Speed reading is an acquired skill. It’s not something that can be done by just anyone and it’s also not something that can be done anywhere. You won’t often see a person holding a book in their hand and speed reading as they are sitting on a park bench or riding on a bus. It requires not only a place of concentration but also a manner of positioning yourself and the book for the best possible results.
In order for the eye to successfully scan the page at the rate that is required for speed reading, the reading material needs to be a certain distance from the eye and it also needs to be placed in a specific position. Ideally the book will be about fifteen inches from your face and it should be placed at a slight slant. The reason for this is that it’s easier for the eyes to read material when it’s not placed completely flat on a desk. Therefore you can either place another book behind it or purchase a device that is designed to hold the book for you. Either way, you’ll then have the book sitting the way you need it to be for optimum reading.
Your body should also be in a specific position. Often we lay in bed as we read, and although this bodes well in the area of rest, it’s not productive to speed reading. The best position for your body during speed reading is to be sitting upright.
Many people find it best to sit at a desk while they are speed reading. Their back is straight and the book is placed in the right position. Having a dim lamp nearby is also ideal.
It goes without saying that the room you are in should be quiet. A lot of noise, such as other people talking, a television or a radio can interfere with your concentration. Your mind needs to be centered and focused on the material that you are reading and being in a room free of distraction works towards that goal.
One of the best places to develop your speed reading skills is the library. The reasons are many and obvious. The library has many books to choose from. The library affords a very quiet environment. Your concentration would be at a peak there without the outside influence of noise that can occur in a home or office. Another perk associated with the library is that they generally are furnished with reading cubicles or booths. Many of these offer desks that are designed to hold books. They are crafted with a slight slant which is perfect for the speed reader.
By taking a trip to the library once a day or even several times a week, it will give you the chance to work on your reading skills in an environment specifically designed for the comfort of the reader. As you improve your reading skills, you’ll be surrounded by literary choices which will guarantee that you’ll never get bored of the material.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Speed Reading Simplified!
Readers are leaders and in this article you will learn several simple to implement Speed Reading Secrets that will assist you in efficiently absorbing all that information out there.
First Speed Reading Secret!
Before we begin, here's a concept that you MUST understand about speed reading: shaving just a fraction-of-a-second off every page that your read will create a HUGE difference in your reading rate.
Even if you were able to shave just 1 second off the time it takes you to read a page that would still be FIVE minutes off a normal 300-page book!
So, it's not always necessary to aim for the spectacular - just a little growth here and there will make a world of difference.
Even when it comes to something as basic as paging and pacing techniques...
When it comes to speed reading, learning to use your hands correctly and efficiently will require that you train yourself to accomplish the following 3 tasks:
1. Use your hands to guide and pace your eye movements through the text
2. Use your hands to force your eye to constantly scan through new information
3. Use your hands to prevent your eyes from repeatedly reading the same words
The Speed Reading Hand Motion:
Although it may seem uncomfortable at first, the ideal use of the hands of a right-handed person would be to use your left hand to pace your reading and your right hand to turn the pages.
To begin reading, place your hand at the start of a line. Move your hand towards the right hand margin. Make sure to focus your eyes upon the text that your hand is pointing towards.
When you reach the end of the current line, move your hand to the start of the next line. Repeat this method to the end of the page. To make paging faster, make sure that your right hand is always positioned at the top right hand corner of the book.
Go ahead and practice this movement. You don't need to worry about reading any of the text, just practice the hand motion and paging techniques for now. Make sure that you are able to rapidly move through the pages of your book.
Believe it or not, you can reach the place where your reading speed explodes to the point that your paging and pacing hands will have a hard time just trying to keep up!
In the next part of this article, I will show you how you can begin improving your comprehension of text so that when you begin reading at the higher speed you will actually have a BETTER understanding of the text that you did at your lower reading speeds!
Your Second Speed Reading Secret!
Here's something that you don't hear everyday...
You CAN comprehend details better at higher speeds!
This is not a prank. In fact, if you will spend the next few moments reading through this email I'll teach you some valuable insights into how you can begin improving your comprehension by leaps and bounds within just minutes.
The key to instantly increasing your comprehension of any book and any topic is to get familiar with the following universal publication tips. (Yes, these tips apply to almost every publication and can be applied immediately)
1. The first and last chapters of a book introduce and summarize its contents.
2. The first and last paragraph in a chapter introduce and summarize the contents of that particular chapter
3. Some books (such as text books and even most translations of the Bible) contain topic and summary sentences within their structure with introduce and summarize its contents
4. The VERBS and NOUNS of a sentence offer the *most important* information.
5. Be aware and 'sensitize' yourself (through practice) to the use of negative words. Negative words (such as 'not', 'no', 'can't'...etc) can reverse the meanings of large groups of words - so keep a lookout for them.
6. By the same token, you also need to keep an eye out for the conditional tense. Conditional tense words (such as 'could', 'if', 'should'...etc) can also affect or change the meanings of a large body of words.
If you've been following with me then you'll have already learned some valuable reading techniques that you can use to trim your reading time down AND improve your comprehension.
I'm going to give you just a few more tips on how you can use a book's format to further increase your comprehension.
1. Don't skip over reading the front and rear jackets of a book. These can really give anyone valuable insights into why the book was written and thus give you some insight into what you can expect.
2. By the same token, always check out the book's forward and introduction. Oftentimes these overlooked segments can remove a lot of the confusion that arises when you have no idea about the authors intended direction BEFORE you begin reading
3. ALWAYS read the table of contents. It's the author's outline and will 'prime your brain' to his writing style and thus improve your understanding of his book's structure.
4. Don't just let the words ramble on in your mind. Make an effort to *actively read" the book. This means that you should continuously be asking yourself questions about what you've just read. Attempt to summarize the information you've just read at frequent intervals. By doing this you will soon discover your current level of comprehension and recall.
5. Devour charts and diagrams. If your book contains these features make sure that you stop and take time to actually understand the drawings and diagrams. Spending a few extra moments contemplating these features will ultimately increase your overall reading speed because you will have a clear visual representation of the information you've just read.
6. Make use of the glossary and index usually found at the end of most books.
Your Fourth Speed Reading Secret!
Now I'm going to show you an *exciting* part of any speed reading program.
It's called skimming. Although it doesn't actually involve 'reading' in the traditional sense of the word, it DOES allow you to experience some of the thrill of rapidly devouring vast amounts of information at blistering speeds.
If you are able to, it is always best to 'skim' any book before you read it. (Whether you will be reading it at high speed or normal speed)
When you are skimming, what you are really looking for is the format of the book you will be reading.
It helps to give you visual clues to what you can expect and it allows you to compensate for some of those challenges.
At this point, let me take a moment to define what my definition is of skimming.
The process of skimming is nothing but the exercise of going through the ENTIRE book you plan to read (or speed read) at a rate of about TWO to THREE SECOND PER PAGE - MAXIMUM!
When you skim, here are some of the details that you are looking for...
Font and type sizes used
The presence or absence of chapters
The presence or absence of columns
The presence or absence of headings/sub-headings
Parts of the book
Diagrams and pictures
Any unusual or helpful features
Armed with the information that you acquire from skimming, you will be amazed at how DRAMATICALLY it influences your reading speed - even without using some of the other speed reading technology out there.
Your Fifth Speed Reading Secret!
How would you like to know the secret techniques to master different types of reading?
Well, that's EXACTLY what I'm here to show you right now!
Are you just reading for pleasure? Do you need to study? Are you reading to develop a new skill?
Here is a quick reference guide to how YOU can get the most out of your reading experience by using a few simple guidelines.
PLEASURE READING
Do not skim or review the materials. Simply read at a comfortable rate. :-)
HOBBY AND SPECIAL INTEREST
Perform a short skim, and review. Spend the majority of the time reading.
STUDYING
Spend about half the time reading and half the time skimming and reviewing materials Do NOT over-read. Read once though a chapter at your best comprehension speed, (highlight areas of confusion by placing a light pencil mark next to them - but do NOT stop at this point) then skim and review the materials. Lastly, return to the areas that require a more in depth analysis and work through them.
MAXIMUM POTENTIAL READING
Spend 70% of your time reviewing materials, and 10% skimming. Only read 20% of the time. Use the reading skills that you've learnt during this email course to locate key information. Place your emphasis on taking notes and studying.
Your Final Speed Reading Secret!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You've made it through the Speed Reading Simplified Article.
Now, I'm just going to recap on what we have already covered, and the best way to benefit from what you've learned!
Thus far, I've shown you:
* How to using your hands to correctly and efficiently shave a second or more off each page that you read.
* How to use your hands to guide and pace your eye movements through the text
* How to use your hands to force your eye to constantly scan through new information
* How to use your hands to prevent your eyes from repeatedly reading the same words
* That you CAN comprehend details better at higher speeds
* Keys to how you can begin improving your comprehension by leaps and bounds within just minutes.
* The secrets to instantly increasing your comprehension by making effective use of a book's, first and last chapters, its topic and summary sentences, its negative words and its conditional tense.
* How you can use a books format to further increase your comprehension
* How to experience some of the thrill of rapidly devouring vast amounts of information at blistering speeds by using skimming..
* How to use skimming to receive visual clues to what you can expect when speed reading
* What my definition of skimming is.
