If You'd Like
To Know Why Reading Matters
by Barbara Freedman-De Vito
Here Are Some of the Reasons Why Reading Is
So Important for Children
Why Do We Tell Children to Read? We're always telling
children that books and reading are good for them,
but have we ever really thought about why that's
true ? Exactly what do older children get out of
reading novels ? What do younger kids get from reading
children's stories and being read to ? Does reading
matter?
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SPEED READING TIPS
Various Speed Reading Techniques
by Melvin Ng
The ability to speed read is an important skill in today's
world, where - whether we are students or at work - we
are often expected to read hefty amounts of materials
on a daily basis. As a result, improving your speed reading
technique is something each and every one of us should
not only do, but maintain. What, then, are speed reading
techniques?
Speed reading - the essential elements
Before you start to learn any particular speed reading
technique, you need to consider that all speed reading
techniques rely on three essential elements:
1. A desire to improve you reading speed;
2. A willingness to give new ideas a chance; and
3. Motivation, discipline and continued practice.
Without these three key elements, no speed reading technique
is going to succeed.
Speeding reading technique (1) - Skimming
Almost all successful speed readers will attest to the
fact that they are a successful speed reader because they
have a form of peripheral vision that allows them to see
large amount of data on a page and to "skim"
what they are reading. In short, speed reading like this
means that one is not reading each and every word on the
page, but merely scanning through the material. Using
this speed reading technique, every now and then you will
come across a keyword or phrase and it is this that will
provide you with the essence of what is being written.
The rest of the information on the page is discarded.
Although this speed reading technique would seem to indicate
that the reader does not fully comprehend what has been
written, in fact studies have shown this is not the case
- majority of speed readers using this technique actually
increased their comprehension of the reading materials!
Speed reading technique (2) - first sentence reading
Unlike speed reading technique (1), in speed reading technique
(2), the reader will read the first sentence of each paragraph,
in order to get the crux (main idea) of the idea behind
the paragraph and will then skim read the remainder of
the paragraph. This process is then repeated on down the
page until such time as all the reading material has been
exhausted.
Using speed reading technique (2), it is generally understood
that the reader will glean enough information from the
first sentence not to be overly concerned about the information
contained in the remainder of the paragraph, where the
writer will merely be reinforcing the notion set out in
sentence one. However, this technique does fall-down on
one major point - it pre-supposes that a paragraph only
has one idea, which is clearly not always the case! If
you find that you are reading material where the writer
has used multiple ideas in the same paragraph, you may
need to adapt your speed reading technique to one of the
other speed reading techniques.
Speed reading technique #3 - Group wording
There is a term in speed reading circles that is seen
as being one of the major demons of reading: "subvocalization".
Subvocalization is a clinical term for word-for-word reading
- and it's a huge no-no in speed reading techniques. Subvocalization
slows reading down, without providing any upswing in comprehension
to counter the lost reading time.
Group wording, as the name suggests, is where the reader
looks at a group of words and phrases at the same time.
Using the group wording technique, speed readers are able
to read large chunks of information at the same time -
thus, saving time.
Additional speed reading techniques
Aside from the specific speed reading techniques in 1
to 3 above, there are a number of habits/practices that
are generally considered counter-productive to speed reading
- thus will have an affect on your speed reading abilities.
In no particular order, these include:
* subvocalization - as already stated, this is
where you speak out the words you read. It's a major cause
of slow reading. Unfortunately, as most of us are taught
to speak out the words we read when we learn to read as
children, it is also one of the hardest habits to break.
All that can be said is that you keep plugging away at
trying to eradicate this habit.
* digressing - digressing is where the reader will
read a passage, then return to re-read it, usually in
the mistaken belief that they will be able to comprehend
better what has been written on a second read. Again,
in speed reading circles this is seen as a major no-no,
bad habit, which needs to be broken!
Conclusion
So, if you want to improve your speed reading skills,
you need to remember not to subvocalize or re-read passages,
and to read great chunks at one time by broadening your
eye-span. Simple really! Actually, in fairness, it will
take time to learn, and don't expect to get it right the
first time. Don't push this issue too much, as pushing
it may prove to be counter-productive.
About the Author
Melvin Ng teaches speed reading through his 16-Minute
Speed Reading Audio Program. This breakthrough technique
Guarantees to Double your reading speed in just 16 minutes!
http://www.bestspeedreadingcourse.com |
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