Speedreading - myth vs reality? your thoughts.
kjell: I kind of like reading ‘slow,’ or at my natural reading pace. I've experimented a bit with reading faster and it kind of takes the leisure and enjoyment out of reading for me. Probably because I haven't practiced it enough, and as I do it'll come more naturally and leisurely.But what helps me most is to try and read not letter by letter (as we did while learning to read as kids), nor word by word (as I think most people do once they learn), but phrase by phrase. Or at least chunk of words by chunk of words. Whatever the line width and word size of what you're reading has to be taken into effect: but I find reading goes much faster when I only let my eyes focus at {1,2,3,4,…} distinct points per line, absorbing a group of words at each point instead of sliding along the line one word at a time. Maybe this is a stupid tip and everyone already does this. And I haven't read the speed reading literature, this just seems like common sense, which when mixed with diligent practice, can develop valuable skills.