* What the details are that you must look for when you are skimming
* The secret techniques to master different types of reading.
* How to make the most of PLEASURE READING, HOBBY & SPECIAL INTEREST READING, STUDYING and MAXIMUM POTENTIAL READING
First Speed Reading Secret!
Before we begin, here's a concept that you MUST understand about speed reading: shaving just a fraction-of-a-second off every page that your read will create a HUGE difference in your reading rate.
Even if you were able to shave just 1 second off the time it takes you to read a page that would still be FIVE minutes off a normal 300-page book!
So, it's not always necessary to aim for the spectacular - just a little growth here and there will make a world of difference.
Even when it comes to something as basic as paging and pacing techniques...
When it comes to speed reading, learning to use your hands correctly and efficiently will require that you train yourself to accomplish the following 3 tasks:
1. Use your hands to guide and pace your eye movements through the text
2. Use your hands to force your eye to constantly scan through new information
3. Use your hands to prevent your eyes from repeatedly reading the same words
The Speed Reading Hand Motion:
Although it may seem uncomfortable at first, the ideal use of the hands of a right-handed person would be to use your left hand to pace your reading and your right hand to turn the pages.
To begin reading, place your hand at the start of a line. Move your hand towards the right hand margin. Make sure to focus your eyes upon the text that your hand is pointing towards.
When you reach the end of the current line, move your hand to the start of the next line. Repeat this method to the end of the page. To make paging faster, make sure that your right hand is always positioned at the top right hand corner of the book.
Go ahead and practice this movement. You don't need to worry about reading any of the text, just practice the hand motion and paging techniques for now. Make sure that you are able to rapidly move through the pages of your book.
Believe it or not, you can reach the place where your reading speed explodes to the point that your paging and pacing hands will have a hard time just trying to keep up!
In the next part of this article, I will show you how you can begin improving your comprehension of text so that when you begin reading at the higher speed you will actually have a BETTER understanding of the text that you did at your lower reading speeds!
Your Second Speed Reading Secret!
Here's something that you don't hear everyday...
You CAN comprehend details better at higher speeds!
This is not a prank. In fact, if you will spend the next few moments reading through this email I'll teach you some valuable insights into how you can begin improving your comprehension by leaps and bounds within just minutes.
The key to instantly increasing your comprehension of any book and any topic is to get familiar with the following universal publication tips. (Yes, these tips apply to almost every publication and can be applied immediately)
1. The first and last chapters of a book introduce and summarize its contents.
2. The first and last paragraph in a chapter introduce and summarize the contents of that particular chapter
3. Some books (such as text books and even most translations of the Bible) contain topic and summary sentences within their structure with introduce and summarize its contents
4. The VERBS and NOUNS of a sentence offer the *most important* information.
5. Be aware and 'sensitize' yourself (through practice) to the use of negative words. Negative words (such as 'not', 'no', 'can't'...etc) can reverse the meanings of large groups of words - so keep a lookout for them.
6. By the same token, you also need to keep an eye out for the conditional tense. Conditional tense words (such as 'could', 'if', 'should'...etc) can also affect or change the meanings of a large body of words.
If you've been following with me then you'll have already learned some valuable reading techniques that you can use to trim your reading time down AND improve your comprehension.
I'm going to give you just a few more tips on how you can use a book's format to further increase your comprehension.
1. Don't skip over reading the front and rear jackets of a book. These can really give anyone valuable insights into why the book was written and thus give you some insight into what you can expect.
2. By the same token, always check out the book's forward and introduction. Oftentimes these overlooked segments can remove a lot of the confusion that arises when you have no idea about the authors intended direction BEFORE you begin reading
3. ALWAYS read the table of contents. It's the author's outline and will 'prime your brain' to his writing style and thus improve your understanding of his book's structure.
4. Don't just let the words ramble on in your mind. Make an effort to *actively read" the book. This means that you should continuously be asking yourself questions about what you've just read. Attempt to summarize the information you've just read at frequent intervals. By doing this you will soon discover your current level of comprehension and recall.
5. Devour charts and diagrams. If your book contains these features make sure that you stop and take time to actually understand the drawings and diagrams. Spending a few extra moments contemplating these features will ultimately increase your overall reading speed because you will have a clear visual representation of the information you've just read.
6. Make use of the glossary and index usually found at the end of most books.
Your Fourth Speed Reading Secret!
Now I'm going to show you an *exciting* part of any speed reading program.
It's called skimming. Although it doesn't actually involve 'reading' in the traditional sense of the word, it DOES allow you to experience some of the thrill of rapidly devouring vast amounts of information at blistering speeds.
If you are able to, it is always best to 'skim' any book before you read it. (Whether you will be reading it at high speed or normal speed)
When you are skimming, what you are really looking for is the format of the book you will be reading.
It helps to give you visual clues to what you can expect and it allows you to compensate for some of those challenges.
At this point, let me take a moment to define what my definition is of skimming.
The process of skimming is nothing but the exercise of going through the ENTIRE book you plan to read (or speed read) at a rate of about TWO to THREE SECOND PER PAGE - MAXIMUM!
When you skim, here are some of the details that you are looking for...
Font and type sizes used
The presence or absence of chapters
The presence or absence of columns
The presence or absence of headings/sub-headings
Parts of the book
Diagrams and pictures
Any unusual or helpful features
Armed with the information that you acquire from skimming, you will be amazed at how DRAMATICALLY it influences your reading speed - even without using some of the other speed reading technology out there.
Your Fifth Speed Reading Secret!
How would you like to know the secret techniques to master different types of reading?
Well, that's EXACTLY what I'm here to show you right now!
Are you just reading for pleasure? Do you need to study? Are you reading to develop a new skill?
Here is a quick reference guide to how YOU can get the most out of your reading experience by using a few simple guidelines.
PLEASURE READING
Do not skim or review the materials. Simply read at a comfortable rate. :-)
HOBBY AND SPECIAL INTEREST
Perform a short skim, and review. Spend the majority of the time reading.
STUDYING
Spend about half the time reading and half the time skimming and reviewing materials Do NOT over-read. Read once though a chapter at your best comprehension speed, (highlight areas of confusion by placing a light pencil mark next to them - but do NOT stop at this point) then skim and review the materials. Lastly, return to the areas that require a more in depth analysis and work through them.
MAXIMUM POTENTIAL READING
Spend 70% of your time reviewing materials, and 10% skimming. Only read 20% of the time. Use the reading skills that you've learnt during this email course to locate key information. Place your emphasis on taking notes and studying.
Your Final Speed Reading Secret!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You've made it through the Speed Reading Simplified Article.
Now, I'm just going to recap on what we have already covered, and the best way to benefit from what you've learned!
Thus far, I've shown you:
* How to using your hands to correctly and efficiently shave a second or more off each page that you read.
* How to use your hands to guide and pace your eye movements through the text
* How to use your hands to force your eye to constantly scan through new information
* How to use your hands to prevent your eyes from repeatedly reading the same words
* That you CAN comprehend details better at higher speeds
* Keys to how you can begin improving your comprehension by leaps and bounds within just minutes.
* The secrets to instantly increasing your comprehension by making effective use of a book's, first and last chapters, its topic and summary sentences, its negative words and its conditional tense.
* How you can use a books format to further increase your comprehension
* How to experience some of the thrill of rapidly devouring vast amounts of information at blistering speeds by using skimming..
* How to use skimming to receive visual clues to what you can expect when speed reading
* What my definition of skimming is.
* What the details are that you must look for when you are skimming
* The secret techniques to master different types of reading.
* How to make the most of PLEASURE READING, HOBBY & SPECIAL INTEREST READING, STUDYING and MAXIMUM POTENTIAL READING
Saturday, December 23, 2017
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.
Friday, December 22, 2017
Speed Reading Basics
Speed reading is vital in today’s business and academic world, with the vast information that the internet offers, and the huge amounts of reading tasks an average manager or student faces, there is really no choice but to try and increase the intake of information.
In the last forty years there has a been an explosion of information, we are living the information revolution and that requires a lot of young professionals a great deal of effort in digesting this information and making good use of it.
Most of the people who attend speed reading courses and classes have some kind of problem, or believe they have some kind of problem, with their reading, here are a few of these potential problems.
Lack of concentration or partial/impaired concentration is an obvious problem for speed reading, the effects of the environment on ones reading rhythm and the general tendency of some people to be able of acceptable reading rate only in ideal situations. This problem is one of the basic speed reading problems and is usually dealt with in most courses.
Poor eye movement may cause some readers to shift their eyes to other directions and than go back to the book or paper to relocated the last point read. This problem also correlates with poor mechanical skills, which can be a real problem in speed reading.
Short attention span is a clear problem, almost everyone knows this problem, you start strong and begin to slow down as you read on. This kind of problem typically creates a situation of going back to re-read some lines over and over again, or a need to read the same sentence a couple of times for lack of understanding or loosing the line of thought altogether.
Reading by heart, when a person reads to himself (muttering the words or even reading out load) is an obvious problem since speed reading is much faster than talking, the reading out load inhibited the ability to read fast and also regulates a slow input of information into the cognitive.
Delayed reaction to information and material – This delay often comes from inattention, reading ahead or distraction. Desire to remember every word – This is loosely related to the tendency to re-read or slow down.
