What if I told you that you could read Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s stone in just over an hour? That you could read this entire post in
less than a minute? That you could finish your studying three times faster and
have plenty of time to waste? Here’s a way for you to do just that.
Speed reading
In today’s information heavy age, text is omnipresent. As
university students, we have heaps and heaps of reading material dumped on us.
We end up losing sleep over it or we procrastinate, ending up not reading it at
all. So, to study effectively and quickly, and still have time for other
things, we need to reduce the quantity of time we spend and increase its
quality. This is why we at MTTN, being a university blog, decided to bring out
this article on speed reading, which is something all students could do with.
To start you off, here are a few basic pointers that can
help you eliminate bad reading habits and let you see a substantial and
immediate improvement in your reading speed and your comprehension.
How to Speed Read
#1: Stop regression or back-tracking
Regression is the process of rereading text you’ve already
read. For the unwary reader, this takes up about 30% of the reading time.
That’s 20 minutes of every hour you study! Lack of concentration is one of the
reasons behind rereading, however, it is the very act of rereading that throws
off the flow of words and results in the lack of comprehension. A BIG time waste and eventually resulting in lower
comprehension, this is the first habit you should tackle.
There is one simple exercise that could help you tackle the
problem. Take a pen and underline the sentences smoothly as you read them, with
the cap on of course. Since the eye instinctively follows anything that moves,
you eye movement will be smooth and your reading, regression free. However,
regression can sometimes be a great tool to have in your reading arsenal. While
reading information heavy texts, it is necessary to reread certain parts of the
text, but even so, read the entire paragraph or line again to get it to stick
in your memory.
#2: Minimize Subvocalization
When we were first taught to read, we were taught to say the
words aloud. This, becoming a habit over the years for some of us, causes us to
mouth the words while reading or imagine the word being said in our mind. So
for people who subvocalize everything they read, reading speed=speaking speed. Inevitably,
the reading speeds become very low, around 125 wpm, and we regress over read
sentences. Effective speed reading requires that we spend less time on
vocalizing the words, but rather on visualizing and understanding it.
There are a variety of methods you could use to get over
this. If you actually mouth the words while reading, try chewing some gum or try
humming a random tune. For controlling the voice in your head, use a pair of
headphones and listen to some music while you study, this will let you read
purely on a visual basis. Of course, not all kinds of music help, listen to something
without lyrics, classical or instrumental music work the best I believe. But as
you start getting practice, tackle this on the conscious level and try forcing
yourself to minimize subvocalization.
#3: Chunking by using peripheral vision
Till now, you have probably read texts one word at a time,
but speed reading employs chunking of words. Instead of focusing on word, we
learn to take in multiple words at a time. This not only speeds up your reading
but also clears the flow of words and increases your understanding of the
matter contained within. This is a pretty hard technique to learn for beginners
and there are a few exercises that could help you. Here’s one such exercise
that is popular and effective:
“Take a book and draw
two parallel lines about three inches apart from each other down the middle of
the text. Concentrate on the area between the lines and try not to move your
eyes outside of them. See if you can catch the words beyond the lines in your
peripheral vision. Being able to indirectly read words in this
way will greatly increase your reading speed.”
#4: Skimming
This technique is based on the fact that not every word is
important when conveying an idea. Skimming is just looking for important
keywords which convey the basic idea on their own without properly formulated
sentences. The best way to do this is to look at the index and see what a
particular section is about and prime our mind on what to expect. So, when you
read it, you can eliminate many words and still get the meaning out of the
text. But use this with caution so as to not affect comprehension.
#5: Use web apps
Many web apps are available now that can measure your
reading speed. Here’s one that is very user friendly: Staples
speed-reader. There are also apps that help you implement the techniques
learnt above and more. Spreeder
is one such great app that is easy to use (Just copy paste your material) and
one that makes reading fun. Be sure to try out both the apps above, they are a
great help!
#6: Force yourself to read faster than you think you can
This not only minimizes subvocalization and regression but also helps you focus. Since you’re reading faster, you have to pay more attention and comprehension increases automatically. The more you practice and push yourself, the faster you will get.
We hope this article helps you! Happy speed reading!
Have any speed reading
tips of your own? How was your experience after trying some of these tips?
Share them with us in the comments!
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