I fear there will be times where I have much less time for reading. So Im trying to figure out how to read faster, but still able to comprehend and retain what I've read. Could you give me advice?
I fear there will be times where I have much less time for reading. So Im trying to figure out how to read faster, but still able to comprehend and retain what I've read. Could you give me advice?
My advice is to read more slowly. reading fast makes one miss some things, and it doesn't allow one the time to savor the writing.
I for one if i read fast i do not get the idea of the text i am reading
I agree with the above. There are programmes out there that claim to enhance your reading speed - but all they do is take your money. Some people read faster than others, it comes down to how your eye-to-brain connection works. My eyes are terrible - I am a very slow reader.
This whole concept of not having the time is also (for most people) nonsense. Unless you are living a life that forces you to work from dawn to dusk, you probably fall into the category of people who do not realize just how much time there is. Calculate the amount of time procrastinating on the Internet (hmmm), watching TV, or whatever else. There is so much time in the day for a book! And really, who needs sleep when you have books
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
I waste so much of my life on the internet. I think, too, one problem is after a long day at work, even if there is time, for me anyway I'm tired and can't concentrate on fiction that is too complicated.Originally Posted by Charles Darnay
I agree with the above. There are programmes out there that claim to enhance your reading speed - but all they do is take your money. Some people read faster than others, it comes down to how your eye-to-brain connection works. My eyes are terrible - I am a very slow reader.
This whole concept of not having the time is also (for most people) nonsense. Unless you are living a life that forces you to work from dawn to dusk, you probably fall into the category of people who do not realize just how much time there is. Calculate the amount of time procrastinating on the Internet (hmmm), watching TV, or whatever else. There is so much time in the day for a book! And really, who needs sleep when you have books
Last edited by Drkshadow03; 01-29-2012 at 02:31 PM.
"You understand well enough what slavery is, but freedom you have never experienced, so you do not know if it tastes sweet or bitter. If you ever did come to experience it, you would advise us to fight for it not with spears only, but with axes too." - Herodotus
https://consolationofreading.wordpress.com/ - my book blog!
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You can teach yourself to read faster, but this takes time. What most people do is fix upon each word on a page in sequence, which really slows the reading time down. If you do not do this but skim across the page taking in each word with a flow, you will be able to read faster with the same comprehension - but it takes practice. Start with a finger under the sentences or a ruler or card to highlight the line.
It might be that we just accept what has come to be our "natural" reading speed because we've become settled with it. My wife's natural reading speed is very fast. In fact she doesn't track a line across, but runs her eye down the page, taking in each line as a whole. She has always done this, but it turns out that it is a recognised reading technique that can be taught. Tony Buzan, who teaches study skills such as memory techniques and mindmapping, also teaches speed reading. Have a go at not focusing on eachword, but taking in the words in a flow. That in itself will double your reading speed.
That is fair I suppose. Reading does require a certain amount of effort that a long day of work just drains out of you.
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
I wouldn't want to read any faster. I only bother reading books that should be savoured, pondered over, not guzzled down but instead sipped sentence by sentence. Its not just words but ideas and images and rhythms that you take in from the page. Speed-reading would be the equivalent of sprinting through an art gallery.
One of the bloggers I follow reads something like 150 - 300 books a year and claims to have good comprehension of them.
"You understand well enough what slavery is, but freedom you have never experienced, so you do not know if it tastes sweet or bitter. If you ever did come to experience it, you would advise us to fight for it not with spears only, but with axes too." - Herodotus
https://consolationofreading.wordpress.com/ - my book blog!
Feed the Hungry!
That's a great idea in some parts of some art galleries.
i tried to improve my reading speed and it worked to a certain threshold, but i tend to get slow again when i get really caught in the book. my brother is a really fast reader.
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Last edited by tanchen; 02-06-2012 at 05:31 AM.
You may want to have a closer look at some old threads, then:
How fast do you people read, and how did you get that way?
Speed reading
And a link to a speed reading test, which I have tried, but am in no way associated with.
/Claes
Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."
I bought a speed reading book of Tony Buzan's writing. In it, are techniques to increase your average reading speed. I gave those techniques a few tries; they worked to a certain stretch, but my speed soon reverted back to normal. So I discarded them.
I now think that speed-reading only works when you have good background knowledge of the subject of the reading material, familiarity of the author's idiosyncrasy, and a large vocabulary pool.
This explains why we tend to read faster upon the second reading of a particular material.
Also, it tells us why the more we know of a subject, the faster we digest materials about the subject.
Speed reading, to me after some long and multiple pondering, almost always does not work with heavily written discourses.
Last edited by Raven Falcon.; 02-05-2012 at 04:33 PM.
Why would it work with heavily written discourses? Slower readers often have to go back over them too.
I now think that speed-reading only works when you have good background knowledge of the subject of the reading material, familiarity of the author's idiosyncrasy, and a large vocabulary pool.
This suggests that over a period of time your reading speed and comprehension will go up if you persist, as your vocab, and familiarity will increase with a number of years practice.
I gave those techniques a few tries
You didn't do it for long enough. It takes time - I mean years.
Speed reading is great for purely informational reading like that of text books, but it sort of defeats the purpose when it comes to literature. If it's because you don't have much time anymore, you'll have to weigh these two options and decide which you would rather go with: read fewer works slower and experience them more fully, or read more faster, and experience them less.
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