the course for free in exchange for driving him to the class meetings.

On simple material I could read upwards of 3000 wpm with fairly good comprehension (80 to 90 percent.) He even used my picture in the Washington Post for advertising. I'm sitting there with a stack of books, and the one open is a genetics textbook. Of course one cannot read tech stuff that way. It's only good for fiction, and a lot of the good stuff gets lost.

But I stopped doing it because it was WORK! Hard work. If I recall correctly you trained yourself to pick up the important words in the sentence. But it was easy to miss a no or a not so you could get the sense of a sentence reversed; you had to pay more attention than normal reading. I normally read around 500 wpm on fiction without resorting to this.

As I recall the course was developed by this Evelyn Woods person based upon her observations of the reading habits of Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a close friend of Woods. In the spiel for the course it was claimed she read whole pages at a glance, and could read upwards of 10K wpm. I honestly don't know whether to believe that or not, but I do know I could read relatively simple fiction (young adult stuff I would call it now) at a pretty astounding rate.

I might think you were exaggerating, except ... when I was in 7th or 8th grade they tried to get us to read faster. There was a machine that would breeze by the words displayed by a projector.

I remember I could read maybe 250 words per minute. Everyone was pretty suprised that someone they thought was so smart read at the same speed as the goof-offs. The fastest reader could do 900 wpm ... a speed at which I couldn't make out the individual words. This guy had no training. He could just read fast. I loathed him, btw. He was a pretty typical sports bully. But he definitely understood stuff, as we were tested after we read the stuff - and he always did well.

Tech stuff or fiction, I always read slowly. 250 wpm - 300 wpm was about my maximum, but my cruising speed was a good deal less, maybe 100 wpm, sometimes less. For some tech stuff, I have spent 2 or 3 days mulling a single paragraph - and often I'll spend several hours on a page or two. For fiction, I just don't enjoy it if I read quickly. For sf, I like to ponder the ideas. For non-sf, I like to ponder the relationships. Either way, I'll read in spurts - concentrating for .5 hr - 3 hrs, and then thinking about it. Sometimes, I'll get a particular passage just stuck in my head and want to read it over and over and over.

I can't keep up with reading groups. They're trying to get me to head up a tech reading group where I work, but I don't have time - also I don't like *having* to read something.

For fiction, I just don't enjoy it if I read quickly. For sf, I like to ponder the ideas. For non-sf, I like to ponder the relationships. Holy cow--if we ever had to share one book simultaneously, we'd drive each other insane! I rush through so I can find out what happens! Then, if I liked the book well enough, I might go back and find a detail or two that I missed. As to relationships--the only time I bother with extra time on those is if the book has a great number of characters in it--and then only if the book seems worth my while to do so. I do love re-reading the really good books, though.

I can count on two hands the number of books I've read more than once.

"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions"
"Objective Knowledge"
"I, Robot"
"Robots of Dawn"
"Bolo"
"The Fellowship of the Ring"

I *have* read "Call of the Wild" and "Bicentennial Man" and a few others 3 or 4 times, but that was only because I read it aloud with the kids.

"Robots of Dawn" I read by accident the 2nd time. Great book, but I didn't realize I had actually read it before until I got to the end.

well, i didn't start reading at 900WPM--it took me 4 years of 'practice' to get to that speed. i suspect, your speed would have increased if you worked with the machine for 4 years, too!(and the one you describe sounds alot like a controlled reading machine!)

my parocial school saved money by running tests for new curriculums, textbooks, and other teaching materials. i suspect we were being used as guinnea pigs for the CR program--we were used for new math (my school had new math about 4 years before most schools rolled it out.) and we were for a new science program. (which was so-so and wishy washy.. or at least i thought so--i learned science reading science books

i had free and easy access to a great library--the Bronx Central branch of the NYC library system--and my mother, while (as i have said before) did not read to me, she took me, and sibling to the library from the moment we could walk.

the Bronx centeral library had a whole floor of building (and it was a big building (300 feet deep, about 100 feet wide) just for children and young adults. (adult books were on another floor, and first floor was a research center) so we kids had it easy.. we were supposed to be quiet, but since it was a kids floor, (and only parents with kids were there,) it was a pleasant bubbly noisy place, not the scared hush that libraries often are)

(the bronx central library recently moved (and doubled in size! --the story was page 1 news/NYT.)

i too frequently reread books.. i rush throught them, for the basic story, and then often in 6 months, reread at a slower place (but still fast by many standards)

Helen, I'm fascinated that you are dyslexic yet you can read so fast!! I wish I could read faster... I wonder if one can take up speed reading at an advanced age? Can one retain as much speed reading as "normal" reading?

well, like erzats/ezrats i often read it wrong --but still understand what i am reading..
ogre/orge is another one i read/see/want to spell my way wrong...

i never did well on the multiple choice "circle/select the that is spelled wrong" test either...they all looked fine to me.
(and i often just don't see the mistakes that are copied and quoted here and AWAD and other BB's. i realize there is something wrong, and every one else gets it,-- i mean the ones that are quoted cause they are funny, or clever, or interesting --we don't--thank god!--go around maliciously posting errors/typo's etc. i just read them, and try to see what's wrong, and most often fail.. they wiz so far over my head, i just see contrails..(if that!)