So what can you do to increase your reading skills? Do you really need to try speed reading you should you consider just eliminating some of these problems. The answer is most likely dependent of what you need, no matter what you problem is, you need to address the problem.
To try and read faster, here are a few tips that would get you going. Think of reading as a ‘pick and choose’ activity, where you can choose to read the words and phrases that are critical to comprehension, and skip over the connective tissue.
One major key in speed reading is filtering out all the words that has nothing to do with the subject and naturally, there a lot of them. All the connecting words, basically words that are there to connect one word with the other to make a sentence (TO make A sentence) the “and” “it’s” and “and’s” have got to go, just make yourself blind to them, go over these words and do not dwell on reading or noticing them.
Practicing time reading is also good, set up a timer and see how much you read in one minute, and in five minutes. Try and honestly estimate how much did you get from the text (make sure this is something you read for the first time), and try to beat yourself at this over and over again, until you start to feel that you have moved up one level. Experiment with different texts, and try to find books with text that has some questions about what you just read so you can apprise your understanding. Evaluate your situation every time you do this, reading faster sometimes mean that you will make more mistakes on understanding the subject, you should start making “mental notes” while reading so you will not fail answering the questions.
Train yourself to read more quickly by forced timing. If you are a runner, training for a race, you go out and run every day and you try to improve your time or your distance.
Set a timer and run a reading race every day for two to four weeks. You do not have to spend more than five minutes on this exercise. You may become frustrated, at first, by the fact that you cannot read as fast or remember as much as you would like.
Practice makes perfect, and this is the most basic thing you can do to increase your reading speed, in two weeks you should see some improvement, and you should work on the weaker aspects of your reading skills. This is the start of speed reading, and once you master the basics you will be on your way to becoming a speed reader.
In the last forty years there has a been an explosion of information, we are living the information revolution and that requires a lot of young professionals a great deal of effort in digesting this information and making good use of it.
Most of the people who attend speed reading courses and classes have some kind of problem, or believe they have some kind of problem, with their reading, here are a few of these potential problems.
Lack of concentration or partial/impaired concentration is an obvious problem for speed reading, the effects of the environment on ones reading rhythm and the general tendency of some people to be able of acceptable reading rate only in ideal situations. This problem is one of the basic speed reading problems and is usually dealt with in most courses.
Poor eye movement may cause some readers to shift their eyes to other directions and than go back to the book or paper to relocated the last point read. This problem also correlates with poor mechanical skills, which can be a real problem in speed reading.
Short attention span is a clear problem, almost everyone knows this problem, you start strong and begin to slow down as you read on. This kind of problem typically creates a situation of going back to re-read some lines over and over again, or a need to read the same sentence a couple of times for lack of understanding or loosing the line of thought altogether.
Reading by heart, when a person reads to himself (muttering the words or even reading out load) is an obvious problem since speed reading is much faster than talking, the reading out load inhibited the ability to read fast and also regulates a slow input of information into the cognitive.
Delayed reaction to information and material – This delay often comes from inattention, reading ahead or distraction. Desire to remember every word – This is loosely related to the tendency to re-read or slow down.
So what can you do to increase your reading skills? Do you really need to try speed reading you should you consider just eliminating some of these problems. The answer is most likely dependent of what you need, no matter what you problem is, you need to address the problem.
To try and read faster, here are a few tips that would get you going. Think of reading as a ‘pick and choose’ activity, where you can choose to read the words and phrases that are critical to comprehension, and skip over the connective tissue.
One major key in speed reading is filtering out all the words that has nothing to do with the subject and naturally, there a lot of them. All the connecting words, basically words that are there to connect one word with the other to make a sentence (TO make A sentence) the “and” “it’s” and “and’s” have got to go, just make yourself blind to them, go over these words and do not dwell on reading or noticing them.
Practicing time reading is also good, set up a timer and see how much you read in one minute, and in five minutes. Try and honestly estimate how much did you get from the text (make sure this is something you read for the first time), and try to beat yourself at this over and over again, until you start to feel that you have moved up one level. Experiment with different texts, and try to find books with text that has some questions about what you just read so you can apprise your understanding. Evaluate your situation every time you do this, reading faster sometimes mean that you will make more mistakes on understanding the subject, you should start making “mental notes” while reading so you will not fail answering the questions.
Train yourself to read more quickly by forced timing. If you are a runner, training for a race, you go out and run every day and you try to improve your time or your distance.
Set a timer and run a reading race every day for two to four weeks. You do not have to spend more than five minutes on this exercise. You may become frustrated, at first, by the fact that you cannot read as fast or remember as much as you would like.
Practice makes perfect, and this is the most basic thing you can do to increase your reading speed, in two weeks you should see some improvement, and you should work on the weaker aspects of your reading skills. This is the start of speed reading, and once you master the basics you will be on your way to becoming a speed reader.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Speed Reading - Getting The Main Idea
Getting the main idea in reading is central to effective studying.
You must learn what the author's central idea is, and understand it in your own way.
Every paragraph contains a main idea. Main ideas are perfect for outlining textbooks. Make it a habit to find the main idea in each paragraph you read.
Extracting Important Details
Extracting important details mean that you locate in your reading main and most significant ideas.
There is usually one important detail associated with every main idea. The more important details you can identify, the easier it will be to review for examinations because you have made a link between an idea and information that supports it.
The more links you can make between details and ideas, as well as ideas themselves, the more powerful will be the efforts of your study.
The first things to ask yourself are: “Why you are reading the text? Are you reading with a purpose or just for pleasure? What do you want to know after reading it?”
In other words, identify your purpose.
Once you know this, you can examine the text to see whether it is going to move you towards this goal.
An easy way of doing this is to look at the introduction and the chapter headings. The introduction should let you know whom the book is targeted at, and what it seeks to achieve.
Chapter headings will give you an overall view of the structure of the subject.
After grasping ideas from chapter introductions, ask yourself whether the book meets your needs.
Ask yourself if it assumes too much or too little knowledge.
If the book weren't ideal, would it be better to find a better one?
Take 1-2 minutes to skim through the article to find the core idea. Know what is being expressed. Do you need more details? If not, find another article.
Read lightly and flexibly. Know what you need. Slow down to fulfill your purpose, answering questions that are most important to you.
Since very few words carry the meaning, speed up to pass redundant or useless information.
You must learn what the author's central idea is, and understand it in your own way.
Every paragraph contains a main idea. Main ideas are perfect for outlining textbooks. Make it a habit to find the main idea in each paragraph you read.
Extracting Important Details
Extracting important details mean that you locate in your reading main and most significant ideas.
There is usually one important detail associated with every main idea. The more important details you can identify, the easier it will be to review for examinations because you have made a link between an idea and information that supports it.
The more links you can make between details and ideas, as well as ideas themselves, the more powerful will be the efforts of your study.
The first things to ask yourself are: “Why you are reading the text? Are you reading with a purpose or just for pleasure? What do you want to know after reading it?”
In other words, identify your purpose.
Once you know this, you can examine the text to see whether it is going to move you towards this goal.
An easy way of doing this is to look at the introduction and the chapter headings. The introduction should let you know whom the book is targeted at, and what it seeks to achieve.
Chapter headings will give you an overall view of the structure of the subject.
After grasping ideas from chapter introductions, ask yourself whether the book meets your needs.
Ask yourself if it assumes too much or too little knowledge.
If the book weren't ideal, would it be better to find a better one?
Take 1-2 minutes to skim through the article to find the core idea. Know what is being expressed. Do you need more details? If not, find another article.
Read lightly and flexibly. Know what you need. Slow down to fulfill your purpose, answering questions that are most important to you.
Since very few words carry the meaning, speed up to pass redundant or useless information.
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Should You Attend A Speed Reading Seminar?
If you have made up your mind to master the skill of speed reading, the next step is to decide how to acquire the skill. One effective way is to attend a speed reading seminar. Seminars can introduce you to speed reading, help you improve your skills, or assist you in improving your speed, if you already have the skills.
Attending a speed reading seminar will help you build skills that help you become more efficient in various types of information processing. As you develop an understanding of the philosophy behind speed reading, you will see how these skills apply to other areas of your life as well. Being able to process information at a faster rate is one of many benefits of attending a seminar of this type.
Increasing your reading speed and comprehension will help you find more free time to spend on activities you enjoy. You will cut thru your email in half the time it takes now, and you will spend less time on web research. You will easily find the time to complete your professional reading, which can help you advance in your career.
Many speed reading seminars begin by giving you a reading test, so you will know what your baseline speed is. Next, you will discover your own bad habits, and learn how to eliminate them. Understanding how to manage and group information helps you become more efficient will help you in all areas of time management.
Most speed reading seminars are hands-on, rather than theory oriented. You will learn the skill and apply it immediately. When you leave the seminar, you will have improved your reading speed and comprehension. You may also be given exercises that you can use to continue improving your reading speed.
Many seminars combine time management and speed reading skills. This is a natural combination, as managing information overload improves our ability to manage time.
Once these skills are mastered, you will be able to regain control of your life, and find the time to spend on activities you truly enjoy. You will spend less time at work, and less time feeling pressured by all the information that builds up on a daily basis.
