Reading better and faster For most people, it is easy to learn to read faster.

Your reading rate is often just a matter of habit. But to begin, you may need to try to change some habits and try these tips: 1. Pay attention when you read and read as if it really matters. Most people read in the same way that they watch television, i.e. in an inattentive, passive way. Reading takes effort and you must make the effort. A wise teacher once told me that you can learn anything if you do three things: PAY ATTENTION PAY ATTENTION and PAY ATTENTION. There are some simple methods that you can use to pay better attention and get more out of your textbook reading time. Different authors call it different things, but many researchers say that you will improve your comprehension if you somehow "preview" the passage before you actually sit down and read every word. To do a preview you:
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take 30 to 60 seconds. look over the title of the chapter. look at all the headings, subheadings and marked, italic or dark print. look at any pictures or illustrations, charts or graphs. quickly skim over the passage, reading the first and last paragraph and glancing at the first sentence of every other paragraph.

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close the book and ask yourself: What is the main idea? What kind of writing is it?

What is the author's purpose?

You might not think that you could possibly answer these questions with so little exposure to the material, but if you do the preview correctly, you should have some very good general ideas. If you have a general idea of what the passage is about before you really read it, you will be able to understand and remember the passage better. When you finally get to the point where you are actually slowly reading the passage, read in a "questioning" manner -as if you were searching for something. It sometimes helps if you take the heading or title of a chapter and turn it into a question. For example, if the heading of a section in the text is "The Causes of the Civil War", take that title and switch it into a question like: "What are the causes of the Civil War?". Now you have a goal; something to look for; something to find out. When you are goal-oriented, you are more likely to reach the goal. At least you'll remember one thing about the text which you have just read. 2. Stop talking to yourself when you read. People talk to themselves in 2 ways, by:
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vocalizing, which is the actual moving of your lips as you read, and sub vocalizing, which is talking to yourself in your head as you silently read.

Both of these will slow you down to the point in which you find that you can't read any faster than you can speak. Speech is a relatively slow activity; for most, the average speed is about 250 WPM (words per minute). Reading should be an activity which involves only the eyes and the brain. Vocalization ties reading to actual speaking. Try to think of reading as if you were

looking at a landscape, a panorama of ideas, rather than looking at the rocks at your feet. 3. Read in thought groups. Studies have shown that when we read, our eyes must make small stops along the line. Poor readers make many, many more fixations (eye stops) than good readers. Not only does this slow you down, but it inhibits comprehension because meaning is easier to pull from groups of words rather than from individual words or even single letters. Try to read in phrases of three or four words, especially in complete clauses and prepositional phrases. Your mind may internalize them as if the whole phrase is like one big meaningrich word. 4. Don't keep re-reading the same phrases. Poor readers habitually read and reread the same phrase over and over again. This habit of making "regressions" doubles or triples reading time and often does not result in better comprehension. A single careful, attentive reading may not be enough for full comprehension, but is often more effective than constant regressions in the middle of a reading. It is best to work on paying closer attention the first time through. Do a preview first before the careful reading and try the tips I mentioned above. You'll remember better without the rereading. 5. Vary your reading rate to suit the difficulty and type of writing of the text. Poor readers always read at the same slow rate. An efficient reader speeds up for easier material and slows down for the hard. Some things were not meant to be read quickly at all. Legal material and very difficult text should be read slowly. Easier material and magazines and newspapers can be read quickly. Poetry and plays were meant to be performed, and if not acted out, then at least, spoken out loud orally. This obviously will conflict with good speed reading method which forbids vocalization. Religious writings and scripture were originally written to be recited and listened to by an audience which was likely to be intelligent, but illiterate. The "fun" of poetry, plays, or prayer is not really experienced if you "speed read" the text. by Dennis Doyle

