AlexK’s Blog
Jul 22
We never imagined the amount we reading the www would provide. Our traditional approach to reading doesn’t work. There simply isn’t enough time read. We need to be even more selective in our reading than ever before.
Since 2000 I’ve noticed that the average reading speed has slowed down. In the 1990’s the average reading speed [...] [...more]
Posted: under comprehension, reading.
We never imagined the amount we reading the www would provide. Our traditional approach to reading doesn’t work. There simply isn’t enough time read. We need to be even more selective in our reading than ever before.
Since 2000 I’ve noticed that the average reading speed has slowed down. In the 1990’s the average reading speed was reportedly 230 words a minute. Since 2005 I’ve noticed that the average is given at 190 WPM.
Jakob Nielsen recorded that we read at least 25% slower on a computer screen than from the printed page. Not only that he also noticed that we skim, we don’t actually read from the computer screen. It makes me wonder how much this style of reading affects our comprehension in general and not just our speed.
The research by Nielsen was from 1997 and our paper based reading average dropped by 40 words a minute since then. So I believe the impact of computer reading is slowing us down with the printed page as well.
US and Canadian research has found that 48% of their population cannot even read the instruction on medications. And more than 50% of students entering college don’t even have a ninth grade reading level. How they hope to complete college they don’t know because those leaving haven’t improved by much.
The problem is noted by those in power and our schools have introduce more reading programs. In the past the student was left to their own devices after learning to read in elementary school. On entering high school they had to discover their own way of improving speed and comprehension.
Is our reading poor or is comprehension the problem?
With the amount of reading and access to computers it must be surprising that our reading and comprehension ability is so poor. I notice how much slower and tedious it is to read on a computer screen. The art of skimming has it’s benefits, if you are a proactive reader reader to begin with.
How can you be sure you get the information you need when skimming? Some students have it down to an art to select passages and information from various pages on the web to ‘write” reports, assignments and essays but the question remains do they actually benefit from the exercise of skimming?
The disadvantage of skimming is that it is done purely with the conscious mind. Too much of what we see is forgotten because it wasn’t read it in the first place. Consciously only bits and pieces are recognised. Full reading is better for comprehension, thinking, connect ideas to what we understand and long term memory.
So skimming alone doesn’t work.
I’m not suggesting that you return to the slow and tedious process of reading online word for word. PhotoRead and be a proactive reader.
We never imagined the amount we reading the www would provide. It stands to reason our approach to reading doesn’t work. There simply isn’t enough time read everything with the traditional approach.
© Alex Viefhaus
Nov 08
Whether you use PhotoReading or not here is a tip that will help you get your reading done faster and with better comprehension. It can even help build your curiosity and make the subject much more interesting.
Start at the back of the book. Spoiler? Not always. For some novels maybe. This is especially important for [...] [...more]
Posted: under Purpose, comprehension, learning, motivation, reading.
Whether you use PhotoReading or not here is a tip that will help you get your reading done faster and with better comprehension. It can even help build your curiosity and make the subject much more interesting.
Start at the back of the book. Spoiler? Not always. For some novels maybe. This is especially important for textbooks and books that have a glossary.
If you’re dealing with complex text or have to study something that may have several words you don’t know the meaning of, read the glossary first. Or put it this way. If the book has a glossary start there. Kick-start your understanding by getting on the same wavelength as the author. They may not be using the precise dictionary meaning.
Here may discover new words or words that excite you and get your curiosity going. Since they give you hints what the text covers and is a concise way of finding out what the book is about. It can even improve your mind probing question. Most of all it will help clarify what authors mean when they use that particular word. It will give you something to look forward to, like where did the author us that word. In what context and how does it build on what you already know. It’s the shortcut for learning something new. If you have a daily goal of learning 3 new things a day, then look at the glossary of a book.
The end of a book is a great place to start even if it hasn’t got a glossary.
