Speed Reading Basics

by: Jonathan Mayheart

Speed reading is vital in today’s business and academic world, with the vast information that the internet offers, and the huge amounts of reading tasks an average manager or student faces, there is really no choice but to try and increase the intake of information.

In the last forty years there has a been an explosion of information, we are living the information revolution and that requires a lot of young professionals a great deal of effort in digesting this information and making good use of it.

Most of the people who attend speed reading courses and classes have some kind of problem, or believe they have some kind of problem, with their reading, here are a few of these potential problems.

Lack of concentration or partial/impaired concentration is an obvious problem for speed reading, the effects of the environment on ones reading rhythm and the general tendency of some people to be able of acceptable reading rate only in ideal situations. This problem is one of the basic speed reading problems and is usually dealt with in most courses.

Poor eye movement may cause some readers to shift their eyes to other directions and than go back to the book or paper to relocated the last point read. This problem also correlates with poor mechanical skills, which can be a real problem in speed reading.

Short attention span is a clear problem, almost everyone knows this problem, you start strong and begin to slow down as you read on. This kind of problem typically creates a situation of going back to re-read some lines over and over again, or a need to read the same sentence a couple of times for lack of understanding or loosing the line of thought altogether.

Reading by heart, when a person reads to himself (muttering the words or even reading out load) is an obvious problem since speed reading is much faster than talking, the reading out load inhibited the ability to read fast and also regulates a slow input of information into the cognitive.

Delayed reaction to information and material – This delay often comes from inattention, reading ahead or distraction. Desire to remember every word – This is loosely related to the tendency to re-read or slow down.

So what can you do to increase your reading skills? Do you really need to try speed reading you should you consider just eliminating some of these problems. The answer is most likely dependent of what you need, no matter what you problem is, you need to address the problem.

To try and read faster, here are a few tips that would get you going. Think of reading as a ‘pick and choose’ activity, where you can choose to read the words and phrases that are critical to comprehension, and skip over the connective tissue.

One major key in speed reading is filtering out all the words that has nothing to do with the subject and naturally, there a lot of them. All the connecting words, basically words that are there to connect one word with the other to make a sentence (TO make A sentence) the “and” “it’s” and “and’s” have got to go, just make yourself blind to them, go over these words and do not dwell on reading or noticing them.

Practicing time reading is also good, set up a timer and see how much you read in one minute, and in five minutes. Try and honestly estimate how much did you get from the text (make sure this is something you read for the first time), and try to beat yourself at this over and over again, until you start to feel that you have moved up one level. Experiment with different texts, and try to find books with text that has some questions about what you just read so you can apprise your understanding. Evaluate your situation every time you do this, reading faster sometimes mean that you will make more mistakes on understanding the subject, you should start making “mental notes” while reading so you will not fail answering the questions.

Train yourself to read more quickly by forced timing. If you are a runner, training for a race, you go out and run every day and you try to improve your time or your distance.

Set a timer and run a reading race every day for two to four weeks. You do not have to spend more than five minutes on this exercise. You may become frustrated, at first, by the fact that you cannot read as fast or remember as much as you would like.

Practice makes perfect, and this is the most basic thing you can do to increase your reading speed, in two weeks you should see some improvement, and you should work on the weaker aspects of your reading skills. This is the start of speed reading, and once you master the basics you will be on your way to becoming a speed reader.

About The Author Jonathan Mayheart has been writing speed reading tips and advice for internet sites in the last few years. Jonathan currently writes Speed Reading http://speedreading.zupatips.com articles for the tips and advice website ZupaTips.com.

Found at http://www.ArticleCity.com/

The Five Proven Ways to Combine Job and Studies

by: Linda Correli

On any course there is always at least one student who manages to succeed with studies, while others are doomed to fail. My friend Sally was like that. With an agenda of tasks to accomplish at work and a younger brother to look after, she always had good marks at university and even got her First-Class Degree with no troubles at all!

After my astonishment was dispelled, I started wondering how it came that Sally could successfully combine her job, studies and private life. And since I was about to start my own career being yet a university student, I kept a close eye on my friend trying to figure out her success formula. Step by step, I learned her tricks and adopted her studying methods, which were a good start in life.

1. Understand What You Need to Succeed at

The first thing Sally taught me is that getting a degree is not just about learning biology, history, English or whatever. It is all about understanding what you want to succeed – what, in fact, the university wants from you and what you will get in return.