Reading to learn method Although many of us believe reading is a passive process we couldn't be more mistaken. Reading is actually a highly complex process of interaction between the reader and the text. Reading is the processing of information. To any text we bring our own store of general information based on our cultural, educational and personal experiences and normally some specific knowledge of the topic about which we are reading. We also possess a linguistic competence which includes knowledge of the words, the grammar of the text and the rhetorical patterns and linguistic conventions which characterize different types of texts. For example, news stories, poetry and research reports are all distinctly recognizable text types or genres. When we read we have a particular purpose in mind and in most cases we have a motivation to read, for instance looking up a timetable to catch a train to Bathurst on Friday to attend a friend's wedding. However, we use different strategies to assist us in our reading according to the purpose. We would not read a newspaper the same way as we would read a Physics chapter or a poem. There are different types of reading "styles" and we make choices about the most appropriate style according to our purpose. Skimming involves moving our eyes rapidly over the page to get the gist of what the text is about. This skill can be used to skim a particular book or article to see if it is useful. This technique is used to judge material after rapid inspection. Two approaches to help you learn to skim are described below. 1. Scanning is the strategy we use when searching for a specific piece of information such as dates or names. This kind of reading is particularly useful when you are researching a topic. You can use this strategy to check through catalogues, scan a contents page and index to see if a particular item is mentioned. Check the abstract or the introduction or conclusion of

a chapter/article for key words to see how relevant the text is to your purpose. 2. Intensive reading is the style we employ when we want to gain a detailed understanding of the information contained in the text. Extensive reading is the term used to describe the strategies used for reading longer texts either for pleasure or for information. The full range of strategies, skimming, scanning and reading for detail are employed by the reader according to the individual text and interest in the various parts. The reading style we employ to any text is dependent upon the type and content of the text as well as our purpose in reading. It's important to use these strategies appropriately and flexibly for maximum benefit. Following are a number of exercises to practice some of these strategies.

How to read a novel method

That is Assigned for a Book Report Book Help: Read any information on the book cover or in the forward that gives you ideas about the content of the story or about the author's reasons for writing the book. Outside Help: Read articles about the book that are provided in magazines, in newspapers, on the Internet, or at the library reference room. On the other hand, some pamphlets of notes are helpful while others are poorly written. Significance of Chapter One: Read the first chapter slowly and carefully. It should introduce the main character and the problem or conflict that he/she faces. Most of the rest of the book will describe the attempts to deal with this problem. Notice the relationship between the location/setting of the story and the character's problem. The first chapter also develops some character traits and introduces other characters who influence attempts to resolve issues. Time Management: Plan how much of the book you will read at one sitting. If you become seriously restless after thirty minutes, plan to read for thirty minutes at a time. A more mature plan is to read one chapter at a time. Determine what time of day you will always read. For example, you may prefer to read during the thirty minutes before dinner in the evening. Mark a symbol for the reading assignment on the kitchen wall calendar or on your bedroom wall calendar. Each time you finish reading, draw an X through the symbol on the calendar. The average student reads a novel at the rate of about 300 words per minute. One page in a paperback novel contains about 350 words. Therefore, if a chapter is about 20 pages long, you may assume that it will take you a little over 20 minutes to read it at a rate of not quite one page per minute. Notes for the Book Report: After you read a chapter, write a summary paragraph about the events in that chapter. Add a comment about anything else you think is significant such as the appearance of a new character. After you finish the last chapter, you should have a

summary of the entire book composed of those chapter summaries that you wrote. The wisdom of having read everything now allows you to write a paragraph that introduces the book and a paragraph for the end of your report where you draw some conclusions about how the character attempted to deal with the conflicts and about what the character or the reader learned about human nature during the story. Study Guides: Some teachers provide a study guide for the book report. If so, read the study guide after you read chapter one and get an idea of any specific details you may need to note. Or they may tell you that you will take a test on the book in order to receive credit for reading it. If so, use the pen as you read to place a check mark in the margin next to any names or facts that you may need to memorize after you finish the book. Book Marks and Pacers: If you like to use a book mark on the lines as you read, consider placing the marker above the line instead of below it. This allows your eyes to move faster and increases reading speed. Some people may need to place the marker below the line because their eyes need guidance moving from the end of the line to the beginning of the next line. A pacer such as the finger or a pen point tends to drag your focal point across the line to increase speed and reduce regressing back to re-read text. Regressions are usually emotional rather than necessary for understanding. Of software, sometimes you truly need to re-read. Remember that you are not reading math or science. You are reading fiction and do not need the detailed precision that you do while reading those subjects. Talk About What You Read: If you are a social learner, it may help if you and a parent or friend read using the same time management schedule. Then you can discuss the story and talk about your opinion of what the character did in that chapter. Talk about whether or not you would you have done the same thing? Was their behavior heroic or foolish? Compare your summary paragraph with your

friend's. Perhaps your discussion made you aware that you omitted something important that you can add to your summary. Speed reading articleshttp://www.magicspeedreading.com Copyright 1998 - 2007 Serge Mikhailov
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