It seems like an unusual place to start yet that’s the place the author placed everything that provides background information to help you understand what the text is about. It provides extra information that may even be all the information you need from that author. Also reading the last chapter, the glossary and even the end notes first, will help build the conscious comprehension and understanding faster
For novels, many people will avoid reading the last chapter of a novel to avoid spoiling the story, that’s fine. Yet if you’re not getting it. If it’s not making sense or boring you and you have to read it. Go ahead and read the last chapter now. It’s an ideal approach for a book you simply cannot get into. You can then decide if you want to read it to know how the hero got to that point or you can safely dump it if it was just too predicable. This is especially helpful to those who do read any book from beginning to end. When you think about it. It’s a waste of precious time. Time you could be using on more interesting books even. If you’re spending 12 hours reading a novel do you want to be boring? Read the final chapter and if that doesn’t spark your curiosity then dump the book.
Now if the book is essential reading and you cannot get into it. You must read the final chapter. Then ask yourself questions like how did the hero wind up here. What problems have been solved. Where did this take place.
To read for understanding you need to build your curiosity. So check out the back of the book first. And if you have already started and are struggling. Read the back pages now. Whether you are activating or just traditionally reading. It will boost your understanding of what the text is about.
© Alex Viefhaus
Aug 16
Adults shun necessary reading to keep up with their career. There is just too much to read in our information age. There was a report in one of the Australian papers back in 97 or 98 that pointed out that less than 1/8 of all the self-help and information books bought are read beyond the [...] [...more]
Posted: under Photoreading, comprehension, frustration, reading, speed reading.
Adults shun necessary reading to keep up with their career. There is just too much to read in our information age. There was a report in one of the Australian papers back in 97 or 98 that pointed out that less than 1/8 of all the self-help and information books bought are read beyond the third chapter. By today’s average reading speeds it would take 7.5 hours to read a 220 page book. People don’t even think they have the time to start an exercise program for 30 minutes a day let alone read books that help them.
The solution to slow reading?
Read more.
How many books is it going to take at 7.5 hours a book till you get your speed up. Speed reading courses say an hour a day for 2 to 4 weeks. They don’t say when you get your comprehension levels up; that’s a whole different problem.
Late last year there were report in the Australian news after checking in to school reading levels and they found the biggest problem why kids have trouble reading is the teachers were never taught how to teach reading. They still do it by pot luck.
The solution to reading problems?
Read more.
If you’re a slow reader you know how much time it takes to read. I am amazed at how few people actually manage the “average” reading speed when they first take my class. It’s frustratingly boring for the mind to read that slow. So here we are teaching kids to read; the same book over and over again. It’s easier to memorise than read. They look at the pictures and tell the story. That’s how they sneak through the system.
Then when they hit secondary schooling the reading problem becomes a real problem. The amount of reading required increases and they were never taught comprehension. The solution for comprehension is (sorry) read more. Who on earth has the time? Based on surveys in the UK and US and tentative ones here in Australia. Less than 50% of the kids are capable of reading to a year 9 level by the time they finish high school. They don’t have the resources to cope with higher education.
The horror of spending more time reading than it already takes you to read.
PhotoReading allows you to read more and read 3 times faster as a beginner. Just PhotoReading books can help you to at least accomplish the first step in solving the reading problem of reading more. It takes 2 to 5 minutes to PhotoRead the average books. If you have always been a slow reader and shunned reading in general then just PhotoRead 3 to 10 books a day for a month or two. If you PhotoRead different books you mind is exposed to text without the painful slow paced reading that others who managed to learn to read okay have done.
What about comprehension?
Of course comprehension is still another factor in the reading equation. It’s possible to recognise words without understanding what the author has to say. That is the main problem of passive reading. We don’t understand when we don’t know what we should understand.
Many students can tell you of their frustration in reading text and re-reading it and reading it yet again and still not understanding what they are supposed to learn from this text.