Thus, Sally explained me that if you want to save plenty of time for the things you care about rather than doing unnecessary paper work for the university, you need to have a feel for the education market and sell your inspirations. Consequently, it is important to understand what the lecturer wants from you or what the essay marketer is searching for.

In this respect, Sally saw all lecturers as customers that fall in two broad categories. The first category includes teachers who consider lecturing as an unwelcome interruption to their research work. With them, Sally simply pitched her essays so that her opinions appeared more as evidence that she had read and understood the key contributions to the debate, rather as an attempt to pull down the monuments.

However, it was completely different with other teachers, i.e. the second category of teachers who enjoy teaching and discussing new ideas. To make a favourable impression on them, Sally would present her arguments to show that she had done her reading and understood the key concepts. Moreover, she would try to add something more to the issue rather than rake over familiar ground.

Pretty soon I understood that studying is all about working out what is wanted and then delivering it. This tactic never let me down!

2. Delegate Some Job to Others

Sally was a master of shortcuts. “Why should I bother myself with dull research paper topic I’m not interested in when someone else can do 200 times better than me and for me?” That’s what she told me two days before the research paper deadline, when everyone was suffering over their research papers and Sally wasn’t even bothered to have a look at it. The very same day Sally ordered her research paper at one of online custom writing services, received it a day later, skim read it, handed it in and got the desired “pass.” I couldn’t believe it!

Surely, in the course of time I understood how unwise it is to spend so much time on a single research paper just for a tick in a register. Ever since then ordering my university papers became a usual practice for my university years. I simply ordered a research in one of the respectable and proven custom writing services and spared myself of boring and time-consuming research.

With custom writing services, I learned to get both: free time and professionally written, plagiarism-free papers that were tailored to my specific needs.

3. Seek Shortcuts

In all university years there was always a long list of humble books that were to be read. Surely, every book on the reading list was out on long loan from the university library within 5 seconds of the list being issued with no way of getting it. Sally found the way out even here.

Collections of selected readings or journal articles could work miracles; for they are excellent sources that often save the bother of reading the original texts. To get the gist of a novel, we would flick through the book, read the introduction, note any summaries, look at diagrams, skim the index and read any conclusions. This way we plucked out what was needed and made our escape.

4. Condense Your Knowledge

So as Sally’s hectic lifestyle didn’t slow down even during an examination session, she worked out the proven way to pass any exam with flying colours even when you don’t have much time on your hands.

First, Sally was revising by discarding subject areas she could not face revising. The option was to compile notes and then condense them onto one or two sheets for each subject area, so that to concentrate on them before the exam. Thus, leading up to the exam, she would concentrate on the condensed notes and rely on the memory to drag out the details behind them when the time came.

Second, no matter how serious and difficult the exam was, Sally never practised writing exams questions, although it was recommended by the teachers. She always stressed the importance of being spontaneous and open-minded. Although, it all seemed a little bit crazy, I tried it once, twice, then one more time, and once again … and to the end of my studies at university.

5. Let Your Hair Down

No matter how difficult it was Sally would never miss a party, or some do. She would always hangout with her friends and share regular shop tours. Her studies or job would never outweigh a date with her boyfriend. Sally would never miss a training session in a gym.

In other words, Sally knew how to relax, let her hair down and get filled with energy, positive thinking and never-ending optimism that would drive her further on.

To cut a long story short, my friend Sally is the example number one of how to strike the right balance between working, studying and enjoying yourself. Simply, be a happy student, take what you do seriously and do your best. And, no matter what you do, don’t forget to appreciate every day of your university studies, for it is one of the greatest periods of your life.

About The Author Linda Correli is a staff writer for http://www.go2essay.com She specializes in writing History, Literature and English essays and book reports, as well as admission essays, personal statements and letters of recommendation.

Found at http://www.ArticleCity.com/

Sleep More To Help You Study

by: Malcolm Moorhouse

For those of you that are studying, here are a few ideas to help you succeed with your studies.

Do you use your car for getting to school? You had better use your seat belt and buckle up considering many car crashes today are caused by lack of sleep. Chances are you are not getting the right amount of sleep at night. Sleep depravation doesn't just cause physical tiredness; it can affect the function of your brain too. This article looks at how lack of sleep can affect your learning potential.

