Tips for reading fast while understanding what you read

[Omni314]

I found this web site (courtesy of stumbleupon) the other day and it has helped me already

http://www.spreeder.com/

Enjoy.

 

[warpus]

I read very fast - about 100 pages per hour - but I never learned any tricks. Just started reading at an early age and read continuously and a lot ever since.

It's hard to analyze how, since I do it without thinking about it, but basically reading very fast depends on 2 factors.

1. Where everyone starts reading single letters and forming them into words, any normally accomplished reader soon recognizes entire words. A very fast reader goes one better and instantly recognizes whole sentences or parts of sentences. In fact, you don't consciously see any part of the text any more, you are just 'there'.

2. The second part is unconscious prioritizing. You skip parts, including whole sentences or paragraphs, that are not really important to you. If the author spends a whole paragraph describing a desert, for instance, you just skim over it noting a few key words... 'sand', 'dunes' or whatever. You've already got the picture of a desert in your head, having read any number of such descriptions - you don't really need to read each detail again. You get right to the meat, like the next dialogue or action.

I do this, although not as fast (if I do end up reading 100 pages in a sitting, then whatever I'm reading is good enough for me to want to slow down).

Once I get into a groove, I kinda jump from word to word, then somehow sentence to sentence. I do look at all the words, but don't focus on them. My brain figures out what each sentence is about, then moves on to the next. If it's just a descriptive paragraph about a bush for ex., it speeds through it.. If I've realized that the perceived descriptive paragraph is actually an important plot twist, or some revelation, or something else that's important, I will go back and read the paragraph word by word.

It's a bit more satisfying to read things a bit slower, but sometimes it makes no difference.

 

[GoodGame]

I like reading, but it takes too much of my time, because otherwise if it didn't, I would love it.

So I wondered if you have any trick for reading fast while understanding what you read, or if it is impossible or you need to pratice by...reading even more.

There's really new secret to speed-reading. If you didn't already have a strong conceptual grasp on the material before you started reading, speed reading won't help much. That doesn't mean you have read the material prior, just that you have to have a strong background in it, for speed-reading to work.


Good advice I got from a professor on reading journal literature, which is pretty darn impossible to speed read:

1. First, read the summary/abstract. If there isn't one you could try reading a few paragraphs of the introduction and the conclusion.

2. Second, highlight single keywords or phrases (underline pencil, pink highliter, etc..).
Be conservative about it. Don't highlight whole sentences or turn the whole reading into a coloring book.

Similar to that, skim read any outline structure that the reading has: like the table of contents, bold-faced sub-headings, etc.. This all works to get a rough idea of the scope of the reading.

3. Go back and read the whole thing one or two times more.

 

[Dragonlord]

I do this, although not as fast (if I do end up reading 100 pages in a sitting, then whatever I'm reading is good enough for me to want to slow down).

Once I get into a groove, I kinda jump from word to word, then somehow sentence to sentence. I do look at all the words, but don't focus on them. My brain figures out what each sentence is about, then moves on to the next. If it's just a descriptive paragraph about a bush for ex., it speeds through it.. If I've realized that the perceived descriptive paragraph is actually an important plot twist, or some revelation, or something else that's important, I will go back and read the paragraph word by word.

It's a bit more satisfying to read things a bit slower, but sometimes it makes no difference.

Sounds like we've got the exact same technique . Yeah, forgot to mention that I sometimes also reread a paragraph if I've realized I went too fast. On average, you're still far faster than plodding through word by word.

It is kind of hard to describe, because one does it unconsciously, w/o ever really thinking about it ... just a matter of practice, that's all.

 

[Bill3000]

I don't enjoy reading, I enjoy the story, the plot, the action.

So why are you on CFC if you find reading our posts to be so boring?

 

[stormbind]

One tip to get better at reading is to do any Humanities degree, you either get better at reading or you simply give up.

I did an MA in Anthropology and my reading reduced!

There is a possible explanation for this. While my peers were pouring through books and picking up a great deal of raw knowledge, they didn't at all grasp the underlying theories. In contrast, I studied the theories in excrutiating detail and consequently completed the a very prestigious degree by reading 300 pages.

Furthermore, in academia, you scan a lot of descriptive information about articles rather than read the body of the text - such as abstract, conclusion, introduction. This contrasts greatly with reading a novel.

 

[stormbind]

So why are you on CFC if you find reading our posts to be so boring?

Ah, you have made an error. It is the big colourful avatars that keep us occupied

 

[Bill3000]

Ah, you have made an error because it's the big colourful avatars that keep is occupied

Well, that doesn't really require posting, or paying attention in threads, for that matter.

 

[stormbind]

Here is a demonstration of my reading:

I do this ****

Once I get into a groove **** I will go back and read the paragraph word by word.

It's a bit more satisfying **** but sometimes it makes no difference.

Did it work?

 

[stormbind]

Well, that doesn't really require posting, or paying attention in threads, for that matter.

Oh, so that's why people ignore my posts..

 

[BCLG100]

I did an MA in Anthropology and my reading reduced!

There is a possible explanation for this. While my peers were pouring through books and picking up a great deal of raw knowledge, they didn't at all grasp the underlying theories. In contrast, I studied the theories in excrutiating detail and consequently completed the a very prestigious degree by reading 300 pages.

Furthermore, in academia, you scan a lot of descriptive information about articles rather than read the body of the text - such as abstract, conclusion, introduction. This contrasts greatly with reading a novel.

I agree but that was what the OP was asking, how to understand what you read. The very minimum i read 300 books during my final year of uni, nevermind 300 pages but that was a history degree so there is perhaps a greater focus on what knowledge can be gained from books and historical arguments.

 

[cardgame]

Well, apparently the faster you read, the more you retain.

As a pretty quick reader, I will vouch for this statement.

Finally I just wanted to tell anyone who says anything about pages per minute; that measurement is worthless unless you're using a standard size. I can read 150 page book in thirty minutes or maybe two hours, it depends how big the pages are and the font size...

 

[azzaman333]

As a pretty quick reader, I will vouch for this statement.

My experience is that I remember things much better if I read a little slower.