Learning to Speed Read
Have you heard about WikiBooks? I hadn’t until a few weeks ago.
I’ve been a notoriously slow reader ever since I was young. I have had a love-hate relationship with books for this reason. I like this form of learning (reading,) and I like the fact that reading makes me feel more intelligent… but I’ve always felt like it took longer than it should, so I get discouraged easily and often feel stupider after reading for an hour. Hence I have shelves full of books that I’d like to read but still haven’t.
Last year I was reading a blog entry by an author whose insights I respect. Seth Godin suggested that one of the top 20 things kids should start learning is to speed read with comprehension. Since then I’ve heard of two Turkish friends who’ve taken speed reading courses. I thought to myself “I can’t wait until my Turkish is such that I can take community ed courses in this language. Then I’ll be able to learn how to speed-read.
After learning about WikiBooks 3 weeks ago, I thought; “maybe there’s something on there teaching how to speed read.” I found a short eBook on the subject and started practicing the little tips in the article for training yourself to speed read.
Last week I finished (and comprehended) an entire book (a short and easy one) just by reading 15-30 minutes in the mornings with the methods I learned online.
This week, I’ve moved onto a more challenging book.
I realized this morning that I read (and comprehended) a section in 20 minutes that would have taken me at least an hour 1 month ago. I can’t help but wonder what other wonderful things I’ll be learning from Wikibooks the future.
A Foreign Perspective 