Super speed reading?

[BFMF]

One of my classmates in my english class showed me a computer program that teaches you how to read fast. He said the program is supposed to teach and gradually increase the speed that you can read. He said the program's goal is to get the user to read at 10,000 words a minutes.

I don't doubt that some people can read faster than average people, but 10,000 words a minute?

Personally, I have a hard time believing that someone can read at 10,000 words a minute and be able to comprehend it at that.

What do you all think?

[Mobius]

Seems awfully fast, but if it were true, it would be really helpful.

[TacitBlue]

Seems like it would tske the joy out of reading. you could read a long book in 15 minutes, then what? You would have to move on to another book.

[SilverFox441]

The technique involves ignoring all connective words and only seeing the pure content. It can be useful for dry, factual subjects but there exists a very real possibility to miss nuance while reading this way.

I'm a natural speed reader (approx 3500 WPM) and was taught a "speed reading" technique to see how fast I could be pushed (highest value was 14K WPM).

I hated it. The possibility for error was disgustingly large. Subtle changes to a sentence structure were totally missed. Sometimes changes that inverted the meaning of a sentence were missed.

The technique is very useful for scanning material though...I can charge through a document looking for keywords, assess if that's what I need and charge on in record time.

[Katahu]

The technique involves ignoring all connective words and only seeing the pure content. It can be useful for dry, factual subjects but there exists a very real possibility to miss nuance while reading this way.

I'm a natural speed reader (approx 3500 WPM) and was taught a "speed reading" technique to see how fast I could be pushed (highest value was 14K WPM).

I hated it. The possibility for error was disgustingly large. Subtle changes to a sentence structure were totally missed. Sometimes changes that inverted the meaning of a sentence were missed.

The technique is very useful for scanning material though...I can charge through a document looking for keywords, assess if that's what I need and charge on in record time.

You should work in the pharmacy like I do. Pharm boys have tons of references that are thick as tank armour and might [just might] stop a M-16 bullet.

[H]

I remember about an interview with an author and someone, during the discussion between interviewer and author, read the entire book within ten minutes. The reader was then quized and he could not only provide quotes but give the paragraph and page it was on. The author told him, "You just read in ten minutes what it took me over ten years to write."

[Ecko]

10.000 words a minute?! That's 166 a second!!

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

Well, I think I read fast...it's something natural...when I first got a 600 page book at 11pm at night (small print, font size...whatever), I was half way (350 or so pages) through in just under 1.5 hours...I don't know...I love reading

[Hagar]

I've always enjoyed reading & at one time could read much faster than most people. As others have pointed out, if you skip complete words the author's point is often lost so you might as well not bother reading it in the first place. This applies to anything whether it's a novel, factual work or technical literature. If you miss the point of detailed instructions or rules & regulations that are usually carefully worded to avoid any possibility of misinterpretation this could be very serious indeed.

I find it difficult to believe that anyone could read 10,000 words per minute, even short words.

[H]

I find it difficult to believe that anyone could read 10,000 words per minute, even short words.

I've forgotten what the incident I mentioned equated to. It was well over the 10k/min. However, the reader admitted that he was actually "scanning" the pages. This would equivalate to using "photographic" memory. Although I don't at all put myself in his category, I know that's possible because I looked over at a document for not even a second and can still, after many years, remember it as a picture. I know her name, her birthdate, she had a brother who shared my birthdate...
maybe I've said enough. Perhaps it just depends upon where your interests are.

[Hagar]

I've forgotten what the incident I mentioned equated to. It was well over the 10k/min. However, the reader admitted that he was actually "scanning" the pages. This would equivalate to using "photographic" memory. Although I don't at all put myself in his category, I know that's possible because I looked over at a document for not even a second and can still, after many years, remember it as a picture. I know her name, her birthdate, she had a brother who shared my birthdate...
maybe I've said enough. Perhaps it just depends upon where your interests are.

That's called a 'photographic memory'. My ex-boss is like that & he also has a remarkable memory. He can answer questions on complex part numbers & their locations without referring to a book or computer which is obviously very useful. If someone rings up asking for an old part number nobody's ever heard of he will often leave the office for a couple of minutes & return with the item in his hand. It might have been in storage for 20 years but he knows the parts number & exactly where it's stored. The main stores covers an area of 50,000 square feet. One disadvantage being that some of this is not written down anywhere but is inside his head so you're helpless when he's not there or ill, which he very rarely is. What will happen when he retires or if he died suddenly is anyone's guess. This is  something he was born with & not deliberate.

[MattNW]

It also depens on your modality of learning. Some people can learn to understand words by sight. Others must sound them out or at least translate the letters into sound in their head. For the former speed reading lessons can lead to significant improvement in reading. If however you are very auditory oriented then you will see lower performance than someone who is visual.

I've tutored kids and adults in reading and spelling and the mileage will vary depending on the individual. I had some speed reading courses myself and found I topped out around a thosand or so words a minute with 90% or better comprehension which since I'm one of the auditory learners is quite fast. I can push it to close to 5000 wpm but then I only get about 30% comprehension.

In short your mileage will vary. If anyone promises you different then they are pulling a scam on you. Don't take their course. Also while you can improve a lot on your own it helps a great deal if you have a trained tutor or even a licensed teacher to assist you either by email or in person.

In all however speed reading is a good course to take especially if you intend to use it for college courses. A lot of college courses require a huge reading load and being able to read faster will result in less time spent studying.

Look for a course with a lot of flexibility and that's suited for different modalities. Personal attention is helpful but not needed 100% of the time unless you happen to have a reading disability. In that case personal attention may mean the difference between success and wasted money.

Edit
Also look for a course that will test which modality you use best before embarking on the reading course. Particularly good are the ones that create a tailored course depending on the results of the testing.

[SilverFox441]

Very good point by Matt...how your head is wired is going to make the most difference in how much gain you get from any course of this type.

The interesting thing I found out about myself when I was tested concerns patterns of reading... It was discovered that I read bi-directionaly, left-to-right and right-to-left. I also take regularly spaced pauses.

The guy doing the test said it was quite rare, but he had heard of it. What actually happens is that I have an eidetic memory and don't actually read except during the pauses. Think of a scanner digitizing the page and then analyzing it. The real work is done once the document is in memory.

Apparently it is a combination of my parents not teaching me to read and native ability. Because I wasn't taught, just told what something said, I learned using the full capabilities of the native talent. Instruction would naturally have made me follow convention and slowed me down.

It does have the added bonus in that I can read upside down faster than most people can when seeing the text normally. I dod notice the longer pauses when doing that...I guess there is more data analysis to be performed.  ;D

[H]

It does have the added bonus in that I can read upside down faster than most people can when seeing the text normally.

Yeah, but when you write out a quote our reading is slowed down as we mentally invert your upside-down text.

[gryshnak]

The technique involves ignoring all connective words and only seeing the pure content. It can be useful for dry, factual subjects but there exists a very real possibility to miss nuance while reading this way.

I remember many years ago, a similar technique was boasted by some study group who were tested on a TV show.  They were given a large body of text which they read very fast, and they did have pretty good recollection of what they'd just seen.  But in fact they had been reading from two works, every second sentence had been taken from another book and slotted in, and the speed readers hadn't even noticed!  They had a good grasp of the individual sentences but couldn't put them together to make the overall picture.  Useful for reference perhaps, and still impressive, but it did have limitations.

Gryshnak