Attending a speed reading seminar will help you build skills that help you become more efficient in various types of information processing. As you develop an understanding of the philosophy behind speed reading, you will see how these skills apply to other areas of your life as well. Being able to process information at a faster rate is one of many benefits of attending a seminar of this type.
Increasing your reading speed and comprehension will help you find more free time to spend on activities you enjoy. You will cut thru your email in half the time it takes now, and you will spend less time on web research. You will easily find the time to complete your professional reading, which can help you advance in your career.
Many speed reading seminars begin by giving you a reading test, so you will know what your baseline speed is. Next, you will discover your own bad habits, and learn how to eliminate them. Understanding how to manage and group information helps you become more efficient will help you in all areas of time management.
Most speed reading seminars are hands-on, rather than theory oriented. You will learn the skill and apply it immediately. When you leave the seminar, you will have improved your reading speed and comprehension. You may also be given exercises that you can use to continue improving your reading speed.
Many seminars combine time management and speed reading skills. This is a natural combination, as managing information overload improves our ability to manage time.
Once these skills are mastered, you will be able to regain control of your life, and find the time to spend on activities you truly enjoy. You will spend less time at work, and less time feeling pressured by all the information that builds up on a daily basis.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Reason For Speed Reading
In the last few weeks I have been talking about how beneficial it can be to learn speed reading, that in this world a faster reader will have more time to put into his work and studies and that fast readers have an advantage because they can cover a lot of informational reading material while others struggle to read a sentence here and there.
While I strongly believe that speed reading is the key to most of the professional needs of any industry today, the real question for the individual who is seeking a faster reading rhythm is why. Why would someone want to increase his or hers reading speed and for what purpose, it is not clear that everyone needs to read fast or faster than what they used to, it all depends on what kind of work you do, and what you feel about your reading abilities.
I am surprised at some of the people who want to learn speed reading and their motivation for doing so, some of them just want to get better, while this is a noble idea the question still reminds, do you need to read faster, how fast do you read today, in fact it is not difficult to time yourself a couple of times and see exactly how fast you are going, if you feel that you are way below the average its still not a good enough reason to go to a speed reading course.
Reading is great, it is one of the most, if not THE most, amazing achievements of humanity, we can read the thoughts of people who are long gone, that if it was not put into books we would have never had the chance to access their most deepest and intimate thoughts and ideas. Reading is also great because it fuels the imaginations, and sparks emotions in many readers, inspiring them to make real changes in their lives.
When you speed read you are reading for efficiency, for work or for a selected task, and this is why I don’t think it’s a good idea to speed read everything that you see. So with that in mind think this over, if you feel that your reading skills are low and that you are really suffering from a low reading rate, you should first try and research the basics of speed reading, do that over the internet in a site like http://speedreading.zupatips.com/, there are many sources for this, you can also try and do this by yourself, timing your reading as you go, finding your average and completing questions to find out your reading comprehension skills.
If you are a student of any sort, just started a new work that demands you read a lot and learn new ideas and concepts rapidly, or have a particular task that requires you to read a large number of books in a limited frame of time, you should defiantly try and find out what does a speed reading course or book, give you, and try to research as many web sites to offer help and tips regarding speed reading.
While I strongly believe that speed reading is the key to most of the professional needs of any industry today, the real question for the individual who is seeking a faster reading rhythm is why. Why would someone want to increase his or hers reading speed and for what purpose, it is not clear that everyone needs to read fast or faster than what they used to, it all depends on what kind of work you do, and what you feel about your reading abilities.
I am surprised at some of the people who want to learn speed reading and their motivation for doing so, some of them just want to get better, while this is a noble idea the question still reminds, do you need to read faster, how fast do you read today, in fact it is not difficult to time yourself a couple of times and see exactly how fast you are going, if you feel that you are way below the average its still not a good enough reason to go to a speed reading course.
Reading is great, it is one of the most, if not THE most, amazing achievements of humanity, we can read the thoughts of people who are long gone, that if it was not put into books we would have never had the chance to access their most deepest and intimate thoughts and ideas. Reading is also great because it fuels the imaginations, and sparks emotions in many readers, inspiring them to make real changes in their lives.
When you speed read you are reading for efficiency, for work or for a selected task, and this is why I don’t think it’s a good idea to speed read everything that you see. So with that in mind think this over, if you feel that your reading skills are low and that you are really suffering from a low reading rate, you should first try and research the basics of speed reading, do that over the internet in a site like http://speedreading.zupatips.com/, there are many sources for this, you can also try and do this by yourself, timing your reading as you go, finding your average and completing questions to find out your reading comprehension skills.
If you are a student of any sort, just started a new work that demands you read a lot and learn new ideas and concepts rapidly, or have a particular task that requires you to read a large number of books in a limited frame of time, you should defiantly try and find out what does a speed reading course or book, give you, and try to research as many web sites to offer help and tips regarding speed reading.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Reading Strategies For Struggling Readers
Struggling readers are simply individuals who have not learned effective reading strategies. Don't be too concerned if you aren't familiar with the term, "reading strategies;" most good readers never had to learn them; instead, they just use them naturally. Struggling readers, on the other hand, have no idea how their friends can finish their work before they make it through the first paragraph. Why is it that their friends are reading "Lord of the Rings" and they are still reading "Magic Tree House" books? How do their friends manage to read those really long and unfamiliar words with ease?
Reading strategies can be organized into two distinct groups: decoding strategies and comprehension strategies.
Decoding Strategies
Without getting into a long debate over whether children should learn to read through phonics or whole language, the fact is that some students need to be taught explicitly phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is basically being able to pronounce the bits and pieces of words to turn them into words that the student knows or has heard. Even if the word is unfamiliar, students with good phonemic awareness can usually pronounce a reasonable representation of the word. Struggling readers need to be taught the sounds of the language--the phonemes--and to be given plenty of opportunity and coaching in their use.
Some indicators that a student needs explicit instruction in phonemic awareness include: skipping words while reading, "sounding out" words incorrectly, attempting a pronunciation that doesn't make sense, and avoiding reading.
It is helpful if students are able to recognize and spell a number of simple words. Dolch vocabulary words are great for younger students. For older students, try to get a list of the 1000 most common words in the English language. Phonemic awareness starts with letter sounds. Students learn how to pronounce various combinations of letters, and they learn that letters are not always pronounced the way they should be. Consider a simple example: the word, "the," is pronounced with a short u sound. Students compare unfamiliar words with words that they know; thus the necessity for a good repertoire of sight words.
A common decoding strategy that is taught to struggling readers is called chunking. If students have developed some proficiency with phonemes, they can begin chunking unfamiliar words. Using their finger, they cover all but a chunk of the unfamiliar word. They pronounce it then move onto the next chunk. Once the student has pronounced all of the chunks, they try to put the chunks together and make it sound like a word they know or have heard. This strategy, again, requires a significant amount of practice and coaching.
One school of thought considers the ability to decode words a precursor to reading comprehension. After all, if you can't understand the individual words, how can you understand the whole sentence? Often, a struggling reader will cope with their abilities by getting answers from other students, answering the text explicit questions (e.g. "The girl's red hair blew in the breeze." What color was the girl's hair?), or making excuses for not getting their work done--avoidance behaviors.
Comprehension Strategies
Good readers regularly re-read, predict, infer, conclude, question, compare, contrast; and the list goes on. Good readers don't usually realize what they were doing while reading unless someone forces them to reflect on it. Struggling readers do few of the things that good readers do. They generally have only one goal in reading--to get it over with. Understanding what was read is called comprehension. Comprehension strategies are those things that a reader does to understand a text.
There is one main indicator that a student needs explicit instruction in comprehension strategies--they are good decoders, but they can't answer higher level questions about the text. Higher level questions are ones that involve more than just extracting words from the text. For example, a higher level question related to the last paragraph is, "What goals do good readers have in reading?" A reasonable answer would involve contrasting the goal that struggling readers have in reading, using the information about what good readers regularly do, and using prior knowledge or experience.
There are many comprehension strategies that can be taught to struggling readers. Telling a struggling reader to just read it again won't cut it. They need direct support, explicit instruction, a lot of practice and coaching and many opportunities to experience success. Searching the Internet for reading strategies should garner a description of at least a dozen different tried and true strategies. Following is a brief description of just a few of them.
Re-Reading - Not to be confused with "just read it again," re-reading is a deliberate attempt to find information. With the question in mind, students attempt to find relevant sections of the text to re-read. Once they zero in on a relevant section, they usually read a few sentences or paragraphs before and a few sentences or paragraphs after. Sometimes, it is necessary to re-read the entire text to get the desired information.
Predicting - Using titles, pictures, or key words, students attempt to predict the content of a text. When the student reads the text, they make comparisons to what they predicted and what they read.
Re-Stating - This strategy encourages students to look at main ideas. They re-state what they read in a shorter version. Sometimes this strategy involves restricting how long the summary can be. For example, can you re-state the description of predicting in only two words?
The best support for struggling readers is individual and intensive. In my opinion, struggling readers make the most progress when they are given one-on-one support outside of the regular classroom. Individual support allows them to receive frequent and timely feedback on their efforts. Outside of the classroom means that the support is extra-curricular and does not interfere with their regular work. If you are a parent or a teacher of a struggling reader, find out what support is available at your school. Use the terms phonemic awareness and reading comprehension strategies to communicate what your child needs. If your school can't offer the support, look for commercial services. Even though it might cost money, the benefits will be outstanding; spend the money.
