How to improve reading speeds
July 21, 2008 – 7:01 am by Nick
Teaching yourself and your children to speed read will automatically increase their performance in high school. It is an essential skill to increase productivity that will essential for college. Several free online applications use the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) method to raise the users word per minute (WPM) comprehension. They enable users to suppress subvocalization, during reading, to increase their WPM pace. Speed reading counters laborious word-for-word reading, taught in elementary school. Information retention does not decrease at higher WPM, if practiced often.
Pre-reading tips:
- Eliminate all distractions (including music).
- Skim through the book or text. Pay attention to diagrams, table of contents, section titles, and summaries. Try to determine the key chapters.
Speed Reading tips:
- Push yourself to read faster.
- Stop subvocalizing.
- Stop re-reading passages (back-skipping) and excessive breaks for eye-rests. Keep your eyes moving!
- Use your peripheral vision.
- Focus on the key words.
Retention tips:
- Circle/underline important words and passages.
- Make margin notes.
- Write an abstract of what you read.
- Use post-it notes, if you can’t write on the text.
- Make a tree diagram.
Speed- reading is not a magic trick. 1000 WPM can be obtained with persistence.
Here are a list free speed reading applications:
- Spreeder.com - our favorite free online speed reader.
- Zap Reader - an online tool to RSVP web pages.
- RSVP Reader - Firefox RSVP Extension
- FastReader - A windows apps
- MyRSVP - online Java Applet
- WordFlashReader - RSVP program written in Perl/Tk
How to use speed-reading apps:
- Do an initial test to determine your current reading speed.
- Use them for one hour a day to reduce chances of eye strain.
- Time yourself before and after. Keep track of your daily progress.
- Gradually increase WPM speed and word chunks flashed.
- Push yourself to achieve higher WPM, while maintaining comprehension.
