Speed Reading - Fact or Fiction??

[canvasishome]

Ever since I was a teenager, I've been fascinated with the thought of being able to speed read. To be able to read dozens of books over the course of a summer would be a marvelous way to enjoy a vacation.

I've heard numerous stories of people like JFK, Nixon, and others with this ablility. I've read and heard many evaluations of programs such as Evelyn Wood, Speer Reader-X, ReaderRocket, etc. saying that the average reader of say 200-300 words-per-minute can boost their reading speed to 500+ wpm with practice.

It seems the way we are taught to read (by vocalizing and sounding out words) is the very thing that holds us back from reading fast. That subvocalization voice we hear in our head as we read hold us to about 200-300 wpm, because that is the rate at which the average person speaks. The human brain can take in information at much higher rates, so if we can break that subvocalization habit and take in several words (or even several lines of text at a time) we can speed read at a high clip.

My basic questions are:
do you speed read?
how did you learn (natural or a program)?
do you think it's something that can be taught to anyone?
has it improved your life?

I'm interested in any stories you may have. Or, maybe you think it's just all a lot of hooey. Some say that "quick reading" is just skimming, and your comprehension suffers.

Thanks!

-dk-

[perel]

Yes I speed read and have been doiing it from I was small, can you learn it, I suppose so, but i have a natural inquisitiveness and looooove to read so much that the world does not exist when I am reading.
And yes It has a purpose I can read through Wet Canvas forums quicker than most.
and I think gather up more information than people that does not.

Retha

[FriendCarol]

Yes 'anyone' (that is, any literate person with normal cognitive abilities) can learn to speed-read, but I don't recommend it: I was a very fast reader from a young age. In college, I started to take a free (self-taught with tapes) speed-reading course. Within a few lessons, I was literally 'reading' as fast as I could move my finger from side to side down the page (not each line -- they teach you to make your eyes follow your finger as it waves down the page in about 3 cycles).

I would not have believed I was comprehending anything I'd read, except that when I took each comprehension test following each passage in the course, I was still correctly answering every question! Yet I would not have been able to tell you what I'd just read in any detail at all. Might have been barely able to articulate the subject of the passage.

Suddenly I realized: This means the information in the text is going straight into my mind, without any mediation or evaluation by that part of me that normally thinks about things -- and evaluates information against what I already believe... Hmmmm. No, I actually didn't want that! I stopped the course and returned to my usual (merely very fast) reading, complete with my usual subliminal analysis, instead.

[sisi]

I have been a speed reader for as long as I can remember. Actually I think my only real accomplishment so far is that I taught myself to read in kindergarten. I have inhaled books ever since I can remember. Actually I stayed up until 3:30 am the other night finishing one of my books. Oh was I trash the next day ! I suppose people can learn to read faster if they really wanted to, just like any other talent. But that's a big problem nowadays. Most kids can't even speak proper english because they don't read and spend too much time using computer/texting jargon.

[canvasishome]

Thanks for the interesting responses. I just find it amazing how someone can scan a whole page and sort of "take it all in" as an image. Without seeing or scanning the individual words, I don't understand how any comprehesion takes place. How does the person turn off the subvocalizing issue with the brain?

It's all very interesting to me. I'll have to research further.

-dk-

[Nehalenia]

Originally Posted by canvasishome

My basic questions are:
do you speed read?

Yes

how did you learn (natural or a program)?

natural

do you think it's something that can be taught to anyone?

No, dyslexia is a real and serious reading problem

has it improved your life?

Absolutely not!

Although I can crash through a book at speeds most people don't believe, it hasn't done me much good. Reading by it's very nature requires reflection and reflection needs time. The brain needs time to correlate the new information with what is already learned. Otherwise it's perfectly meaningless.

Some say that "quick reading" is just skimming, and your comprehension suffers.

My point excactly!

Margreet

[Alex22]

I don't speed read.I respect people that does it,but I think there's a lot from books that could be missed.For example,just reading a story,speeed reading can catch every word,but to imagine characters,situations in the story,every little detail could be missing.And I would hate to read just like that.It wouldn't make any sense to me.Besides Nehalenia just said it,reading needs reflection,thinking,and speed reading doesn't help it at all.Just my humble opinion.