Reading strategies can be organized into two distinct groups: decoding strategies and comprehension strategies.
Decoding Strategies
Without getting into a long debate over whether children should learn to read through phonics or whole language, the fact is that some students need to be taught explicitly phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is basically being able to pronounce the bits and pieces of words to turn them into words that the student knows or has heard. Even if the word is unfamiliar, students with good phonemic awareness can usually pronounce a reasonable representation of the word. Struggling readers need to be taught the sounds of the language--the phonemes--and to be given plenty of opportunity and coaching in their use.
Some indicators that a student needs explicit instruction in phonemic awareness include: skipping words while reading, "sounding out" words incorrectly, attempting a pronunciation that doesn't make sense, and avoiding reading.
It is helpful if students are able to recognize and spell a number of simple words. Dolch vocabulary words are great for younger students. For older students, try to get a list of the 1000 most common words in the English language. Phonemic awareness starts with letter sounds. Students learn how to pronounce various combinations of letters, and they learn that letters are not always pronounced the way they should be. Consider a simple example: the word, "the," is pronounced with a short u sound. Students compare unfamiliar words with words that they know; thus the necessity for a good repertoire of sight words.
A common decoding strategy that is taught to struggling readers is called chunking. If students have developed some proficiency with phonemes, they can begin chunking unfamiliar words. Using their finger, they cover all but a chunk of the unfamiliar word. They pronounce it then move onto the next chunk. Once the student has pronounced all of the chunks, they try to put the chunks together and make it sound like a word they know or have heard. This strategy, again, requires a significant amount of practice and coaching.
One school of thought considers the ability to decode words a precursor to reading comprehension. After all, if you can't understand the individual words, how can you understand the whole sentence? Often, a struggling reader will cope with their abilities by getting answers from other students, answering the text explicit questions (e.g. "The girl's red hair blew in the breeze." What color was the girl's hair?), or making excuses for not getting their work done--avoidance behaviors.
Comprehension Strategies
Good readers regularly re-read, predict, infer, conclude, question, compare, contrast; and the list goes on. Good readers don't usually realize what they were doing while reading unless someone forces them to reflect on it. Struggling readers do few of the things that good readers do. They generally have only one goal in reading--to get it over with. Understanding what was read is called comprehension. Comprehension strategies are those things that a reader does to understand a text.
There is one main indicator that a student needs explicit instruction in comprehension strategies--they are good decoders, but they can't answer higher level questions about the text. Higher level questions are ones that involve more than just extracting words from the text. For example, a higher level question related to the last paragraph is, "What goals do good readers have in reading?" A reasonable answer would involve contrasting the goal that struggling readers have in reading, using the information about what good readers regularly do, and using prior knowledge or experience.
There are many comprehension strategies that can be taught to struggling readers. Telling a struggling reader to just read it again won't cut it. They need direct support, explicit instruction, a lot of practice and coaching and many opportunities to experience success. Searching the Internet for reading strategies should garner a description of at least a dozen different tried and true strategies. Following is a brief description of just a few of them.
Re-Reading - Not to be confused with "just read it again," re-reading is a deliberate attempt to find information. With the question in mind, students attempt to find relevant sections of the text to re-read. Once they zero in on a relevant section, they usually read a few sentences or paragraphs before and a few sentences or paragraphs after. Sometimes, it is necessary to re-read the entire text to get the desired information.
Predicting - Using titles, pictures, or key words, students attempt to predict the content of a text. When the student reads the text, they make comparisons to what they predicted and what they read.
Re-Stating - This strategy encourages students to look at main ideas. They re-state what they read in a shorter version. Sometimes this strategy involves restricting how long the summary can be. For example, can you re-state the description of predicting in only two words?
The best support for struggling readers is individual and intensive. In my opinion, struggling readers make the most progress when they are given one-on-one support outside of the regular classroom. Individual support allows them to receive frequent and timely feedback on their efforts. Outside of the classroom means that the support is extra-curricular and does not interfere with their regular work. If you are a parent or a teacher of a struggling reader, find out what support is available at your school. Use the terms phonemic awareness and reading comprehension strategies to communicate what your child needs. If your school can't offer the support, look for commercial services. Even though it might cost money, the benefits will be outstanding; spend the money.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Open your mind with questions
Before starting reading a book open up your mind by asking question. Make reading a search for answers to these questions. This will greatly increase comprehension, This requires a bit of humility. It admits that I don't have all the answers. This is the basic requirement for all learning. It is a hunger for wisdom. This hunger is the prerequisite to all of learning. It opens up the mind so that it is looking for answers. Pride does just the opposite. It closes the mind to new information. True humility admits that you have not yet arrived. That you have room to grow. That you could be wrong in some of your views.
It is with this awareness of one's own frailty that one will eventuality become wise.
It is with this awareness of one's own frailty that one will eventuality become wise.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Reading Comprehension Strategies
Comprehension should always be the chief concern when teaching reading. What good is reading if the child has no understanding of what is read? In this article I will outline key reading comprehension strategies and show how they should be used.
Before reading you should allow children to make predictions about what they think the book will be about based on either the title or the picture on the front cover of the book. Children can also make predictions about what they think will happen based on what they read on the back cover of a book. Discuss with them their predictions and ask them to justify why their predictions are reasonable based on what they have read. Create a prediction chart that shows titles such as: WHAT WE PREDICT/WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORY. List everything students predict will happen under the "WHAT WE PREDICT" column. Once the story has been read you can write what actually happened in the story in the "WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORY" column. Students should be allowed to adjust predictions so the "WHAT WE PREDICT" column can be changed as the story is read. Older readers must be taught that while they are reading they should be looking out for the setting of the story, that is, the time and place the story takes place. The characters and plot are also essential elements they should be focused on as understanding of these story elements is at the heart of comprehending any story that is read.
Allowing children to do research on a topic before it is presented in a story format is highly effective for improving reading comprehension. This strategy however, works better with older readers. Children will feel more in tune with the content of the text if they are allowed to develop previous knowledge.
Another reading comprehension strategy that I have found to be highly effective is to do vocabulary work before hand. You can introduce children to new words. Have them break them up into syllables. Put the new words on flashcards. You can also have children find out the meaning of these words in the dictionary, with all this groundwork, once you get to the text it will be smooth sailing.
After reading, children can do written and oral retelling of the story. Engage children in answering questions. These may be in the form of traditional written comprehension questions or oral comprehension questioning. I mentioned using research as a pre-reading strategy but this can also be done after reading.
Encourage children to act out stories in groups with each child taking turns playing characters from the book.
Completing a story map is a good activity for students to do after reading as they get a chance to summarize and to zero in on what happened at different points in the story. A good story map is one that asks students to tell what happened at the beginning, middle and the end of the story.
Make an art-literature connection by having students draw and paint or color their favorite scenes. They can also write something about what they have drawn so that a writing connection is also made.
Before reading you should allow children to make predictions about what they think the book will be about based on either the title or the picture on the front cover of the book. Children can also make predictions about what they think will happen based on what they read on the back cover of a book. Discuss with them their predictions and ask them to justify why their predictions are reasonable based on what they have read. Create a prediction chart that shows titles such as: WHAT WE PREDICT/WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORY. List everything students predict will happen under the "WHAT WE PREDICT" column. Once the story has been read you can write what actually happened in the story in the "WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORY" column. Students should be allowed to adjust predictions so the "WHAT WE PREDICT" column can be changed as the story is read. Older readers must be taught that while they are reading they should be looking out for the setting of the story, that is, the time and place the story takes place. The characters and plot are also essential elements they should be focused on as understanding of these story elements is at the heart of comprehending any story that is read.
Allowing children to do research on a topic before it is presented in a story format is highly effective for improving reading comprehension. This strategy however, works better with older readers. Children will feel more in tune with the content of the text if they are allowed to develop previous knowledge.
Another reading comprehension strategy that I have found to be highly effective is to do vocabulary work before hand. You can introduce children to new words. Have them break them up into syllables. Put the new words on flashcards. You can also have children find out the meaning of these words in the dictionary, with all this groundwork, once you get to the text it will be smooth sailing.
After reading, children can do written and oral retelling of the story. Engage children in answering questions. These may be in the form of traditional written comprehension questions or oral comprehension questioning. I mentioned using research as a pre-reading strategy but this can also be done after reading.
Encourage children to act out stories in groups with each child taking turns playing characters from the book.
Completing a story map is a good activity for students to do after reading as they get a chance to summarize and to zero in on what happened at different points in the story. A good story map is one that asks students to tell what happened at the beginning, middle and the end of the story.
Make an art-literature connection by having students draw and paint or color their favorite scenes. They can also write something about what they have drawn so that a writing connection is also made.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Importance of Reading
What is the best way to spend free time? There can be so many different answers to this question. That depends on the preferences of a person. If you are lively and active, you may spend time outdoors or doing sports, if you are sociable, you may enjoy holding a party and communicating with various interesting celebrities. Some of us get so tired of the noise than wait till a nice evening to tackle in and read a nice book to relax or to learn something new or to get to the new world of wonders and travel in it, forgetting about the reality.
