Super Reading Secrets

I picked up SUPER READING SECRETS because I was and am still interested in learning as much as I possibly can. Being able to increase my reading speed would allow me to read more books than I can now and in turn I would learn more information. After reading the book, I do know how to increase my reading speed. The techniques that Berg suggests in SUPER READING SECRETS really do work, however, they are not something I intend to do frequently. I like reading. Even when studying, I take pleasure from most things I read. For me, there really isn't much distinction between reading for pleasure and reading for information and reading for studying. Just about everything I read is for pleasure. Most of the techniques that are suggested in the book are directed towards reading for information and reading for study.

Besides the speeding reading tips, the book is also full of useful study techniques and tips. If I was still a student in high school or college and had never discovered these tips and techniques on my own, then I would have found these parts of the book to be quite useful. However, since I already knew about these techniques I didn't get much out of these parts of the book either.

True to the title, SUPER READING SECRETS really does explain how a person can learn how to read one-page in three seconds. It takes time, but it does work. Students who have trouble studying from high school and college will get the most from this book. However, if you're someone like me who likes to read (even most textbooks) for pleasure, then you probably won't gain much from reading this book.

I took Berg's class and read this book, but I still can't read as fast or nearly as fast as him. I admit I read a lot faster now, but I can't say it is because of him. I owe it to practice. Simply, the more you read, the faster you will read and understand it better. There is no magic formula. One of the techniques Berg teaches is to use your hand as a guide to train your eyes to follow your hand, so the faster you move your hand, the faster your eyes move and therefore read faster. I actually read faster without the hand and using it just gives me headaches. Plus, if you really enjoy reading, I cannot believe reading a page in seconds will be an enjoyable experience. This may be a good thing for students trying to get all the information they need for exams. And the book provides some really good studying tips. Unfortunately when I read this, I already graduated. This is a must-read for all students. Berg is definitely a talented guy that can do what he claims, but you would have to be just as talented to used his speed reading techniques.

Peace. I am a messenger and warner of God (warning of Hell, and propounding good news of Paradise). With regard to this book, I have some declaratives I wish to promulgate:

1) It is indeed good because it is CHEAP.

2) It is good because it is CONCISE (251 pages).

3) It is good because there are EXERCISES to aid comprehension.

4) It is good because it contains SUMMARIES to aid memory.

In light of this awareness, it follows as a logical consequence that a pursuit of this book with an intention to speed read would indeed be prudent and judicious. The author claims that being able to read a page in 3 seconds is possible, and one may react with a sense of astonishment at such an awesome promulgation. This may NOT be possible, although being able to read a page in approx. 5 secs IS POSSIBLE. Five seconds is indeed quick but it is possible because I have now accomplished it using the techniques in the book! Praise be to God!

The book urges an 8 WEEK program. However, being a genius myself, I accomplished a speed reading ability (i.e. a page in 5 seconds approx.) in approx. 2 days! Praise be to God! Buy this book and try speed reading yourself even if you are not a genius (it is NOT a pre-requisite).

I recently took a class with Mr. Berg at the Learning Annex in Manhattan. Seven hours long!... It was very interesting, and yes my reading speed did double within the first half of the day, and by the end of the day I was at about 800 words/minute. Mr. Berg is an extremely wise man, very enthusiastic and encouraging, and I'm glad I did take the class which gave me some practice, making it a lot easier for me to understand his ideas in the rest of this book on my own time. Only a little disappointing was the fact that in both the book and the seven-hour lecture I experienced, the focus did seem to be on studying and special techniques for recalling and the like. He was able to answer any and all questions asked during the class, and I really trust that he's very accomplished and knowledgable on this subject. I learned a lot from him and from the book. Though this book seems pretty good, but I definitely plan on checking out some others on this subject.

'Just another in a spate of hallucinogenically self-evident books on reading like a maniac. I read faster than anyone I know, but I've always read faster than anyone I know. And, in evidence to my claim, when asked questions about what I've read, I don't require that the questions be formatted as multiple choice or as verbal "meta tags" that merely require recognition/recall. I'm happy to provide context and interpretation. Of course, I may misinterpret, but the questioner can readily determine that I have thoroughly read the book and have a good grasp of its broad issues as well as many of its fine points.

