Selecting Speed Reading Software
Speed reading is not a new idea. In fact, it was popular in the
1960s and 70s, and invented decades before that. However, the
concept of speed reading is evolving. In the past, the speed of
about 100 words per minute was considered the maximum speed that
the common person could hope to acheive. This is relatively fast
- it would allow you to read a 300-page book in about an hour
and a half. Nowadays, however, there are new speed reading
claims - ones that seem incredible. One individual claims that
he read Tolstoy's War and Peace (a book of about a thousand
pages) in fifteen minutes. A speed reading teacher claims that
he can teach some adults, and virtually all children (who seem
to have a greater natural ability) to read up to 18,000 words
per minute. Speed reading software may not allow you to reach
those dizzying speeds, but it probably will allow you to
substantially increase your natural reading time all the same.
Treat your speed reading software as you would any course. Set
aside a time and place, preferably every day, for working on it.
Follow the instructions carefully. One drawback of speed reading
software as opposed to an actual class is that people are a bit
more likely to get discouraged in the early stages. Speed
reading is not necessarily a skill that you can pick up at high
speed - more often, it takes some painstaking practice at first,
followed by a 'breakthrough' of sorts. Because you are working
on your own with speed reading software, you aren't able to
observe the progress of others, as in a classroom. Rest assured,
though, that if you are having problems, you aren't alone. At
the early stages, the trick is just to stick with it, doing all
the speed reading exercises. In the longrun, chances are
excellent that you will successfully decrease your reading time.
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