CHAPTER 1
THE BASIS OF ALL STUDY SKILLS
I think youâll find this is a book unlike any youâve read before. And if you take the time to read it, I promise it will make everything else you have to readâwhatever your student status, whatever your job, whatever your ageâa lot easier to get through.
Why? Because Iâm going to show you how to plow through all your reading assignmentsâwhatever the subjectsâbetter and faster⌠and how to remember more of what you read.
This book is not a gimmicky speed-reading method. Itâs not a spelling and grammar guide. Nor is it a lecture on the joys of reading. Itâs a practical guide, geared to youâa student of any age who isnât necessarily a poor reader, but who wants to get more from reading and do better in school and in life.
Personally, Iâll read just about anything handy, just to be able to read something. But just because I have always loved to read, it didnât make it any easier to face some of those deadly textbook reading assignments. As a student, you will inevitably be required, as I was, to spend hours poring through ponderous, fact-filled, convoluted reading assignments for subjects that are required, but not exactly scintillating.
You may love reading for pleasure but have trouble reading textbook assignments for certain subjects. You may get the reading done but forget what youâve read nearly as quickly as you read it. Or you just may hate the thought of sitting still to read anything. Whatever kind of student you areâand whatever your level of reading skillâIâve written this book to help you surmount your reading challenge, whatever it may be.
And that includes, for those of you long out of school, reading those nap-inducing business tomes, trade magazine articles, and other work-related stuff thatâs rarely reader-friendly.
Youâll learn what you should readâand what you donât have to. Youâll discover how to cut down on the time you spend reading, how to identify the main idea in your reading, as well as the important details, and how to remember more of what you read.
Iâll show you different ways to read various types of books, from dry science texts to cumbersome classics.
Who knows? I might even convince you that reading is fun!
When youâre a good reader, the world is your oysterâyou qualify for better schools, better jobs, better pay. Poor readers qualify for poor jobs and less fulfilling lives.
Ready to Begin? Get Motivated!
Any attempt to improve your reading must begin with motivation. Reading is not a genetic trait that is written in your DNAâthereâs no gene that makes you a good or bad reader like the ones that decide your hair or eye color. For the most part, reading is an acquired skillâa skill you can secure, grow, and sharpen. You just have to want to.
As the Nike commercial lambastes all of us weekend warriorsââJust Do It!â This attitudeânot techniqueâis where the quest for improved reading begins. You must make reading a habit.
Good Reader vs. Poor Reader
Look at the following comparison of a good reader and a poor reader as if you were some corporate hotshot who could hire just one of the individuals.
Good Reader: You read for purpose. Youâve clearly defined your reason for readingâa question you want answered, facts you must remember, ideas you need to grasp, current events that affect you, or just the pleasure of following a well-written story.
Poor Reader: Yes, you read, but often have no real reason for doing so. You aimlessly struggle through assigned reading, with little effort to grasp the âmessage.â
Good Reader: You read and digest the concepts and ideas the author is trying to communicate.
Poor Reader: You get lost in the muddle of words, struggling to make sense of what the author is trying to say. You are often bored because you force yourself to read every word to âget the messageââŚwhich you usually donât.
Good Reader: You read critically and ask questions to evaluate whether the authorâs arguments are reasonable or totally off-the-wall. You recognize biases and donât just âbelieveâ everything you read.
Poor Reader: You suffer from the delusion that everything in print is true and are easily swayed from what you formerly believed to be true by any argument that sounds good.
Good Reader: You read a variety of books, magazines, and newspapers and enjoy all types of readingâfiction, poetry, biography, current events.
Poor Reader: Youâre a one-track readerâyou read the sports pages, comics, or Gothic novels. Current events? You catch updates about your world from TV news âsound bites.â
Good Reader: You enjoy reading and embrace it as an essential tool in your desire to better yourself.
Poor Reader: You hate to read, deeming it a chore to be endured only when you have to. Reading is âboring.â
Take a minute and ask yourself, whom would you hire? Yes, you might hire Mr. Poor ReaderâŚin some low-paying job. But would you ever put someone with such low-level skills in a position of major responsibility?
At this point, I wonât ask you to evaluate your own level of reading skills. Characterizing yourself as a âgoodâ or âpoorâ reader was not the point of this exercise. What is important is to realize that Ms. Good Reader didnât spring full-blown from Zeusâs cranium quoting Shakespearean sonnets and reading physics texts for fun. She learned to read the same way you and I didâwith âSee Spot run.â
In time and through making reading a habit, Ms. Good Reader acquired and honed a skill that will open a world of opportunity to her.
Mr. Poor Reader, at some point, decided that being a good reader was not worth the effort and made poor reading his habit.
The good news is that being a poor reader is not a life sentenceâyou can improve your reading. The challenge is to find the motivation!
How Fast Can You Understand?
When we read too fast or too slowly, we understand nothing.
âPascal
Are you worried that you read too slowly? You probably shouldnât beâless rapid readers are not necessarily less able. What counts is what you comprehend and remember. And like anything else, practice will probably increase your speed levels. If you must have a ranking, read the 500-word selection that follows (adapted from American Firsts by Stephen Spignesi, published by New Page Books, 2004) from start to finish, noting the elapsed time on your watch. Score yourself as follows:
45 seconds or less | very fast |
46â60 seconds | fast |
61â90 seconds | high average |
91â119 seconds | average |
120â150 seconds | slow |
151 seconds or more | very slow |
Now answer the questions on the following page without referring back to the text:
1. What stimulant besides cocaine is found in the coca leaf?
A. Ecstasy
B. Caffeine
C. Ephedrine
D. Cola
2. About how long has Coke been around?
A. 85 years
B. 185 years
C. 120 years
D. 88 years
3. What flavors are mentioned as existing in Coke (vs. Pepsi)?
A. Vanilla, cola, and lemon-lime
B. Cola and vanilla
C. Vanilla, cola, and orange
D. Orange and cola
4. Which has more sugar: Coke or Pepsi?
A. Coke
B. Pepsi
C. Both
D. Neither
A good reader should be reading fast or very fast and have gotten at least three of the four questions correct.
Answers to Quiz:
1) B;
2) C;
3) C;
4) C
You should only worryâand plan to do something about itâif you fall in the slow or very slow range and/or missed two or more questions. Otherwise, you are probably reading as fast as you need to and retaining most of what you read.
Again, the relationship between speed and comprehension is paramount: Read too fast and you may comprehend less; reading more slowly does not necessarily mean youâre not grasping the material.
What Decreases Reading Speed/Comprehension:
1. Reading aloud or moving your lips when you read.
2. Reading mechanicallyâusing your finger to follow words, moving your head as you read.
3. Applying the wrong kind of reading to the material.
4. Lacking sufficient vocabulary.
There are several things you can do to improve these reading mechanics.
To Increase Your Reading Speed:
1. Focus your attention and ...