Figures given by the national sleep foundation indicate that 85% of students do not get enough sleep. What constitutes as enough sleep? While definitions can vary, it seems the average is about 8.5 hours of sleep per night according to the foundation. If the calculation is correct and 85% of students are suffering from sleep loss, then you could gain an edge on them just from lying in bed, relaxing, and getting more sleep.

Sleep depravation can damage ones ability to stay focused, abstract thinking, creative ability, communication, and more. If these symptoms seem familiar, they are also symptoms of ADHD, the attention deficit disorder many people experience. It as been shown that these symptoms lead to poor performance in the classroom.

The route people should take in order to get more sleep is to make sleeping a larger priority in there lives. Many people have a sleep schedule that has a very low priority in there busy lives. Investing in a new set of soft sheets or a better mattress and bed could give people the incentive to making sleep a greater priority in there lives. Even some sleep inducing music, such as sounds of the sea can help a person fall asleep.

Once a student finds a way of getting more sleep positive results should be instant. Grades will go up because of better quality work. There will be a large increase in energy which could be converted into more productive working time.

It has been noted that getting more sleep can have other fringe benefits besides helping you learn better. When the body gets at least eight hour sleep you wake up with more energy which will lead to a more full filling life style. Also having more sleep will contribute to feeling relaxed and happier.

About The Author Malcolm Moorhouse. Web: http://www.sleepok.com Email: info@sleepok.com Copyright Malcolm Moorhouse 2006 Found at http://www.ArticleCity.com/

Foreign Language Memory Technique

by: James Dunn

Learning a foreign language takes a lot of time and effort. Even so, most people spend countless hours memorizing vocabulary lists, when there is a better way. The Dunn memory technique is a faster, easier, and more enjoyable way to learn a foreign language.

In order to understand how the Dunn technique works, a little knowledge of memory is necessary. You have several levels of memory retention. Here are the levels of memory from worst to best.

1. You are able to relearn the material faster and more easily than new material.

2. You are able to recognize it in a group or list.

3. You are able to remember it if you are given a hint. (e.g. It starts with the letter H)

4. You can recall it without any help.

The Dunn technique makes two assumptions. One is that when you study new words, some of them will naturally fall into the deeper levels of memory than others. The other assumption is that it is more effective to have many words at a lower level of memory than to be able to perfectly recall a few words.

If you are able to recognize many words, even at a low memory level, then you are able to talk to native speakers, watch a foreign TV show, or listen to music in the language you are trying to learn. Since these activities are more enjoyable than staring at a vocabulary list for hours on end, you will probably do them more often. Every time you listen to that song or watch that movie you are actually practicing your vocabulary and moving your retention of those words to deeper levels.

Memorizing words this way is also more natural, and you will learn words in order of their importance. The importance of knowing a word is the frequency it is used in the language. Therefore the more important a word is, the more often you will hear it on TV and in music, the better you will remember it.

To learn a list of vocabulary words with the Dunn technique, you look at each word with its definition, and memorize it using whatever technique is most effective for you (e.g. form a mnemonic, picture it in your mind, repeat it a dozen times, etc). You need to memorize it well enough to have total recall for the entire list without looking at it. Once you can do that, forget about the list for a while. Review it every once and a while, but not too often. Don’t worry about forgetting a word or two. It is easier to put more new words into the lower levels of memory, than to try to forcefully pound those difficult words into the higher levels of memory.

If you keep a list with you everywhere you go, and continually review list over and over again, you are training your brain to memorize words that way. Then every time you want to learn a new word, you’ll have to go through that whole process again. It is better to memorize the word once, and let it fall back to the recognition level of memory, because then when you hear that word on a TV show or a song, your brain will realize that word was important, and it should memorize those words better.

It is also better for pronunciation to memorize a word from hearing native speakers say it than to memorize it from a list, since it’s your own voice in your head, and you have an accent. Your brain also prioritizes words more highly if you hear them in a real situation. Then your brain realizes why you needed to know that word, instead of just being another word on the list.

By focusing on quantity instead of quality, you are able to better learn from real life situations, just like you learned your first language. You will be able to learn words better, and more enjoyably by talking to native speakers and watching foreign movies than from memorizing lists. The Dunn technique doesn’t work for everyone. You have to know how good your own memory is, and adjust the method to fit your learning style. However, once you know how you memorize, you will be able to memorize words faster, more easily and more enjoyably with the Dunn memory technique.

About The Author James Dunn is the owner and operator of eLanguageSchool.net http://www.elanguageschool.net

Found at http://www.ArticleCity.com/