But these are only some of us. What about those, who detest even the appearance of the book and assure that they are allergic to its smell? There are a lot of other ways to get educated and to entertain oneself, but nothing can substitute reading. If to try, it can be much fun. For instance, it is very useful to read books to little children, almost infants, that way they get used to your voice and the manner of talking and you’ll practice and read whatever is interesting to you. Some of the dislikes are closely connected with the not carefully planned school program in literature. Sometimes we can see such books there that should not be read by students of such age. I’m quite sure that it is useless for a fifth grader to read Kafka’s “Plague” and same, study “Odyssey” during the first college year. What the system needs is a careful planning. Here everything has to be taken into consideration; starting from the reports at the seminars and finishing with the careful examination of the last literature essay. Of course, sometimes it may be easy to find something else to do than to read a boring book, but this is what makes you educated and intelligent in eyes of others.
It will be very ungrateful of us to ignore the inheritage we have. I mean thousands, millions of masterpieces waiting to be taken and read at once and than discussed in a close circle of friends. But one has to be really picky about what to read. Just like with movies, there are some books that can’t be read at certain age and certain life orientations. I guess, it is unnecessary to present the examples, because they are numerous. Serious matters read at a young age influence the process of building of a personality greatly. It is certain that a book about demonology in hands of a teenager will do no good. There is no need to forbid sales of such books, it’s impossible. What we really have to do is to create an attentive, grateful and interested reader, by bringing him up with the help of necessary literature. An excellent essay paper of such a reader is a big credit to the creator of a masterpiece, which the reader admires. Reading different books of different styles widens our outlook and gives more opportunities to make a success. An intelligent phrase that you’ve read up in some good book, thrown by you during a heated argument, will definitely make the odds even. So read with pleasure and enjoy what you’re doing!
But these are only some of us. What about those, who detest even the appearance of the book and assure that they are allergic to its smell? There are a lot of other ways to get educated and to entertain oneself, but nothing can substitute reading. If to try, it can be much fun. For instance, it is very useful to read books to little children, almost infants, that way they get used to your voice and the manner of talking and you’ll practice and read whatever is interesting to you. Some of the dislikes are closely connected with the not carefully planned school program in literature. Sometimes we can see such books there that should not be read by students of such age. I’m quite sure that it is useless for a fifth grader to read Kafka’s “Plague” and same, study “Odyssey” during the first college year. What the system needs is a careful planning. Here everything has to be taken into consideration; starting from the reports at the seminars and finishing with the careful examination of the last literature essay. Of course, sometimes it may be easy to find something else to do than to read a boring book, but this is what makes you educated and intelligent in eyes of others.
It will be very ungrateful of us to ignore the inheritage we have. I mean thousands, millions of masterpieces waiting to be taken and read at once and than discussed in a close circle of friends. But one has to be really picky about what to read. Just like with movies, there are some books that can’t be read at certain age and certain life orientations. I guess, it is unnecessary to present the examples, because they are numerous. Serious matters read at a young age influence the process of building of a personality greatly. It is certain that a book about demonology in hands of a teenager will do no good. There is no need to forbid sales of such books, it’s impossible. What we really have to do is to create an attentive, grateful and interested reader, by bringing him up with the help of necessary literature. An excellent essay paper of such a reader is a big credit to the creator of a masterpiece, which the reader admires. Reading different books of different styles widens our outlook and gives more opportunities to make a success. An intelligent phrase that you’ve read up in some good book, thrown by you during a heated argument, will definitely make the odds even. So read with pleasure and enjoy what you’re doing!
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Increase Your Reading Speed By 4x In A Few Days
If you think only the smart ones can read faster, then guess again. Anyone can improve their reading speed without sacrificing their comprehension skills. Being able to read faster means that you have more information at your disposal. Having this ability will give you a decided edge at any endeavor – especially in school, at work, or even during leisure.
Some people have developed their reading skills to the point that they can read an entire book in one sitting. For ordinary people that still have to read aloud or point at what they are reading to keep track of where they are, this can prove to be quite frustrating. However, there is a secret to unlock your reading skills so that they can dramatically increase exponentially.
The secret is increasing the periphery of your vision and exercising your eye muscles.
When you read, your eye leaps from one position on the page to another. This is called a saccade. Some people can only read one word per saccade. This forces them to perform numerous saccades per line of text. Faster readers can absorb more text per line; this results in fewer saccades per line of text. The fastest of them all can even swallow in a whole paragraph per glance.
Now if you think this is just some freak ability, you will be in for a surprise. It is possible to decrease the number of saccades per page and the speed of leaps between saccades.
To improve your ability to absorb words per saccade, you will have to perform some exercises to train your mind to absorb more. Some people are taught to read one word at a time. This is good for beginners. But as you grow older and get better at reading, you will need to be able to increase this through practice.
You do not have to concern yourself with comprehension at first. Just try to expand the focus of your mind as you go through groups of words. Try exercising this by scanning through a text document with emphasis on speed and word recognition. Contrary to what some believe, your mind is neither slow nor limited to a certain number of words per minute. If you train your eyes to scan and recognize quickly, your mind will follow suit.
After this sort of exercise, you will want to test your comprehension next. You could use any book to perform this, or you could use a reading application especially designed for this purpose.
There are numerous eye-movement exercises to help your eye muscles react more quickly and to help you read faster. These exercises involve lateral eye movements and are good warm ups for reading activities.
When practicing your speed reading, remember that rest is very important. Do not overstress your eyes, and give them a few minutes break after 20 minutes of reading. This will give your eyes a chance to refocus and rest a bit from reading movements.
Given proper reading training and techniques, one may be able to increase his or her reading speed by as much as four times upon the first few days of training. This is an exponential increase in the inflow of knowledge and information in person. Why don’t you try a speed reading program today? It will definitely increase your enjoyment and acquisition of knowledge, and will definitely show you that reading is not just for the smart ones.
Some people have developed their reading skills to the point that they can read an entire book in one sitting. For ordinary people that still have to read aloud or point at what they are reading to keep track of where they are, this can prove to be quite frustrating. However, there is a secret to unlock your reading skills so that they can dramatically increase exponentially.
The secret is increasing the periphery of your vision and exercising your eye muscles.
When you read, your eye leaps from one position on the page to another. This is called a saccade. Some people can only read one word per saccade. This forces them to perform numerous saccades per line of text. Faster readers can absorb more text per line; this results in fewer saccades per line of text. The fastest of them all can even swallow in a whole paragraph per glance.
Now if you think this is just some freak ability, you will be in for a surprise. It is possible to decrease the number of saccades per page and the speed of leaps between saccades.
To improve your ability to absorb words per saccade, you will have to perform some exercises to train your mind to absorb more. Some people are taught to read one word at a time. This is good for beginners. But as you grow older and get better at reading, you will need to be able to increase this through practice.
You do not have to concern yourself with comprehension at first. Just try to expand the focus of your mind as you go through groups of words. Try exercising this by scanning through a text document with emphasis on speed and word recognition. Contrary to what some believe, your mind is neither slow nor limited to a certain number of words per minute. If you train your eyes to scan and recognize quickly, your mind will follow suit.
After this sort of exercise, you will want to test your comprehension next. You could use any book to perform this, or you could use a reading application especially designed for this purpose.
There are numerous eye-movement exercises to help your eye muscles react more quickly and to help you read faster. These exercises involve lateral eye movements and are good warm ups for reading activities.
When practicing your speed reading, remember that rest is very important. Do not overstress your eyes, and give them a few minutes break after 20 minutes of reading. This will give your eyes a chance to refocus and rest a bit from reading movements.
Given proper reading training and techniques, one may be able to increase his or her reading speed by as much as four times upon the first few days of training. This is an exponential increase in the inflow of knowledge and information in person. Why don’t you try a speed reading program today? It will definitely increase your enjoyment and acquisition of knowledge, and will definitely show you that reading is not just for the smart ones.
Monday, December 11, 2017
How To Accelerate Your Reading Speed
Speed reading as a technique was developed by Mrs. Evelyn Wood in 1959. Impressed by her professor who read and graded a term paper of eighty pages in ten minutes she went on to observing reading methods of fast readers and developed the first ever speed reading technique.
Speed reading is a method that aims at improving the speed of reading and comprehension. The need for speed reading is obvious, as the volume of texts to be read on an average has been increasing since the invention of the printing machine.
And, increasing your reading speed can make a significant change in your life.
So, what can you do to accelerate your speed of reading? To get started, you can pick up a non-fiction book. Why? Because the fiction one contains lots of dialogues which means contains many breaks in the text. Those breaks might slow down the speed of reading.
Also, don’t pick a thick book. Three hundred pages would be the most. Get a book that you are interested in. It will help a lot.
Don’t practice speed reading while you feel tired or not in the mood. To get the best out of it, you’d better try it while you are in a good mood. You can try a pleasant morning or mid-day. Get yourself sit in a comfortable couch in a cozy corner. Choose a quiet spot where you can fully concentrate.
Then, what are the techniques?
Here are some techniques you might need to try to increase your speed of reading:
• Try to read down the page rather than left to right
• Read groups of words or complete thoughts rather than one word at a time
• Avoid involuntary rereading of material
You only need 15-minutes-a-day of practice. Doing it everyday will naturally increase your speed of reading.