i recognize that there is something going on, but i can't see what.. (usually the sentence makes perfect sense to me.. i got the author's idea, and i miss the joke.)

i don't usually get written jokes, unless they are simple tails that depend on clear punch lines..

puns don't strike me as very funny either, (nor do they cause me to groan) i don't do well with book that have venacular (uncle tom's cabin, or tom sawyer) i can't see/hear/understand/ the language or humor.. (but i did very well computer languages, basic, and the TI version of lisp (linx? some similar name ) i got the 'rules' of grammer, (syntax). its a weird thing.. i still sit and look at my hands to give directions, (left hand make an L) and look at my hands to set a table (left has 4 letters, so does fork --forks go on left, (right has 5 letters, so does spoon and knife.. ) this is a 'new' trick for me, i used to pull out my cookbooks to set a table..(until about 10 years ago!) i am good at learning/creating nmumonics for myself to remember things.. (i have hundreds! i would be virtually illiterate with out them.. (and i subsustite words, when i just can't summom a spelling that looks remotely right.

i used opt, or elect, or choose, or go for something.. i just couldn't spell decide.. and would go through looking at dic, dis, des, dic until i hit upon the correct spelling.. but more often, i elected to use an other word..
--auto spellcheck helped me learn decide.. it would, with out a word of critizism, understand what i was trying to say, and just put down the right letters.. i love auto spell check!

i went back to ireland age 18, and could find my way about the city of dublin, (and the outskirts) i remembered the bus route (all the turns and low bridges) from downtown to my nana's house--(from a trip 10 years previous)

and some 15 years ago, when taking my son to camp, i passed through a small town in conneticut, and realize i had been there before. i consulted an aunt and learned i had, and i was age 6--she and uncle had live in that town for 18months, before moving even further north. (that was a 20 year gap!) i work all the time at seeing where i am, and making mental maps, i am a great navigator!

i long ago recognized i make mental maps, and use them for understanding. controlled reading helped me see a single word, 'get it' and move on.. that i sometimes got it wrong (spelling wise!) didn't mean i didn't get it meaning wise.

Quote:

well, like erzats/ezrats i often read it wrong

I'm really sorry but I can't hold this in any longer

It's erSatZ !!!

Quote:

Helen, I'm fascinated that you are dyslexic yet you can read so fast!! I wish I could read faster... I wonder if one can take up speed reading at an advanced age? Can one retain as much speed reading as "normal" reading?

I think you can. The methods are pretty simple and simple to google. Just takes practice.

We had a room full of those machines in High School, probably, but maybe Middle School. You could only use them if you were in remedial reading, which I wasn't, so I couldn't. And I was really jealous, because I was a pretty slow reader, too, and I wanted to make hay.

thanks, Mydidon--you made me laugh out loud!

bingo--i word i know (sort of) but can't spell for sh*t

many years ago, the NYtimes magazine section had a photo array of funny photo's --the one i 'missed' was the graffiti of hell's satins... it wasn't till the next week when letters to the magazine started making jokes about how dangerous the gang must be, asking if the wore silk satin, or cotton satin.. did i look at the word, and realize, satin=shiny cloth, satan=name for devil.. (and now i remember satan wouldn't be caught dead IN satin (and learned how to keep track of these difficult for me words..) usually, context does it.. but

To me, reading fiction too quickly is like chugging fine wine.

> and simple to google

Not kidding!

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Ha!

But I also remember finding suggestions posted by some professor somewhere that were free, simple, and sensible.

Quote:

I wanted to make hay.

See avatar.

aha

Glad to know the sun's still shining!

mav, thank you for that. But shouldn't it be www.readingtransformations.com

dale, do you work for reading transformations?

yeah, mav's links didn't work.. who wants them to?

you posted asking about spead reading, there are a dozen plus replies, and your only comment is mav has altered the ads to they aren't workable?

congratulation, you've just become the first person on my ignore list..

i chose to ignore your thread on euphemisms, (a wise choice i quickly realized when i read your reply in that thread) and your behavior now, make it clear you don't want to join in open discussions, you have an agenda. (like your psuedo scientific study on green cars) well i am going to be part of your program.

reading fiction too quickly is like chugging fine wine.

There is, in ancient Christian tradition, a practice called "lectio divina" in which one reads a passage of scripture or some devotional literature very slowly and then rereads it, even more slowly, meditating on each word of each sentence.

Helen: I didn't realize it was necessary

Really

Quote:

There is, in ancient Christian tradition, a practice called "lectio divina" in which one reads a passage of scripture or some devotional literature very slowly and then rereads it, even more slowly, meditating on each word of each sentence.

What a coincidence. I do the same thing with scotch. That is, if I'm not chugging it.

I do the same thing with scotch.

That would be a slightly-less-ancient Presbyterian tradition, eh?

