Learning to read fast 

Someone who runs through text quickly with their eyes, for example, at 3,000 characters per minute, but only absorbs 20% of the information, is actually reading slowly, at a rate of only 600 characters per minute. Reading with skipping important information is not always acceptable. It is preferable if you just want to look through the text to find something specific. But you can read fast and still understand everything and remember everything.

Reading speeds of up to 600 characters per minute are considered very slow, from 900 characters per minute - slow, from 1500 characters per minute - normal, from 3000 characters per minute - fast. It is possible to read at "panoramic" speeds of 10,000 or more characters per minute.

These figures are very, very tentative. To read, for example, a self-study textbook on a foreign language, they can in no way be indicative. The texts differ greatly in their informativeness and readability. Textbooks should be read slowly, and fast reading is good for repeating what you have learned, even if the material seemed difficult the first time you read it slowly.

Principles of speed reading

Reading Slowly

There is no need to hurry. The speed of reading should not exceed the speed of comprehension. Reading at a faster speed than comprehension is a waste of time and reinforces a bad habit. To learn to read fast, you must learn to read slowly. Unfortunately, speed-reading courses often forget this and, on the contrary, set you up for rushing. He who tries to move faster than his speed, rushing - blocks the development of abilities and reduces his natural speed. He who moves with his speed - in the development moves very slowly. He who moves a little slower than his speed develops his abilities, and his natural speed increases. This applies not only to reading, but to any activity. Probably those who have been reading for pleasure since childhood, without hurrying, have naturally learned to read quickly. There is no tension of consciousness that would make fast reading possible, so there is no need to strive for it and no need to seek such tension. What will not come easily will not come at all. Your task is to mobilize the resources of the "unconscious," which, in fact, ensures successful work. So a person who has unreasonable demands standing over his soul cannot work well. Creative work is blocked by such an unkind presence very much; primitive work suffers less. Don't "stand over the soul" of your "unconscious"-you must learn to trust it and give it as much time as it takes.

Reading without regressions

Those who have not studied effective reading tend to read chaotically - their gaze returns repeatedly to what they have already read. Hurriedness makes the returns more frequent. These jumps, called regressions, reduce not only your reading speed, but also your attention span - why be attentive when you can go back and reread? Jumping from one place in the text to another, such as from the beginning of the text to the end and back again, is also bad for your reading quality. The first condition for fast reading is to avoid unnecessary returns to what has been read and to develop the habit of reading only forward. This approach applies not only to fast reading, but to any work. In general, all the principles that work in speed reading work in other areas of life as well.

Reading without spelling

The habit of understanding only what has been uttered limits the speed of reading, because you can read several times faster than you can speak. Reading is usually accompanied by unconscious articulation, but it is possible to learn to read silently. The following exercises, for example, are used for this purpose.

A traditional exercise - a knocking rhythm

To suppress articulation when reading, you can use a tapping-rhythm exercise - a combination of reading and tapping of a rhythm that is not the easiest, but not the most difficult either. At first the combination of reading and tapping does not work. Then you can read without comprehension and memorization. Next - to read with comprehension, but without memorization. And finally, reading, understanding, memorizing.

Reading to Music

To eliminate the inner talking, you can read along with the music. It is important to listen to the music. The combination of reading with singing or playing a musical instrument is more effective. Tapping the rhythm while accompanying the music and perhaps singing along is more interesting. These exercises are more natural and pleasant - practicing them does not draw extra attention to oneself, but they are no less effective than a tapping rhythm. Also, with music or your own humming, you can type on a computer or combine reading with listening to the news. Absolute suppression of articulation is not necessary - it is important to learn to understand the printed word, directly, using the visual analyzer, without translating what you see into spoken words.