Since now, the kids read more material than we did back then, it would be a great thing to include your children in the practice.
Make it a fun family activity. Each family member grabs a book and a timer is set. Once the reading begins, each person uses their speed reading skills to read as many of the pages of their book as they can until the timer sounds. The one who read the most will get prizes such as a trip to the library or a new book.
The result of speed reading skill will not only help them now but also in their future.
And remember, this skill is not limited to certain age. No one is ever too old to learn new things. Yet, a strong will is necessary.
Have a nice speedy reading.
Speed reading is a method that aims at improving the speed of reading and comprehension. The need for speed reading is obvious, as the volume of texts to be read on an average has been increasing since the invention of the printing machine.
And, increasing your reading speed can make a significant change in your life.
So, what can you do to accelerate your speed of reading? To get started, you can pick up a non-fiction book. Why? Because the fiction one contains lots of dialogues which means contains many breaks in the text. Those breaks might slow down the speed of reading.
Also, don’t pick a thick book. Three hundred pages would be the most. Get a book that you are interested in. It will help a lot.
Don’t practice speed reading while you feel tired or not in the mood. To get the best out of it, you’d better try it while you are in a good mood. You can try a pleasant morning or mid-day. Get yourself sit in a comfortable couch in a cozy corner. Choose a quiet spot where you can fully concentrate.
Then, what are the techniques?
Here are some techniques you might need to try to increase your speed of reading:
• Try to read down the page rather than left to right
• Read groups of words or complete thoughts rather than one word at a time
• Avoid involuntary rereading of material
You only need 15-minutes-a-day of practice. Doing it everyday will naturally increase your speed of reading.
Since now, the kids read more material than we did back then, it would be a great thing to include your children in the practice.
Make it a fun family activity. Each family member grabs a book and a timer is set. Once the reading begins, each person uses their speed reading skills to read as many of the pages of their book as they can until the timer sounds. The one who read the most will get prizes such as a trip to the library or a new book.
The result of speed reading skill will not only help them now but also in their future.
And remember, this skill is not limited to certain age. No one is ever too old to learn new things. Yet, a strong will is necessary.
Have a nice speedy reading.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
How The Eyes Work During Speed Reading
If you’ve ever been witness to someone speed reading the sight can be remarkable. They turn the pages of a book at breakneck speed and often their hand is skimming the length of the pages very quickly. It’s difficult to imagine that they are absorbing everything that they are reading. After all, a person reading at normal speed can sometimes even have trouble remembering what they just read. However, it is possible to read and retain all of the information in a book or magazine even when you are reading it much faster than a normal person does.
It’s obvious that one of the keys to speed reading is the eyes. It’s the eyes that are scanning the page, and soaking up the information for the brain. The people who are able to speed read don’t have special “bionic” type eyes. Their eyesight is just the same as anyone else’s.
The first step to speed reading is found with the eyes. In order to read properly at all, regardless of speed, a person has to be able to see to the best of their ability. This involves getting a regular eye examination. Once you have a thumbs-up from the eye doctor or a new set of glasses or contact lens, you are all set to learn some of the basics regarding your eyes in relation to speed reading.
It’s easier to read under a dim light than a very bright light. Many people have been led to believe the opposite and have spent years sitting next to a lamp that is almost blinding them, as they read. The eyes adjust better to dimmer light and so if you are going to practice your speed reading techniques, invest in a reading lamp which generally features a softer type light bulb, so that it’s easier on the eyes.
For years it was strongly believed that speed reading was done by using the peripheral vision. When someone refers to peripheral vision, they are referring to the line of sight that you see out of the corner of your eye. The idea was that the eyes scanned the page and the words that were caught in the peripheral vision were the words that stuck. This doesn’t seem to be the case though, as people who read using peripheral vision would ultimately be missing much of the text. This would lead to a misunderstanding of the material.
Instead it’s important when you are attempting to speed read that your eyes scan the entire text. The techniques that are suggested for speed reading utilize this approach. That way the person reading isn’t missing entire words or phrases as they would be with the peripheral vision approach.
Your eyes are essential to your success in speed reading. Having the proper prescription eye wear and using a dim light will give you the foundation you need to begin the process. By using your entire field of view, you can quickly and efficiently absorb the material you are reading.
It’s obvious that one of the keys to speed reading is the eyes. It’s the eyes that are scanning the page, and soaking up the information for the brain. The people who are able to speed read don’t have special “bionic” type eyes. Their eyesight is just the same as anyone else’s.
The first step to speed reading is found with the eyes. In order to read properly at all, regardless of speed, a person has to be able to see to the best of their ability. This involves getting a regular eye examination. Once you have a thumbs-up from the eye doctor or a new set of glasses or contact lens, you are all set to learn some of the basics regarding your eyes in relation to speed reading.
It’s easier to read under a dim light than a very bright light. Many people have been led to believe the opposite and have spent years sitting next to a lamp that is almost blinding them, as they read. The eyes adjust better to dimmer light and so if you are going to practice your speed reading techniques, invest in a reading lamp which generally features a softer type light bulb, so that it’s easier on the eyes.
For years it was strongly believed that speed reading was done by using the peripheral vision. When someone refers to peripheral vision, they are referring to the line of sight that you see out of the corner of your eye. The idea was that the eyes scanned the page and the words that were caught in the peripheral vision were the words that stuck. This doesn’t seem to be the case though, as people who read using peripheral vision would ultimately be missing much of the text. This would lead to a misunderstanding of the material.
Instead it’s important when you are attempting to speed read that your eyes scan the entire text. The techniques that are suggested for speed reading utilize this approach. That way the person reading isn’t missing entire words or phrases as they would be with the peripheral vision approach.
Your eyes are essential to your success in speed reading. Having the proper prescription eye wear and using a dim light will give you the foundation you need to begin the process. By using your entire field of view, you can quickly and efficiently absorb the material you are reading.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Kindle Unlimited
Amazon has a recently added feature called Kindle Unlimited. For $9.95 a month you can borrow up to 10 books. Not all books are available, but 700,000 are. The beauty of this program is that you can read books that you would normally pass over because of the cost. Also, you will be motivated to read more books so that you can borrow additional books.
You don't have to commit to any long term contract. You can cancel at any time. The first 30 days are free. This can save you lots of money and increase your reading.
These borrowed books can be read on any Kindle device or app.
It is a good deal for avid readers.
You don't have to commit to any long term contract. You can cancel at any time. The first 30 days are free. This can save you lots of money and increase your reading.
These borrowed books can be read on any Kindle device or app.
It is a good deal for avid readers.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Why Read
Here’s a simple question—answer it honestly, because your response could boost the amount of pleasure in your daily life, delay dementia, and even help you live longer: How many hours did you spend reading books last week?
This question has arrived in thousands of U.S. homes every other year since 1992 as part of the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study (HRS). A minor item on a massive survey of more than 20,000 retirees, it had long gone ignored in the analysis of elder brain health. But in 2016, when researchers at the Yale School of Public Health dug into 12 years of HRS data about the reading habits and health of more than 3,600 men and women over the age of 50, a hopeful pattern emerged: People who read books—fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose—for as little as 30 minutes a day over several years were living an average of two years longer than people who didn’t read anything at all. Odder still, book readers who reported more than three hours of reading each week were 23 percent less likely to die between 2001 and 2012 than their peers who read only newspapers or magazines.
If you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume you don’t need to be sold on the merits of the written word. You may already be familiar with recent findings that suggest children as young as six months who read books with their parents several times a week show stronger literacy skills four years later, score higher on intelligence tests, and land better jobs than nonreaders. But recent research argues that reading may be just as important in adulthood. When practiced over a lifetime, reading and language-acquisition skills can support healthy brain functioning in big ways. Simply put: Word power increases brain power.
To understand why and what each of us can do to get the most out of our words, start by asking the same question the Yale team did: What is it about reading books in particular that boosts our brain power whereas reading newspapers and magazines doesn’t? For one, the researchers posit, chapter books encourage “deep reading.” Unlike, say, skimming a page of headlines, reading a book (of any genre) forces your brain to think critically and make connections from one chapter to another, and to the outside world. When you make connections, so does your brain, literally forging new pathways between regions in all four lobes and both hemispheres. Over time, these neural networks can promote quicker thinking and may provide a greater defense against the worst effects of cognitive decay.
Secondly, reading books, especially fiction, has been shown to increase empathy and emotional intelligence. One 2013 study found that participants who read just the first part or chapter of a story showed a noticeable increase in empathy one week later, while news readers showed a decrease. These findings may sound trivial, but they’re not; developing social tools such as empathy and emotional intelligence can lead to more (and more positive) human interaction, which in turn can lower stress levels—both of which are proved to help you live longer and healthier.
That’s not to say that magazines, newspapers, and Web articles are without merit. Reading anything that fills your mind and exposes you to new words, phrases, and facts seems to carry mental benefits. New research indicates that a large vocabulary may lead to a more resilient mind by fueling what scientists call cognitive reserve. One way to think about this reserve is as your brain’s ability to adapt to damage. Just as your blood cells will clot to cover a cut on your knee, cognitive reserve helps your brain cells find new mental pathways around areas damaged by stroke, dementia, and other forms of decay. This could explain why, after death, many seemingly healthy elders turn out to harbor advanced signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains despite showing few signs in life. It’s their cognitive reserve, researchers suspect, that may allow some seniors to seamlessly compensate for hidden brain damage.