In accordance with a protocol of which I was only recently apprised, herewith my halting participation:

Anna: �I wonder if one can take up speed reading at an advanced age?� I certainly hope so because I am there

�Can one retain as much speed reading as "normal" reading?� I understand that some evidently do

But alack, not I

Ted: �Of course one cannot read tech stuff that way� To the contrary, some speed-readers retain technical material almost in toto. However, reading fiction they miss the nuances

In any case, though, it is indeed hard work

Jackie: �...I like to ponder the ideas� In a sense, my own speed-reading can be described as ponderous

I also re-read, not for enjoyment but because I didn�t quite get it the first time

Fal: "He could just read fast. I loathed him, btw" Then you might like me

�My employer disagrees with everything I say, think, feel, do, or plan to do� I was fired from several firms before I began to realize this was true of me, too

Myr: �It's erSatZ !!!� Why exactly?

(Owing to the onset of Alzheimer�s, I�m afraid I�m a little slow)

Alex: �To me, reading fiction too quickly is like chugging fine wine.� Or a fine, full, mellow craft or imported brew

�What a coincidence. I do the same thing with scotch� and I with beer. We are kindred souls

�I'm going Nowhere Fast� Me neither

insel: �...posted by some professor somewhere that were free, simple, and sensible� Aha! Now we�re getting somewhere. Any time you should run onto one, and if it�s no trouble, I�d appreciate the link. I am dalehileman@verizon.net

Father: �...reads a passage of scripture or some devotional literature very slowly and then rereads it, even more slowly, meditating on each word of each sentence� Interesting you should mention that. The newspeak meaning of �meditation� is to stop all thinking whatever. There�s a name for that. What is it

I have read extensively about this new kind of non-meditation and find it very helpful, but only in getting to sleep at night. Most happy to discuss it further, but some might accuse me of carrying on (we do have one or two fierce critics). See my address above

Helen: Thank you for your more-than-adequate input

�...some programs have readers move their finger across a line,...� Yes, I have been told this. However, the Academic Community early discourages it, and I can�t imagine how it could possibly help

I�m a skeptic but not a cynnic

�... and then often in 6 months, reread at a slower place (but still fast by many standards)� I do this too (yet slow by many standards)

�...i realize there is something wrong, and every one else gets it,--� By a remarkable coincidence i often have this very same experience. I had attributed it to my superior intellect and ability to spot obscure or hidden meanings; but in my case, I am now beginning to realize it owes to the onset of my senility

�dale, do you work for reading transformations?� No, I am retired. How else would I have time for follow-ups like this one

�yeah, mav's links didn't work.. who wants them to?� I for one. Why not?

�...your only comment is mav has altered the ads to they aren't workable?� I had to study this one for a while before I realized there is a word missing. A speed-reader would have been left in a pitless quandary, wretched fellow

Alas, I am dreadfully slow on the pickup

�...congratulation, you've just become the first person on my ignore list..� Thank you. Who are the others

and how come I don't rate the plural, "congratulations"

�...and your behavior now, make it clear you don't want to join in open discussions...� Oh but I do. I just don�t want to bore anyone

�(...like your psuedo scientific study on green cars)� I am devastated by your use of the pejorative, �scientific�

�..you have an agenda� No, honestly, I don�t. I am as innocent as the newblown snow

I�d be most happy to dilate on my �green car� theme, though as I implied above, I hate to be tedious. Most happy to elaborate at any time, I am dalehileman@verizon.net

One of the reasons often I don�t join in is that my feeble attempts at humor are often misunderstood or misinterpreted as contumely or criticism

So I gain the reputation as a curmudgeon. It�s all so unfair

Quote:

Father: �...reads a passage of scripture or some devotional literature very slowly and then rereads it, even more slowly, meditating on each word of each sentence� Interesting you should mention that. The newspeak meaning of �meditation� is to stop all thinking whatever. There�s a name for that. What is it

I have read extensively about this new kind of non-meditation and find it very helpful, but only in getting to sleep at night. Most happy to discuss it further, but some might accuse me of carrying on (we do have one or two fierce critics). See my address above

This is the eastern technique, practiced in versions of Buddhism. It is a translation of any of several terms, the one I know is zazen, from Zen Buddhism, sometimes simply called "sitting". It is extremely difficult to do properly, not because of the bodily position that is sometimes demanded, but simply because it is very hard not to think. It does have its benefits if done correctly.

sometimes simply called "sitting". It is extremely difficult to do properly, not because of the bodily position that is sometimes demanded, but simply because it is very hard not to think. It does have its benefits if done correctly.

It appears to me that the Congress of the United States has indeed mastered the ability to sit without thinking for extended periods of time. They must not be doing it correctly, however, as no one save members of Congress seems to benefit.

Quote:

sometimes simply called "sitting". It is extremely difficult to do properly, not because of the bodily position that is sometimes demanded, but simply because it is very hard not to think. It does have its benefits if done correctly.

It appears to me that the Congress of the United States has indeed mastered the ability to sit without thinking for extended periods of time. They must not be doing it correctly, however, as no one save members of Congress seems to benefit.

Come, come, Daddio Stevarino. You can't be expecting others to do your sitting for you.

You can't be expecting others to do your sitting for you.

Rats!