To read a book effectively means to assimilate what you have read, to learn something useful for yourself, to gain invaluable experience and a lot of ideas. It is a very useful skill for students, especially before exams. It was very useful when I learned to read effectively as well as when I found writers who could write my paper for cheap online. Speed reading techniques are good for cursory viewing of a large volume of primary sources and finding the necessary information. There is no deep immersion in the text.
Reading works of art, passing them through oneself, empathizing with the heroes, a person learns and develops spiritually. To make this happen, you need to read thoughtfully, analyze the events described, the actions and thoughts of the characters, put yourself in their place, thinking about how you would have acted in a similar situation.
Classification of reading methods
There are four most well-known ways of reading:
Basic. The classic way that we were taught at school. We just read the text sequentially from beginning to end, follow the plot and the denouement, perceive the meaning of what we read.
Analytical. The technique of reading with a pencil in hand. The goal is a thorough study of the material with full immersion in the text. For maximum efficiency, it is desirable to eliminate all distractions. During the reading, notes are made on paper bookmarks or margins of the book, the most important places are underlined with a pencil, the meaning of incomprehensible words is deciphered.
Research. A method in which two or more sources on a specific topic are simultaneously studied to clarify the overall picture. Facts can both complement and confirm each other, and differ in different sources. To get to the truth in the latter case, you have to study additional material.
Inspection. The technique of fast reading. It is suitable in cases when a large amount of material needs to be viewed to search for certain information. The reader skims through page after page, capturing the most important moments.
Each of these methods is suitable in certain situations for working with literary sources.
Reading technique with a high level of memorization
With the usual (regressive) reading technique, for better memorization, it is advised to emphasize important thoughts in the text, make pencil notes in the margins or write out the most essential on a separate sheet. This contributes to a more attentive reading, which affects the assimilation of the material.
But is it possible to quickly read and memorize what you read at the same time? It turns out that there is a speed reading technique with a high level of memorization. To do this, you need to follow seven important rules:
At the initial reading, the text is read strictly from beginning to end, without returning a glance at the words, lines, paragraphs that have already been read.
A reasoned return to the text for its comprehension is possible only after the first reading of it in its entirety. Repeated study of the text should be caused by the conscious need to understand the difficult places encountered during the initial reading, when questions, thoughts, and own ideas arise.
To get the maximum information during the initial reading, use a special algorithm. When reading, try to catch the main problem, mark the main facts with your inner eye for further study. After reading, analyze the material critically. Conclude whether there is something new in it for you.
To rethink the text, go back to the main points. Reread them, make sure that everything is clear to you. Highlight the key, supporting words. After that, pay attention to the semantic series built around these words. And finally, select for yourself the main semantic part containing the main, defining information.
When reading, try to suppress all kinds of articulation (speaking out loud, silent lip movement, mental pronouncing). This helps to speed up the processing of information by the brain. To eliminate mental articulation, you can use the pointer technique. Just move your pointer (finger, the back of a pencil or pen) along the line with the desired reading speed, increasing it as much as possible. This will not only get rid of internal pronouncing but also help to concentrate your eyes on the right line, not letting him wander around the page and return to what he has already read.
Develop peripheral vision and memory. Have you noticed that turning your head and moving your eyes left and right when a reading helps to increase its speed? An even greater effect can be achieved if peripheral vision is developed. When used correctly, attention is focused on one keyword, and the brain simultaneously perceives the words standing on the left and right (usually it is possible to perceive five words at the same time). For the development of peripheral vision, exercises with special pictures help, in which you need to quickly find the location of a certain sequence of many numbers.
The algorithm of reading with memorization of information:
- give yourself a mindset to memorize (clearly imagine what you need from the text);
- evaluate the complexity and size of the text;
- calculate the time for assimilation, dividing it into actual memorization and repetition;
- read the text fluently for the first time;
- if necessary, go back to the main points and rethink them;
- use the memorization technology that suits you;
- after a while, check the quality of memorization, trying to remember the meaning of what you read.
Memory technology
There are different technologies of memorization. The method of figurative grouping has proven itself well. Its main idea is to break the text into semantic blocks (no more than seven or nine are recommended), assigning each of them its key. A figurative embodiment in the form of a picture is created for each block. All images should be voluminous, bright, memorable.
It is advisable to use several senses at once. Close your eyes and fix the created image in your short-term memory for up to twenty seconds, mentally switching attention between the elements of the picture. This will further facilitate its transfer and storage in long-term memory.
Do this exercise for each semantic block separately, and then combine them into one picture or movie. Mentally hold this image for about thirty seconds. The effect of this technique is that when one of the keywords is mentioned, the whole picture (movie) will pop up in memory, and with it, at the level of association, the read semantic blocks of the text.
Exercises for training speed reading techniques
- Read upside down or in reverse order.
- Read the text with peripheral vision with a fixed gaze in the middle of each line.
- Study a page-sized text for 30 seconds and then retell it.
- Try to take a quick look at the paragraph without reading it, and then convey the main idea in your own words.
- Try to read the text and understand it with the movement of the eyes “diagonally”.
- Tips that increase the effectiveness and fascination of reading
- Take notes
Highlight meaningful thoughts and incomprehensible places in the text. Thoughts can be written out in a separate notebook, and notes with comments can be made on paper bookmarks. So you will be able to return to the moments you did not understand the first time and rethink them so that what you read formed into a single picture.
Having accustomed yourself to daily reading, having learned to abstract from the surrounding reality and fully immerse yourself in the world of the book, you will notice that your life has not just become more interesting, but has also begun to change for the better.
Thanks to books, you will learn to concentrate not only on the reading process but also on other important things. Your horizons will become wider, the level of erudition will increase, your speech will become richer. You will turn into an interesting, confident interlocutor and learn how to solve complex problems.
Read books in different genres
Don’t get hung up on any one genre. Take advantage of their diversity. Read alternately fiction, scientific, popular science, journalistic, educational, and special literature of various directions. After studying one topic, move on to another.
Share your impressions of the book, summarize
You can do this in writing, keeping for yourself something like a reader’s diary. If you need some help in writing a review, you can get help from top essay companies online. And you can share emotions from the book you read with your loved ones, leave a review about it on Internet resources. After completing the reading, try to evaluate the plot of the book, its usefulness. Write down the quotes you like, the most valuable thoughts of the author.
