By ADMIN
Who can Learn Speed Reading, and Who Would Benefit from this Knowledge?
Speed reading can be a valuable skill for people in a variety of situations and circumstances. Teachers, students, executives, office workers, avid readers and people with dyslexia can all learn speed reading techniques to not only get through material faster, but to also comprehend more of what they read. In particular, it benefits those who deal with large amounts of factual information on a daily basis and are pressed for time.
Before you can learn effective speed reading, you should already be an able reader and have the capacity to absorb information fairly well. You won’t get the full benefits of speed reading if you have problems understanding words. In fact, it may be detrimental to try to rush through material that you can’t comprehend. If you can understand college-level reading material then you’re a good candidate for learning speed reading.
Now let’s take a more detailed look at who can benefit from developing speed reading skills:
• Students at high school or college often have long reading lists and must undertake research for class papers and projects. Being able to read quickly will come in handy for co-ordinating these activities efficiently and for boosting their fundamental knowledge of subjects. Students of history, law or literature are most likely to benefit due to the enormous amount of required reading they must get through. Application of speed reading techniques will also improve students’ retention of information, contributing greatly to exam revision and performance.
• Teachers and professors can benefit by applying speed reading techniques to get through all their academic literature and prepare for classes more thoroughly. The time it takes to mark essays and homework can also be reduced dramatically, freeing up time for other activities and interests.
• Employees and business people are often inundated with information from every direction which they’re expected to read and digest quickly. Speed reading allows them to keep on top of all the new reports, letters, faxes, emails, memos that come their way, leaving more time for their actual work to be done. It’s also a skill that can be acquired within a few weeks of learning, without affecting an employee’s current workload. The result is that productivity improves considerably, giving speed readers a big boost to their career or business.
• People who enjoy reading for pleasure and for their personal development stand to gain a great deal from learning speed reading. It allows them to indulge in their hobby and enrich their knowledge without sacrificing time that could be spent with family or on other important activities.
• Dyslexics have the capacity to be excellent speed readers. People with dyslexia are predominately right-brained, so they’re naturally predisposed towards speed reading which is processed in the right side of the brain. Standard word-for-word reading usually takes place in the left side of the brain, hence the problems people with dyslexia usually experience when reading normally. Learning speed reading provides them with the alternative approach they need to focus on the material and improve the quality of their reading.
In conclusion, developing the ability to speed read is advantageous for all sorts of people who have to read often and handle large quantities of information. It’s always good to acquire speed reading as a skill early on, but it’s important to ensure you have adequate comprehension and vocabulary skills before embarking on any major learning program.
