Can one learn to read faster?

All right, I've been reading faster and faster due to dduck's suggestion (thank you, dduck). And I've come up with an analogy - tell me what you think.

Analogy:

I play the trombone. (Hopefully someone here is musical, and gets this.) On the trombone you can do a glissando or a slide where you play, and as you're playing you just let the slide of the trombone drop. You play all the notes that are in that slide (there are seven), but you don't distinguish any particular note. I think that reading fast is like doing a glissando: you read all the words, though you don't necessarily distinguish any one word. It just sort of blurs together, yet you understand the blur.

I hope this made sense. I just wanted to share.

en...i think it's depend what are u reading. nobody will read his balance check in a 80 page/h speed. but the timekillers or something u read it just for fun are a different story....

[RonBee]

I'm glad that you explained that reading is like playing the trombone.

:wink:

[RonBee]

May I offer some corrections? (For one thing, you need to capitalize every word that begins a sentence.)

Originally Posted by Vash

en...i think it's depend what are u reading. nobody will read his balance check in a 80 page/h speed. but the timekillers or something u read it just for fun are a different story....

I think it depends on what you are reading. Nobody is likely to read his bank statement at 80 page/h speed, but the timekillers or something you read just for fun are a different story.

(The expression is it depends.)

:)

I'm a senior in college and have had to read (and chose to read) a variety of subjects from Calculus text books to Shakespeare and I find that I read them all slowly. I've tried to suggestion of scanning the page faster but I find that I simply do not comprehend what I've just scanned. I've even tried this with fairly simple reading material.

Do you find that you become more comfortable with scanning the more you do it and that you really do comprehend more as you practice? I would be interested in learning how to improving my reading skills because I've always shied away from the English courses in college for this very reason- reading is my passion but there is no way I could keep up with the schedule required for these types of courses. And the funny thing is that I have no learning disabilities...I just read slowly.

Yeah, the whole scanning thing does become easier, and I found that as I got better at it, I was less apt to use the blunt end of a pencil. It sort of just gets ingrained; it becomes a habit. Once you can scan really well, you can really comprehend things easier and faster. I'd still like to read even faster, but for now I'm content with my speed.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Will

I was just wondering if one can learn to read faster?

For the financially challenged student:

The Evelyn Wood Seven-Day Speed Reading Program
by Stanley D. Frank
New $23.00 US
Used $1.85 US Shipped within two days. Amazon.com

If finances are a non-issue:
http://www.fastreader.com/

Also, some readers find that placing a colored see-through plastic reading board over the page their reading helps increase their reading speed because it serves to reduce the "white" of the page.

:D

It's a well-known fact that reading is a non-linear process. The eyes dart back and forth, as well as up and down. Learning to read with speed involves picking out the biggies: nouns and verbs. Here's something worth the try: Pick a paragraph from a reading. Read only the nouns and verbs. Time yourself. After you've finished, write down the meaning of what you read. Now read the same reading again, but this time read every word. When you're finished check to see if you got the same meaning as you did the first time. :D

I'll have to try this. Thanks!

(I really hope this helps! I have an entire book to read in three days. "It's an easy read!" the prof says...Hah!)

Have you ever heard of photoreading. Its a system of absorbing information by looking at a page for a second then activating it. Its odd I dont know if it works. Take a look at www.photoreading.com

[RonBee]

I had never heard of photoreading before.

:)