Some of us are slow, and some of us are quick. What makes us different readers? We’ve all been taught in roughly the same way, and very few people have taken steps to really learn how to speed read or anything…
The answer is, there are many methods people use to read. If you want to learn how to read faster, the first step is to recognize what method you’re using. From there, you can choose the next method in the ladder, and you’ll be able to increase your reading speed and comprehension easily.
Here are some of the ways people read. What method do you use? Maybe you could afford to kick it up a notch. You can try combining more than one method for maximum results.
Phonics - The Letters Method
This method is one of the most popular methods. This method is the one most often used for teaching beginners of a language how to read. It starts by teaching the alphabet; the sounds of letters and their names are learnt in the start. Then, two or more letters are combined to form simple words. The words are read in by combining the phonetics representation of each letter, in the end coming up with a complete word.
This is the easiest way to teach a language, because there is a very limited amount of letters. If the person can understand the letters and how they sound, then they can read entire sentences out loud, even if they don’t understand the meaning right away. It’s an excellent method for improving your understanding the structure of words, and can always be depended upon used to enhance your vocabulary.
The Words Method
In this method the word is the unit of reading, instead of the letter. Instead of reading individual letters and combining them to create words, you read entire words at a time.
One popular training exercise for this method is with flash cards. A word is written on a flash card and the picture for which it stands accompanies it. For example the word table is written and there is the picture of table. Instead of using flash cards, black boards can also be used. In this method the teacher draws pictures and the students look the picture and say the word. In this method first of all some nouns are taught and then verbs. Then sentences are constructed by using these nouns and verbs. In the end adjectives and adverbs are added in to the sentences.
This method directly associates words with their meanings, disregarding the letters and how they individually sound.
The advantages of this method are:
1. It makes the word the unit of learning rather than the letter. So the students acquire a faster reading speed.
2. As the meanings of words becomes clearer, reading becomes more interesting
3. The abstract (a noun, for example) is associated with the concrete (the actual object) from the concrete to the abstract and teach, in essence, how to speed read. The child sees the actual object, then the word signifying it and then the symbols that represent the same
Some disadvantages of this method are:
1. Pictures cannot accompany all words, so not everything can be taught by this method.
2. It takes a long time to learn how to recognize and associate definitions with all of the words that will be encountered in a text.
The Phrases Method
In this method, the phrase is the unit of reading. In this, the reader takes in several words at a time. The only way to train for this is by extensively practicing the Words Method.
The properties of this method are:
1. It’s faster than reading individual words
2. A phrase does not express a complete idea, so it’s possible to get mix up if you don’t fluently read the entire sentence
The Sentences Method
In this method, the sentence is the unit of reading. The method is based on the belief that entire sentences can be anticipated and therefore can be prepared for.
The advantages of this method are :
1. It’s extremely fast.
2. It helps to prevent word by word reading it encourages correct habits of eye span
3. It makes the job of how to speed read interesting.
The disadvantages are:
1. It’s extremely difficult unless you are familiar with both the topic and the style of the text
2. You have to train your peripheral vision to take in large sections of a line at a time.
So how do you think you read? The average adult is still stuck using the Letters Method they grew up with. If you find yourself pronouncing the words in your mind, you’re probably using the Letters Method too.
If you want to increase your reading speed, you should try practicing one of the faster methods mentioned above. Don’t try to skip any steps - that will only make it difficult. Only move up one step at a time.
That’s it for this lesson. Happy reading!
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