The main reasons I read so quickly and effectively are:
***1. I learned to read very early--before first grade--and in an extremely positive and supportive atmosphere which made fast and attentive reading seem as normal as breathing. In short: I developed the HABIT of reading, reinforced EARLY, often, and for many years.
***2. I was MOTIVATED to read. My parents gave me extraordinary reinforcement through the manifest joy they shared with me in seeing me reading. (They also were brilliant professional people who were emotionally balanced and loving.) My reading "environment", that is, was superbly supportive.
***3. OPPORTUNITY. My home had thousands of books--a miscellany of types/genres. They were readily accessible whenever I wished to read.
***4. FOCUS. All the above factors gave me great powers of concentration when reading. I never remember NOT reading and have rarely felt anything but anticipatory pleasure when contemplating a book or article or poem, etc., I had intended to read. I was ready, willing, and able, with visceral pleasure, to plunge into a book.
***5. PLASTICITY OF READING TECHNIQUE. Like a tool kit, some items I read with mental verbalization (such as poetry) and others without verbalization (technical material). In general, the more affective or aesthetic in orientation, the more I'm likely to verbalize. (Who wants to speed read Shakespeare?)

The more sheerly informative or formally declarative a book is--that is, the more non-affective is its content, nothing is to be gained--except reinforcement of ineffective habits perhaps?--by subvocalizing the words. (Exceptions to the rule, to be discussed elsewhere: Some extraordinarily well-written informative literature has abstract beauty, architectonic economy, and/or intrinsic order--e.g., an elegantly written technical manual, or an ingeniously written computer program.) With such info-laden, and relatively affective-empty materials, I skip the subvocalization and dramatically accelerate my reading speed and factual comprehension. My selection of technique is invariably intuitive and immediate, without conscious choice. Even if I stop and contemplate the consequences of a given info-laden paragraph, I will have read that paragraph very quickly, without subvocalization. Following that reading, the subsequent few moments are invested in reflection upon that paragraph and perhaps its connections--its innate "hyperlinks" to other paragraphs within the same text, other texts, knowledge I otherwise have, and various degrees of conscious and semi-conscious connections to information, relationships, and experiences within my memory and current awareness.

Reading is not only about comprehension, fast or slow, as I have indicated in my observations about reading affective materials. Indeed, reading is also about: being affected by the reading; being transformed in heart and mind; reconceptualizing habitual thinking, perceptual, and feeling patterns; pure pleasure; vicarious participation in imaginary domains; etc. These are also reading skills, and skills that "power" or "photo" reading do not even address. They are options not considered. (Some do obliquely mention such reading skills/aspects, without addressing the concerns I've expressed. As such, the various speed reading books omit many of the aspects which make reading a valuable, exciting, and pleasurable experience, and which motivate many of us to read in the first place. If the authors were intellectually honest and clear with the reader, the entire genre of speed reading books would acknowledge that they primarily address info skimming and gleaning skills.)

No book can teach such intuitively and immediately available reading virtuosity within a few weeks, any more than any basketball coach can teach the fluid moves of Kobe Bryant in a summer clinic. Of course, there's a difference: all persons of normal intelligence, I submit, can develop a much greater degree of reading virtuosity, while physical virtuosity is more sharply related to biological determinates. Reading virtuosity is more a result of fortunately provided, or consciously chosen, psychological determinates, including the formation of determinable reading attitudes and habits.

Also, and not "PC" (politically correct): intelligence does make a difference. Of course it does! Does not rapid/ fast/ speed/ any-other-type-of-reading involve interpretation? Is the meaning and implications of the words, sentences, and paragraphs self-evident? Of course not! So intelligence must necessarily matter. Yet, importantly, none of this should dissuade any of us from working to improve reading skills, of which speed is only one component (if an important one). We all can. I am simply arguing against any misplaced "affirmative action" in reading education. You are where you are in your skills. Accurate assessment is vital. You will do yourself no favors by fantasizing of reading pages at one glance. (Yes, you can learn to skim very quickly and effectively, and remember an enormous amount of information--especially when such skimming is complemented by interspersed and selective reading of chosen sections of the material you're reading. If one has never learned to so skim, and especially if one also reads slowly and ineffectively, learning to skim with skill can seem like an epiphany! One's new skimming skills produce results that are superior to one's previous reading results. One is thus converted to Berg's or Scheele's "super reading" or "photoreading", misinterpreting the chosen reading system as THE reading system.

Quick attitude changes, I suspect, can immediately help develop better reading skills by simply moving the reader from his/her (unfortunately) typical somnambulistic state to a more conscious and focused state of mind. That shift of conscious purpose may be the chief value--to the extent there is value--in such books as Howard Stephen Berg's (or Paul Scheele's).