Reading Advice
Over the past few weeks I've been researching further into Art Movements by reading books, e-books and journals; I noticed it was taking me a long amount of time, I wanted to improve my reading skills and be more efficient with my research. So I asked my brother who achieved a 2:1 english literature degree and is currently studying for his masters; I put the question to him- how do I read quicker? how do I take in this information and process it, in which he replied with this e-mail:
Hi Aaron,
My advice on how to read better from my own experience:
Firstly reading for pleasure and reading for study are different.I read a book avery two weeks but if i wasn't training 6 nights a week i could easily read a book every 3 - 7 days.
How do you become a good reader? Read , read and read some more. I'm not being sarcastic . Having said that there are techniques that you can use:
1) The number one and only one that i use is this. Use some sort of pointer, i.e a pencil when reading. I always use a pencil now every time without fail. It focuses the eye on the words. When you read the eye moves from one owrd to the next in a sentence for example:
The woods decay, the woods decay and fall.
Here your eye would make 9 or ten movements form each word across the sentence. If you use a pointer(pencil) youu can move the pointer every two words, thus reducing the amount of eye movements and causing less fatigue . This can be built up with a lot of practice to every 3, 4, 5 words and so on. Experts i believe can then do whole paragraphs and even pages. However keep it simple. Do it every two or threee words and it should speed up your reading. All this works on how the brain groups information together , Gestalt Theory if i remember.Don't try and do too much or you will loose understanding of what you reading.Getting better at this takes concentration and practice. I think that I 'jump` every 3/or 4 words, but this depends on how difficult the text is i'm reading. Some books are very complex and wordy and sometimees this just doesn't work so it't back to one word at a time.
This is the only method that i use after reading various books on spead reading.
2) Like i said reading for study is differnt than reading for pleasure. Reading for study i use skimming and scanning techniques. I found this that explains it well:
SKIMMING AND SCANNING
These are the two main skills needed in developing your effectiveness as a reader.
SKIMMING:
When you look through a book or a passage
- to get the general idea of what it is about (the gist)
- to find roughly the area to examine more closely to find something specific (in order to scan)
-
In order to SKIM efficiently, you should:
- read the first sentence of each paragraph - slowly
- allow your eyes to follow the paragraph through - fast - noting names, numbers, italics
- read the last sentence of the paragraph slowly
- If the paragraph is short: miss out the last sentence
- If the paragraph is very long: read a middle sentence - slowly
- If the paragraphs are very short: read every third paragraph - slowly - and let your eyes follow the other paragraphs through
REMEMBER - SKIM TO FIND WHERE TO SCAN
SCANNING:
When you examine a short piece of text in order to find specific things:
- information
- words, phrases
- details
- feelings
- ideas
In order to SCAN efficiently, you should:
- be clear in your mind what you are looking for - read the question carefully
- Skim to find the paragraph or sentences you need to examine
- read each sentence carefully - eliminate those sentences which do not contain possible answers
- write down a list of possible answers, or underline them lightly
- go back to your question and make sure you know exactly what has been asked
- select the answer from your list that best answers the question.
REMEMBER: SKIM for GENERAL - SCAN for SPECIFIC
3) When I have scanned a text once or even twice I then read through it slowly again and again unitl I really understand it depending on how complex it is.When studying usually it is impossinle to read all of whatt has been set. It's about using study techniques (like above) to get the info that you want unless of course you really want to read whatever it is your reading.
4) My last bit of advice is get organised and be disciplined. When I read or study;
no TV or any other distractions, it absolutely just doesn't work.
I personally absorb information in the morning far better than at night. Anywhere from 7 am to early afternoon 2pm say, you might be different. After this I'm not as good as absorbing information.
For every 45 mins I have 10 or 15 mins break to give my eyes and brain a rest.
5) I also make notes in Word not on paper it's far neater/more organised.
I hope this helps.
Good luck with your course. If you need any help give me an email.
Wesley.
Hi Aaron,
My advice on how to read better from my own experience:
Firstly reading for pleasure and reading for study are different.I read a book avery two weeks but if i wasn't training 6 nights a week i could easily read a book every 3 - 7 days.
How do you become a good reader? Read , read and read some more. I'm not being sarcastic . Having said that there are techniques that you can use:
1) The number one and only one that i use is this. Use some sort of pointer, i.e a pencil when reading. I always use a pencil now every time without fail. It focuses the eye on the words. When you read the eye moves from one owrd to the next in a sentence for example:
The woods decay, the woods decay and fall.
Here your eye would make 9 or ten movements form each word across the sentence. If you use a pointer(pencil) youu can move the pointer every two words, thus reducing the amount of eye movements and causing less fatigue . This can be built up with a lot of practice to every 3, 4, 5 words and so on. Experts i believe can then do whole paragraphs and even pages. However keep it simple. Do it every two or threee words and it should speed up your reading. All this works on how the brain groups information together , Gestalt Theory if i remember.Don't try and do too much or you will loose understanding of what you reading.Getting better at this takes concentration and practice. I think that I 'jump` every 3/or 4 words, but this depends on how difficult the text is i'm reading. Some books are very complex and wordy and sometimees this just doesn't work so it't back to one word at a time.
This is the only method that i use after reading various books on spead reading.
2) Like i said reading for study is differnt than reading for pleasure. Reading for study i use skimming and scanning techniques. I found this that explains it well:
SKIMMING AND SCANNING
These are the two main skills needed in developing your effectiveness as a reader.
SKIMMING:
When you look through a book or a passage
- to get the general idea of what it is about (the gist)
- to find roughly the area to examine more closely to find something specific (in order to scan)
-
In order to SKIM efficiently, you should:
- read the first sentence of each paragraph - slowly
- allow your eyes to follow the paragraph through - fast - noting names, numbers, italics
- read the last sentence of the paragraph slowly
- If the paragraph is short: miss out the last sentence
- If the paragraph is very long: read a middle sentence - slowly
- If the paragraphs are very short: read every third paragraph - slowly - and let your eyes follow the other paragraphs through
REMEMBER - SKIM TO FIND WHERE TO SCAN
SCANNING:
When you examine a short piece of text in order to find specific things:
- information
- words, phrases
- details
- feelings
- ideas
In order to SCAN efficiently, you should:
- be clear in your mind what you are looking for - read the question carefully
- Skim to find the paragraph or sentences you need to examine
- read each sentence carefully - eliminate those sentences which do not contain possible answers
- write down a list of possible answers, or underline them lightly
- go back to your question and make sure you know exactly what has been asked
- select the answer from your list that best answers the question.
REMEMBER: SKIM for GENERAL - SCAN for SPECIFIC
3) When I have scanned a text once or even twice I then read through it slowly again and again unitl I really understand it depending on how complex it is.When studying usually it is impossinle to read all of whatt has been set. It's about using study techniques (like above) to get the info that you want unless of course you really want to read whatever it is your reading.
4) My last bit of advice is get organised and be disciplined. When I read or study;
no TV or any other distractions, it absolutely just doesn't work.
I personally absorb information in the morning far better than at night. Anywhere from 7 am to early afternoon 2pm say, you might be different. After this I'm not as good as absorbing information.
For every 45 mins I have 10 or 15 mins break to give my eyes and brain a rest.
5) I also make notes in Word not on paper it's far neater/more organised.
I hope this helps.
Good luck with your course. If you need any help give me an email.
Wesley.