Reading and comprehension are not usually considered two separate problems. So the solution for reading comprehension is hit with the same hammer for developing reading skills. Read more. As many have already experienced this doesn’t always solve the problem. Just how often do you need to re-read something before you understand it?
Reading on it’s own is a passive activity. Looking at, and recognising, a string of words doesn’t equal understanding. Something more is required.
What is the secret for comprehension?
It begins with a purpose. If you look closely at any speed reading program they all tell you you first need to decide what it is you want to know from the book. Otherwise you will be passively reading every word repeatedly like when you first learned to read. When you combine your purpose with PhotoReading you’ll be getting your reading done in 1/3rd 1/5th or even 1/10 and that is possible within the first two days of learning the system. No, 1 hour per day for 2 to 4 weeks of training to push your eyeballs faster across the page learning speed reading. And if you don’t have a purpose for reading you can train in speed reading for months and never be satisfied with your comprehension.
So no matter what your approach to reading. Decide why do you want to read this? Why do you want to spend time with this person? What is it that you think they can teach you? Who else is interested in knowing what you learned this to? When do you think you can use what you learn here? How could you use it in your life? Where is information like this relevant? Have a purpose for reading or don’t bother reading. More useful things can be done rather than spend 7 to 12 hours passively reading ONE short book.
© Alex Viefhaus August 2006
Jul 24
Speed reading is pushing the eye to move faster over the page. The problem is that people read slow because they have difficulty understanding what they read. To learn speed reading you need sacrifice understanding and push the eyes faster across the page. For many learning speed reading this compounds the problem that brings them [...] [...more]
Posted: under Photoreading, learning, reading, speed reading.
Speed reading is pushing the eye to move faster over the page. The problem is that people read slow because they have difficulty understanding what they read. To learn speed reading you need sacrifice understanding and push the eyes faster across the page. For many learning speed reading this compounds the problem that brings them to speed reading.
They want to understand what they are reading faster.
People who come to speed reading want better understanding so they can read faster. This makes it even more difficult for the learner. They were not satisfied with their comprehension skills and are asked speed up their reading at the expense of understanding what they read. With the promise that understanding will come with practice. It only takes an hour a day for three to six weeks. Who has that time?
Does understanding really come eventually? When learning speed reading one of the requirements is that you learn to create visual images of the words meaning. So instead of seeing the word “house” you have a mental picture of a house. How does that work on academic text where words themselves are often abstract? If you never successfully learned to understand what you are reading at a slower rate how does moving your eye and primary consciousness faster increase understanding?
To me this means if you’ve never learned the techniques for understanding what you read your reading will remain painfully slow, no matter how fast you try to push your eyeballs across the words.
Another problem associated with speed reading is that all the information is stored in the short term memory. This means you will forget everything you read in a short period of time. If you’re reading for an exam in 3 weeks you will remember little of what you had read if you used speed reading. So a lot of time must be invested in other Memorising techniques.
People also look to speed reading courses because they want to remember what they read in the shortest possible time. The problem with that idea is to try to memorise the information while one is reading interferes with understanding. In other words if you try to memorise as you read, not only does it slow your reading down, it makes it difficult to understand and naturally makes it difficult to memorise.
Speed reading can only promise to get the reader to speeds of about 800 words a minute. Any faster than that and you are skimming. Which is not a good if you’re apt to miss the cues that change the meaning of a sentence, since they are often small words they are easily skipped.
The reason people look for speed reading is in one word, speed. It’s not necessarily to “read” faster. The true reason is the need to “understand”. They want to understand what they are reading faster. To get their homework done on time. To get out of the office and back to the family. We want and need to understand what we are reading faster.
In that way learning speed reading creates a paradox. You have to surrender your need to understand what you are reading It’s something that most people have difficulty doing. And an hour a day for three to six weeks just practicing speed reading adds to the work overload people have to deal with.
