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1. Editor's Note
I recommend this issue for people who want to read more efficiently.
2. Quote of the Week
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
- Joseph Addison
3. 5 Stages of Effective Reading
Everybody can read more than 1,000 words per minute, but it
doesn't mean everybody can memorize ones per minute. And by the
way, nobody can remember everything. However, we aim to get the
maximum benefit from our reading. Below are some tips that will
show you how to read more intelligently.
Fancy you've bought a new book. You wish to read this book
quickly and efficiently. Let's learn how to do it, stage by
stage.
1. Knowing what you want to know
Firstly, answer to the following question: What do you want to
know after reading this book?
To answer this question you should scan the introduction and the
chapter headings. Your answer to the question is your purpose
for reading. It may help at this stage to review your current
knowledge of the subject.
2. Survey your book
The book should be surveyed as follows:
Read the title, any subtitles, summaries, and identify the
source of the publication, i.e. the author and publisher.
Read the date of publication or copyright. The book may well
have gone beyond its sell-by-date, e.g. a book on electric
motors written in 1950 would be irrelevant, unless perhaps you
were trying to mend Grandma's lawnmower.
Analyze the Index. The particular concepts listed and the way in
which they are organized will tell you a particular author's
bias and whether or not the book will cover the ideas that you
are trying to get wise on. Frequently, the Index is a better
guide for these purposes than the Contents page.
Read the Preface. Nearly always written last, it will often
provide an excellent summary, and usually a statement of purpose
for the book and a note on the author's perspective on the
subject.
Read the Table of Contents. Note the sequence and check for
Chapter summaries. Chapter summaries are an abstract of the
Chapter contents. They will frequently inform you whether or not
a particular publication is suitable for your purposes.
The next step is to look at the visual material. Read the maps,
graphs, illustrations, charts, and bold headings.
Now you have completed these steps, then decide to use the book
or not.
3. Revise your Purpose
Once you have surveyed the material and gained more information
and if you have decided to use the book, then revise your
original purpose for reading the book. Ask yourself: Why am I
reading this? This will establish your specific learning
objectives.
4. Active Reading
Keeping in mind what you want to learn, speculate on what the
material will tell you. Begin to read with the satisfaction of
your objectives in mind. Sometimes it is inappropriate to start
at the beginning, so decide where to start reading. Your overall
purpose for reading the material is your best guide.
Note: the manner in which the author presents his ideas will
demand that you constantly vary the rate of reading and the
reading technique you are using, if you wish to be efficient. If
you continue reading at the same rate for a prolonged period, it
is a good indication that you are not reading flexibly and that
you are allowing yourself to become inefficient.
Continually ask WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW, WHERE and WHEN questions,
as an interactive dialogue between yourself and the study
material, in order to extract the important facts.
The Who question helps you to hold in mind any significant
people. Why classifies purposes. How classifies cause and effect
sequences, time sequences, procedure or process instructions or
where the new information fits into your life. The Where
question points to where the action is taking place or where the
new information can be used. The When question can both denote
when a subject takes place and when you can use the information.
Finally, the What question allows you to take a quick survey of
your current knowledge.
Note: Don't forget to take regular breaks every thirty or forty
minutes.
5. Define things that you have learned
Finally, define the most important idea and pick out key points.
So, that's all. Good luck!
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5. Questions and Answers
John asks:
What is The Photoreading Technique?
The Photoreading Technique is a way to process and understand
large volumes of information quickly. That technique is part of
a greater system, called the PhotoReading Whole Mind System,
which is based on some systems. Here are some of them: prepare,
preview, Photoread, activate, and rapid read.
The Photoreading Technique will be discussed in one of the next
issues.
Send your questions to
mailto:lipsky@hotmail.com
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