The ability to read a book in one day or even an hour is a great help in studying and working, but for many people it seems fantastic. We look with some envy at the geniuses from films that simply leaf through books and get all the necessary knowledge, but it turns out that everyone can do it.
Statistics
The average reading speed of a Russian-speaking person is 150-200 words per minute. The point is in the features of our language, for example, in English-speaking people, the average speed is 300 words per minute. This is also quite small, since reading a book quickly does not work: it will take at least six to eight hours. So why do some people read faster and others slower and what is the secret of speed reading?
Physiology
If you start to understand from the very beginning, it will become clear that the point is in the structure of our visual organs. In any school of speed reading, this aspect is first explained to the student, since the human eye is the main organ that helps us get knowledge from books. Now we will analyze the main errors, a simple disposal of which will already allow to increase the read speed by two to three times.
Repetitions
Often people come back to re-read an already read line or even the whole paragraph. This can happen because the meaning was not completely understood, but usually the reader is distracted by some thoughts, the consciousness is no longer up to the information in the book, since it is occupied by another. As a result, a person suddenly realizes that he has completely lost the thread of the story. Sometimes consciousness itself returns a person to the place in which concentration was lost. Up to a third of the time we spend on conscious and unconscious returns.
Reading out loud
Yes, yes, many still, as in childhood, pronounce what they read. And if you speak to yourself, it’s the same. This not only absorbs up to twenty percent of the speed, but also interferes with memorization, since the brain has to be distracted by an additional task. Therefore, if it is important for you not only how to read the book quickly, but also how to remember it, get rid of this error.
Jerking
If the first two errors are present in many, but not all, then almost everyone has this lack of reading, unless, of course, he studied at the speed reading school. During the reading process, the eyes do not move smoothly along the line, but in jerks, as a result of each of which the gaze stops for a period of a quarter to half a second. Removing this error instantly increases the reading speed by one and a half times.
However, this flaw is more clearly revealed not on the text, but on a simple horizontal line. Draw a fairly clear and thick horizontal line on a piece of paper, then cover the left eye and, gently holding the left eyelid with your fingertip, look with your right eye along the line as if it were a regular line of text. Now, understanding the nature of jerks, try to glance smoothly, avoiding stops.
Directly when working with text, you can first use a stylus or pencil, watching its tip as a focal point. In this case, it is important not to slow down the movement of the pencil, but with your eyes to clearly follow the pointer.
Peripheral vision
Also, one of the important things that helps to increase the speed of reading is the coverage of several words. Remember how you first spelled, then syllables, and only then learned to see the whole word right away. The next step is to cover at once several words, a whole line and even several lines. This aspect is also important because without it diagonal reading is almost impossible.
Exercises
It doesn’t matter if your peripheral vision is not developed. It can be trained directly during reading: just try to keep focus in the center of the line, and grab extreme words with lateral vision. This option is suitable for those who do not want to spend time on third-party training. However, the use of specialized exercises on Schulte tables will be more effective . There are many interactive applications on this system on the Internet, including free ones.
So what is the principle of the table? It has three blocks of numbers. The two extreme ones are presented in the form of columns of numbers, and the central one - in the form of several horizontal lines written in a smaller font. The subject's task will be to find identical blocks in the extreme columns, while maintaining focus on the central group of numbers. Thus, it is only necessary to look for duplicate numbers with the help of lateral vision. If at first this exercise is difficult, you can simply zoom out or move the monitor screen, and after a while, return to its previous position.
Diagonal reading
A lot of legends go around the diagonal reading method, since, according to many, it is possible to read a book quickly only in this magical way. In fact, it is not a "panacea", or rather, not suitable for all texts. For example, reading literature using this method does not make sense, since it will be easier to just read the summary - there will not be much difference.
Diagonal reading is perfect for part-time students and students with a tight curriculum and lack of time to read. Textbooks and technical literature, scientific papers and articles - this is the main field of activity for this method, on it it gives good results. Preparations for exams will be much faster and better, because with the right approach, all information is remembered an order of magnitude better than with ordinary reading and even memorization.
Simple rules
The main task of the reader in diagonal reading is to capture the gaze of the entire page. This will help exercises on the Schulte tables. Unlike classical reading, here a person needs to completely disengage from the process of eye movement and cover the entire page with his eyes, as if to “photograph” it. The most difficult moment will be learning to see the whole text without moving your eyes in the horizontal or vertical direction, that is, the gaze should remain motionless.
After the basic skill is mastered, it is necessary to proceed to the improvement of the ability to structure the information received. It is this aspect that is responsible for the good assimilation of the material, since the reader receives a summary. From the mass of the text, key phrases and words that require attention and carry a semantic load should be distinguished. In almost any material, there is a lot of “water” that the author uses to smoothly link the main sentences, and it is precisely “excluded” from the text during diagonal reading.
How to read diagonally and quickly? You should look from the upper left to the lower right (hence the name), you need to stop focus only on key phrases. It is not worth re-reading any segments with the classical method, as this prevents the brain from concentrating on the main idea of the material, and makes it switch to particular ones.
Concentration
Another rule, important not only for diagonal reading, but also for speed reading in general, is concentration. There can be no question of any understanding and quick mastering of the material, if against the background you are thinking about some irrelevant things, whether it is a trip to the sea or the upcoming exam. Why learn how to quickly read a book if the knowledge gained is not stored in memory? Eliminate all distracting factors and immediately feel the result.