Using peripheral vision

Reading through each letter slows down reading and does not promote comprehension. Those who see several letters at once, the whole word, are in a better position. Some people can see whole lines, not only short ones, but also long ones, grasp whole paragraphs or even a page in one glance. If a person sees a whole line, his eyes no longer zigzag and he does not have to waste time returning to the beginning of the next line. He can read very quickly with a vertical eye movement. With the help of exercises to expand (more precisely, to clarify) vision in about a month can activate those abilities that were present, but remained unused. In the same way, physical exercise quickly returns tone to the muscles that have become unused to work. The actual development takes place from month to month, from year to year - you don't have to count on a quick result. But clarification of vision is worth the effort, it gives an advantage not only in reading. It means nothing less than a clear mind and good health.

Traditional exercises

Green Dot and Schulte Tables

According to the method of O. Andreev suggests a combination of two exercises - reading Schulte numerical tables and contemplation of a page with a green dot in the center - to expand vision. Schulte tables are read by peripheral vision, while the eye remains fixed in the center of the table. The exercise can be done with music. Contemplation of the page with the green dot is suggested for three months before going to bed, a few minutes each day. After fixing one's gaze on the green dot, try to see the entire page. It is seen vaguely at first, but then, suddenly, for a moment, the gaze clears. Such moments of clarity are indicative of expanded vision.

Reading with Contemplation

You can contemplate the pages without the green dots. While slowly reading some simple text, stop for a moment to contemplate. The gaze need not be rigidly fixed, but, whichever place on the page it is directed to, one should try to see the whole page. Then you can continue reading slowly again to take a break from contemplating the page again.

In front of the screen

Both at the movies and in front of the TV, one can, when looking at the screen, see it in its entirety, using peripheral vision, not following the interesting object with eye movements, but following it only with attention.

Cat's eye

It is suggested that when walking in a park or other beautiful place where there are no cars, look only forward and see everything around you. If you do not want to embarrass passersby with a "hypnotic" look, wear dark glasses.

Reading with Glasses Closed

A person with normal vision can read using glasses for farsightedness (approximately plus one and a half diopters). With myopia one does not need glasses, and with farsightedness one can choose glasses one and a half diopters stronger than those that compensate for farsightedness. In this case the eyes do not strain to focus on the page. If a strip of dark cloth is put on one glass, then when reading with one eye, the look will be completely relaxed, because there will be no tension associated with convergence (convergence) of the eyes. After reading for a while with one eye, you can move the strip to read with the other. You can read this way as long as you want, without any fatigue at all. This kind of reading is usually not contraindicated even for those who can't read much because of eye problems. Of course, the page must be well lit. When reading this way, the eye is guided by the picture, and the peripheral vision is mobilized, because one cannot rely on the three-dimensional vision.

Running through the unimportant

Those who read quickly, incoherent parts of the text that do not communicate anything substantial, pass quickly, those who can not read quickly, in these places slow down, trying to make sense of what lacks meaning. It is not necessary to fixate on the low-content. It is necessary to see the banal and repeatedly said as something that is not worth wasting attention on. It is not always necessary to remember the author's name, the publisher, the date, the title of the article. Anyone who sets the task of memorizing all of this and reading several articles every day is setting a task commensurate with learning a foreign language without repeating it the first time, in between. Only the really important things should be memorized. Sometimes you need to remember the author's name (if the author is interesting), the date of publication (if it matters), and so on - but not always, and you don't have to read meaningless literature at all.

Marking the main thing ("integral algorithm")

At the necessary information should slow down, as if to mark it with pauses, reducing the speed. This helps to remember and comprehend, but it does not practically reduce the speed of reading. The pause does not have to be long. What is most important in the text - everyone decides for himself. Editor, for example, always sees how well-written text and how clearly presented the idea. Psychoanalyst sees the game "unconscious", leading his line. Politician - everything that characterizes the opponent, demonstrates his weaknesses. The screenwriter - opportunities for writing a script. However, when reading any text, it is always suggested to see:

• the main idea - the main thesis - the dominant
• a line of arguments proving the main point
• something that may come in handy in life
• new, original
• controversial unreasonable
• hidden indoctrination