The Well Educated Mind ~ Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Wrestling With Books: The Act of Reading

 

Principles for would-be speed readers -

*The more abstract words a passage contains, the harder it is to read quickly.

*The fewer ideas a passage contains, the easier it is to read fast.

*The more prior knowledge of the subject of a written passage the reader has, the easier it is to read fast.

 

Three insights offered by speed reading experts that might be of use to you.

1. The average reader doesn't simply move her eyes from left to right across the page. She continously dances back at what she's already read and skips her eyes forward again up to her place.

2. When reading a difficult passage, you may find it helpful to sweep your eyes over a paragraph looking for something concrete before settling down to read it from beginning to end.

3. Peter Krump's Rule Three - The more prior knowledge of the subject of a written passage the reader has, the easier it is to read fast.

 

(That all sounded jumbled and repeated - I guess she is trying to drive the point home here - the more you kow about what you are reading, the easier it is to read -- makes sense to me!)

 

The Second Step: Practice the mechanics of reading.