So how does one build up cognitive reserve? That’s more good news for word lovers. Vocabulary is notoriously resistant to aging, and having a rich one, according to researchers from Spain’s University of Santiago de Compostela, can significantly delay the manifestation of mental decline. When the team analyzed vocabulary test scores of more than 300 volunteers ages 50 and older, they found that participants with the lowest scores were between three and four times more at risk of cognitive decay than participants with the highest scores.
Learning foreign words also offers important cognitive nutrients. In fact, research shows that learning something new, such as how to play an instrument or speak a second language, is one of the best things you can do for your brain at any age. Remember that powerful network of brain connections we get from reading? Successfully learning a second language grows that network even more. As a result, polyglots have been shown to be stronger at multitasking, superior at memorizing, and better at focusing on important information than monolingual speakers. A 2013 study in Neurology discovered that patients who spoke two or more languages developed dementia an average of 4.5 years later than monolingual patients. And while a brain that learns a second language earlier in life will likely see more cognitive advantages than a late-life learner, it is never too late to open the phrase book. You don’t need to end up a fluent speaker, either. “Just having the basics of those linguistic connections can delay dementia,” Dr. Thomas Bak of the University of Edinburgh told the Atlantic.
Of course, learning a new language is no quick feat. Luckily, the payoff of a single lesson can provide instant gratification. Researchers from Germany and Spain had 36 participants read two sentences containing the same foreign word: “Every Sunday the grandmother went to the jedin” and “The man was buried in the jedin.” When asked what jedin means, the folks who correctly guessed “graveyard” showed reactions in the same pleasure-sensing parts of the brain you’d expect from food, sex, gambling, and other satisfying stimuli. (Though when it comes to words, overindulgence is encouraged.)
It’s in that spirit of brain building that we bring you a special Genius Issue devoted to all things philological. You’ll find a story about the people who write dictionaries, the narrative tricks that “super memorizers” use to recall massive amounts of information, and an essay that wonders if our fiction tastes are becoming simpler. There are heartwarming stories, too, such as the tale of how a young German girl learned a few words of English from an American soldier during World War II and a “Drama in Real Life” about a man who lost all ability to communicate—and almost died because of it. Wherever you land, we hope you’ll be inspired to turn the page. Because, as science reminds us, it pays to increase your word power—today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your life.
Copied from The Reader's digest website
Copied from The Reader's digest website
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Why Libraries
From one standpoint, public libraries seem like a small thorn in the side of embattled publishers. They account for a small percentage of book sales, but bleed off more sales by lending bestsellers promiscuously. Publishers, anxious to discover the next Fifty Shades or Hunger Games have little time for their nattering and would prefer that the current fight over eBook pricing quietly disappeared.
But there is another side to public libraries in America: they are dynamic, versatile community centers. They welcomed more than 1.59 billion visitors in 2009 and lent books 2.4 billion times – more than 8 times for each citizen. More than half of young adults and seniors living in poverty in the United States used public libraries to access the Internet. They used this access, among other purposes to “find work, apply to college, secure government benefits, and learn about critical medical treatments” For all this, public libraries cost just $42 per citizen each year to maintain.
The growth of electronic reading holds significant opportunities and threats for both public libraries and publishers. This is no small affair: new research from the Pew Research Center shows that a third of Americans now own eBook readers or tablet devices, and Amazon sells more eBooks than print books.
Big six publishers limit public libraries’ access to eBooks at their own peril. They fail to see that public libraries are an integral part of the fragile ecosystem of reading in America. Without libraries to encourage new readers, foster book groups and promote communities of reading, publishers will find fewer readers for their biggest titles, and readers will have more difficulty discovering works not on the bestseller list.
Public libraries for their part have been slow to react to the dramatic changes in publishing and reading that threaten their ability to fulfill their core mission of promoting reading. By focusing too heavily on giving patrons access to bestsellers and popular movies, libraries risk missing the significant opportunity afforded by the explosion in the number of new books published each year.
This article is the second in a two-part series on libraries and their role in the marketing and readership of books. The first part focused on the current dispute between libraries and publishers. This article details the opportunities and obstacles for libraries in a changed world of publishing and reading.
Why Publishers Underestimate Libraries
Large publishers claim to embrace libraries, and they certainly have well-informed executives who do: just listen to Skip Dye, the VP of Academic and Library Sales and Marketing for Random House:
We see that the libraries have an important role for us. Libraries have a great influence. They go through the whole family and create a great sense of community through books. We’ve always thought that our role is to help the influencers influence.
The actions of the big six publishers tell a different story, however. Indeed, Random House itself increased the price of many bestsellers in eBook format – some to $84 or more. As a group, large publisher are wary of libraries, or at best ambivalent.
Publishers have some justification for their viewpoint. In 2009, public libraries accounted for just 1.3% of total book sales, down from 4.3% in 1989. Moreover, Pew research suggests that a third of library eBook patrons might have bought the books they are borrowing had they been unable to find it at the library. This almost certainly exaggerates the actual cannibalization of book sales by libraries (consumer marketers know that self reported purchase intent notoriously overstates actual purchase behavior), but cannibalization does occur.
With this understanding, it's clear why large publishers might be ambivalent towards libraries. This narrow of view of public libraries misses an important dynamic, however. Like the humble starfish that preserves entire marine ecosystems by eating mussels, the American public library is the keystone species in the ecosystem of reading. Without public libraries to promote the culture of reading and build communities of interconnected readers, publishers would face a diminished market for their titles. Indeed, the fact that reading remains a vibrant part of American cultural life is somewhat startling in the face of the competition for consumers’ attention: movies, video games, television, online shopping, browsing and social networking.
Moreover, large publishers face a world that is changing in ways that will make public libraries ever more important to them. The power of big publishers is threatened by Amazon, which depresses margins and promotes self-published authors who routinely underprice the market. At the same time, the number of bookstores is declining – there were 10,800 in 2012 versus 12,363 in 1997. This makes it harder for publishers to develop new authors and new genres. Libraries can help with this – if only they would.
Libraries Need To Rethink Their Acquisitions Strategy
Find out what they like, and how they like it, and let him have it just that way. Give them what they want, and when they want it, without a single word to sayThomas “Fats” Waller
Public libraries risk missing the opportunities of an important trend: the explosion of published books. Back in 1950, there were just 11,022 titles published. In 2010, 328,259 titles were brought to market.
According to the Public Library Inquiry, libraries serving populations of 100,000 or more purchased an average 48,000 books in 1948 – enough to buy over 4 copies of every one of the 11,000 titles published in that year.Steve Coffman, Library Support Services, Inc. (quoted from a forthcoming article Coffman provided to me)
By 2010, however, the situation had dramatically changed. In 2010, there were over 300,000 titles published, but the average library could buy only 21,000 of them.
Public libraries are still pursuing an acquisitions philosophy that is guided by a reality from the 1950’s. When libraries could buy everything, individual libraries could curate the entire opus of the publishing industry and help consumers get what they wanted. The need for libraries to discover new books was minimal, because everyone knew what the new books were, and publications like The Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly could review most of the important books. The bigger issue was access. Under Charlie Robinson, the Baltimore County Public Library system adopted the philosophy of “Give ‘Em What They Want.” They focused on providing increased numbers of the most popular titles to patrons – and this philosophy eventually expanded to include tapes and DVDs. The benefit to libraries was increased circulation. At one point circulation numbers of the Baltimore County Public Library were topped only by the New York and the Los Angeles public library systems.
The benefit of this strategy is that it helped build loyalty to libraries among adult readers. The problem is that by focusing on books that patrons already wanted, libraries de-emphasized their important role in the discovery of new books.
Monday, December 4, 2017
10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day
Article by Lana Winter-Hebert.
Article repost from Life Hack
When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits, and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.
1. Mental Stimulation
Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.
2. Stress Reduction
No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.
3. Knowledge
Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.
Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.
4. Vocabulary Expansion
This goes with the above topic: the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.
Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.
5. Memory Improvement
When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvelous things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. How cool is that?
6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
Have you ever read an amazing mystery novel, and solved the mystery yourself before finishing the book? If so, you were able to put critical and analytical thinking to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out to determine “whodunnit”.
That same ability to analyze details also comes in handy when it comes to critiquing the plot; determining whether it was a well-written piece, if the characters were properly developed, if the storyline ran smoothly, etc. Should you ever have an opportunity to discuss the book with others, you’ll be able to state your opinions clearly, as you’ve taken the time to really consider all the aspects involved.
7. Improved Focus and Concentration
In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we multi-task through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.
When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.
8. Better Writing Skills
This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.
9. Tranquility
In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certainmood disorders and mild mental illnesses.
10. Free Entertainment
Though many of us like to buy books so we can annotate them and dog-ear pages for future reference, they can be quite pricey. For low-budget entertainment, you can visit your local library and bask in the glory of the countless tomes available there for free. Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials.
If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if you’re mobility-impaired and can’t get to one easily, most libraries have their books available in PDF or ePub format so you can read them on your e-reader, iPad, or your computer screen. There are also many sources online where you can download free e-books, so go hunting for something new to read!
There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.
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