[W.J.Lexie]

What one is reading I think would make all the difference , wouldn't it? Makes sense with manual text [ that is if the comprehension is truly utilized ] but what of contracts , policies ,loans , and the like when signature and laws are involved , would one be so confident ?
What of works of poetry ?[very long poetry] and works of fiction ? These use visualization much .
And oral storytelling ? All the fun would be lost !
And okay ... so how much time it takes to read .....
The complete works of Shakespeare ?
Dick and Jane ?
Cake recipe ?
Don Juan ?
complete medical manual of the workings of the human body ?
respectively .
Also there is that memory phenomenon where a person memorizes a phone book .

[musket]

I could see it being useful for technical manuals etc, if indeed the claims about comprehension are true.

Other than that, though I'm a naturally fast reader, to me books are to be savored and enjoyed. What, you're gonna swig that bottle of Margaux just to get it over with? Is a great meal better if you rush through it? How about great sex?

This country is obsessed with efficiency.

[gedeonbacsi]

Fiction. For sure.

[Lettersalad]

musket: right to the point.
Speed up reading? WHY?
Did you ever read the german book "Momo" by Michael Ende?
If you try to save time, as everyone is so eager to do today, you´ll gain nothing. Days come by 24 h, 60 min/h, 60 sec/min. They start at 0:00 and stop at 12:59 pm. By speeding up you´ll only shorten your days, not make them longer.

Salad

[mithila]

I think that if you read a lot of books, you naturally read faster than if you didn't have the reading habit at all. That said, I'd also have to accept that there's a sort of optimal speed that depends on the kind of book you're reading, or even the reasons why you're reading it. Going back to the days of my adolescence, I remember reading through some pulp romances that were popular in those days -- Mills and Boon they were called -- and taking maybe just a half hour to tear through one of them. It went this way: girl meets boy (or man twenty-three years older, depending on the author), first touch (accidental), first kiss, rift, realisation, reunion (very deliberate and steamy). The touching and kissing slowed down my reading a bit, I remember. For my literature course those days, Jane Austen was a prescribed writer, and I found her books to be almost as formulaic as the Mills and Boons. However, I jsut couldn't race through them in the same way.

So yes, it's like stillbill pointed out -- there're all kinds of things that a person reads; besides, as musket says, there are things in life you want to enjoy, and real pleasure doesn't come in an instant. (that last was the byline of a very eyecatching ad campaign for filter-coffee -- the kind that takes some time to slowly drip down. The ad only showed a couple making love, and then this line came on. There was great outrage and it was withdrawn. Pity.)

[Enchanted]

I read both fact and fiction!

The former at a slower speed than the latter, depending on whether or not I want to recall the facts. The fiction is forgotten the moment I pick up the next book of fiction!

PS I am a vociferous reader who never watches TV.

[canvasishome]

Yes, I certainly understand those with dyslexia or other issues would not be able to speed read. When I say "anyone can learn to speed read", I am meaning anyone who is an average reader at, say, 200-300 wpm.

I went to the library and checked out a Evelyn Wood "Reading Dynamics" program. It is a video tape series filmed in an actual seminar with approx. 40 participants.

The leader explains/shows the impediments most people encounter when they read. As our eyes scan a line of text, most people (without realizing it) don't smoothly move across the line. Our eyes stagger and may even re-read and stop at words along the way.

The program goes on to show how the hand can help guide the eyes to smooth those scans to keep from this course movement. Other items are covered, such as comprehension and memory.

It did also explain that people have to adjust their speed for different kinds of material. As was said here, poetry is material that cannot be read too fast, or skimmed, but nonfiction is prime material for speed reading. A book on mathematics is not good speed reading, but some fiction is.

Very interesting comments from everyone. Thanks again.

-dk-

[Lettersalad]

Originally Posted by canvasishome

...

The leader explains/shows the impediments most people encounter when they read. As our eyes scan a line of text, most people (without realizing it) don't smoothly move across the line. Our eyes stagger and may even re-read and stop at words along the way.

The program goes on to show how the hand can help guide the eyes to smooth those scans to keep from this course movement. Other items are covered, such as comprehension and memory.#
...
-dk-

That´s no impediment but the natural way the eye recognizes words.

Salad