Sunday, December 16, 2007

Speed Reading Is An Important Skill

Almost everyone has seen someone speed read, they appear to
skim the text and still have read and absorbed the content. It
is normal for everyone to read at different speeds, even before
some people have mastered the skills of speed reading. The
people who have studied speed reading techniques will still read
at different speeds; however they will undoubtedly beat those
without speed reading experience. The point of speed reading is
to understand and absorb the material using specifically learned
strategies. Skimming a page and then rapidly turning onto the
next page is not really of use if the brain is not absorbing the
information at an equivalent speed. The best and most efficient
way to learn to speed read is to enrol in speed reading classes,
where speed reading skills will be explained clearly.

The advantage of speed reading courses is that students will be
shown several different strategies for speed reading allowing
them to choose the ones they find easiest to understand the
material they are reading. Students should try to learn all the
strategies presented during speed reading courses as, once these
are mastered, they will see a dramatic improvement in their
reading rate, after which they can hone and choose their
preferred style. Students will see the benefits of speed reading
as soon as the techniques are applied to their main field of
study. The time taken for reading assignments and research for
written assignments will be greatly reduced. (Allowing more time
for sports and other lessons of life also learnt through college
living). Equally, once in the world of business and industry,
speed reading will reduce the length of time needed for reports,
research papers and newspapers.

Speed Reading Strategies Encourage Comprehension

Speed reading does not take the lessons applied when learning
to read at primary school and speed them up - this would not
work and would not increase the speed of absorption of the
information. Speed reading is about learning whole new
strategies of reading, ensuring that material content is not
missed or misunderstood. Primary school teaches reading in a
linear form, building each word through the letters which form
the syllables, the syllables forming the words and the words
forming the sentences. Speed reading courses teach students to
read looking for different patterns and not to read each word
individually.

A traditional education builds habits in reading which a good
speed reading course will push aside, replacing with new
techniques. A comprehensive course will also advise students how
to become more efficient readers; hopefully this will also
encourage the desire for self improvement as well as the desire
to read. Students often work with distractions (usually noise)
around them; lecturers in speed reading will normally discourage
this as research shows that by reducing the distractions the
level of comprehension are increased. Lecturers in speed reading
will usually take the time to teach students the importance of
preparing the environment they work in before they read a single
work - remember speed reading is all about increasing the speed
of comprehension not just the speed of reading!

The satisfaction of reading faster and with better
comprehension skills cannot be underestimated; the techniques of
speed reading increase the enjoyment of reading. Speed reading
is a skill to be encouraged in each and every generation of new
readers.

About The Author: Jon Kelly is a published author who writes
articles on a variety of diverse subjects. This includes ideas
about speed reading and studying techniques. If you would like
to get more ideas about speed reading. Please visit
http://www.speedreadingspecialist.com

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