I too attempted to learn speed reading. At the end of the course my reading was slower than at the beginning. Why? I found it difficult to accept the loss of comprehension while I was reading.
Thankfully I discovered “photo reading”.
© Alex Viefhaus July 2006
Jun 14
Prove that PhotoReading works and I’ll learn it. This is what people often want from experienced PhotoReaders before they are willing to learn.
Who can blame them. Reading is one of the most difficult skills to teach and learn. And at the same time it is one of the most needed skills if we want to [...] [...more]
Posted: under Photoreading, comprehension, learning, reading.
Prove that PhotoReading works and I’ll learn it. This is what people often want from experienced PhotoReaders before they are willing to learn.
Who can blame them. Reading is one of the most difficult skills to teach and learn. And at the same time it is one of the most needed skills if we want to succeed in school and business.
PhotoReading looks like a novelty skill that only a few can do and yet there is research out there that proves what our mind is able to do this.
As science continues to do research of the mind and more and more discoveries are confirming that we can do more than we are doing. We still need to teach and learn this valuable skill.
Science can only be assurance that it is humanly possible. If you want to do it, it still takes time to learn. With so many others showing the skill, it must humanly possible.
I can point you to pages and pages of research. Do we even have the skill to understand what all this research is telling us if we do not have the necessary reading skill?
What is reading anyway?
At school we learned to read one word at a time. This continued throughout our primary or elementary education.
When we started high school this all stopped. We were left to discover faster reading on our own. Not only that, more often than not we had to develop our reading comprehension on our own. Most of my classmates avoided reading where-ever possible. Many people I know still do.
Why? Because it’s boring. It’s a skill developed only by repetition. Doing it over and over. Hoping one day to discover the secret for understanding what we are reading and then hoping that knowing this secret enough help us read faster.
Did anyone teach us how to understand what we are reading? The accidental student figured it out. Many have difficulty with reading comprehension right into college.
While the majority of students read to their grade level skill in till about 13 years old. High school students fall behind. Current research shows less than 40% of the US high school students are capable of reading to their grade level.
Students lose their reading skills over summer.
The solution offered is “Keep Reading”. Summer Reading programs. This is the only way to hold onto and “hopefully” improve our reading skills. Yes. If you don’t read during the summer your reading skills decline. Or is it just the way to bring it up to the next grade because no time is spent on developing reading skills during the school year?
So summer reading is a must… AND another complaint is people are becoming obese. Does anyone else see a problem here?
The cycle of frustration and why bother?
What a great way to encourage exercise; make them sit down and read. When it great to be outside and exercising. It’s summer!
Is it a wonder that as children we develop the art of procrastination? We don’t want to be bored to tears reading a book that doesn’t interest us (and the majority of books they gave us were that kind). So we read it but don’t understand it which causes boredom and frustration.
It creates a cycle. It often slows us down even more. So why start reading if you know you’re not going to get anything out of it?
There you have why people are looking for faster reading methods. Not only to read faster also to understand better what they are reading. PhotoReading teaches fundamentals that a fortunate few learned in school. Add to that the PhotoReading step and you have a way of reading three, five and even 10 times faster than the old primary school reading techniques.
Perhaps what people want to know is not, “Is PhotoReading possible”, but, is it cheating? And am I allowed to do that because it wasn’t taught in school?
There are so many rules we learned when we first started to read. They were right for learning to read. Are they still all valid now that you know how to read?
When we started high school we were ready for the next level. What we had already learned was time-consuming and learned the time it took to read and the time we had available didn’t match. We knew we had to read faster yet the solution, Read More doesn’t fit either. If we need to read more then we definitely must have a way of getting the understanding we need from the text a whole lot faster.
We don’t need proof that PhotoReading is possible any more than we need proof that reading is possible. What we need is permission to let go of those old reading habits that hold us back. So we can learn what else we are capable of when it comes to reading.
© Alex Viefhaus June 2006
