Speed Reading For Education

7 Speed Reading EDU is the world's most advanced accelerated reading system for schools. Based on proven principles of faster reading, 7 Speed Reading EDU contains all the features of 7 Speed Reading plus:

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speedreadingtechniques.org

On the pro side it has easy-to-use interface, video tutorials, multiple user accounts, well-structured course system for beginners & advanced students plus the ability to exercise with any digital text.

Elbert Zeigler

"I found 7 Speed reading. Doing eye exercises, warm-ups before reading, and how to look at words in groups instead of one at a time improved my reading and comprehension. I recommend 7 Speed Reading for you."

courselounge.com

7 Speed Reading is a decent speed reading software with an innovative approach. The customizable features are quite appealing since it allows you organize your speed reading training effectively.

Daniel Walters

"I have always struggled with reading slowly. Once I started using 7 Speed Reading, I did notice an improvement from approx. 200 wpm to 300 wpm."

winningspirit.com

If you want to learn how to speed read so that you can read everything faster, your best option is to get the self-paced speed reading course called 7 Speed Reading. It is designed to be the world’s most powerful speed-reading training program.

bestadvisor.com

From learning how to read and comprehend faster to how to keep your eyes healthy, everything is covered in this course for almost any age, and a team of professionals will help you master it.

Stephen L. (Reviewer)

I liked the accessibility of it. It helps, because users are able to easily maneuver throughout the software to varying levels and practice their reading at varying speeds.

Devad Goud

After having used this software, I learned techniques and skills such as eliminating my subvocalization, which not only greatly enhanced my speed reading, but also allowed me to get more engagement in what I read.

Reinard Mortlock

The biggest problem I had was sub-vocalization, 7 Speed Reading helped a lot with techniques to improve this and substantially improve my reading speed. The application is easy to use with loads of books to read to improve your reading skills.

Adel Serag

When I seriously exercise using the app, in no time, my reading speed goes from less than 400 to 600 and my target is 900 plus.

Nik Roglich

The pace trainer is great for getting my eyes focused and sharp. Also the word search exercise is very important, gets me searching for specific text.

Jose Godinez

I have improved my speed reading and comprehension since I started using 7 Speed Reading, I enjoy using it and I will continue to use it in the future.

BOOKS, THE ONLY LIFE-CHANGING WAY TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT (GUEST POST)




Helen Birke


Every loving and caring parent wants only the very best for their children, whether they are all grown up or still under their care. Which is why parents invest in the future of their children in every way possible. One of the most common ways to show their commitment towards the progress of their children is by paying keen attention to the education offered to them. Bearing in mind that we live in a fiercely competitive world, they make sure that their children don’t lag behind in everything they take part in.

Good parents are always there as the biggest cheerleaders in their children’s lives whether they are at the top or bottom. Parents who believe in their children are priceless and hard to come by. They understand the principle of nurturing their children’s dream and helping them realize those dreams.

Besides reading lots of self-improvement websites, I have heard it said that the best and only way to eradicate poverty and ignorance is by reading widely. Good books have the ability to transform and inspire minds of both the young and old. When taken very seriously, books are the only hope for tomorrow’s generation. They dispel the need to buy an essay to transform and equip our children adequately for the life ahead of them. This timely article will shed some light on the books to look out for and get for the young ones and the teenagers as these are the most targeted age groups in this cruel society we live in.

Top Motivational Books for Your Child/Teenager

Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins.

As the name suggests, this book is all about the journey towards self-discovery. Once your child is through reading this book, they will never ever want to settle for second best. This book will motivate them into seeing themselves through a different pair of eyes and search deeper into themselves for that rare and precious gem that is still buried deep inside. There are no words that a child longs to hear more than ‘you have what it takes, just dig deeper, I believe in you’.

You Can Heal Your Life.

This book works especially for teenagers who are at times overcome with self-defeating thoughts and outlook towards themselves. This is a book that will heal those open wounds left after constant criticism from peers and maybe teachers, coaches and the likes. Words do have an effect to either make or break the recipient.

The Six Pillars of Self-esteem.

For those kids and teenagers who are always wallowing in self-destructive thoughts and mind-sets because they are too short, too fat, they are not eloquent in their speech and other flaws they tend to pay unnecessary attention to. These kinds of thoughts take root in their minds because they allow themselves to become victims among their peers and at times, siblings. This book is the ultimate life coach and gives tips and pointers to the respective readers on how to rise above the teasing, mocking, bullying and also rejection. Once they make a commitment to refuse to see themselves through the eyes of their peers and critics, they will come out feeling more fulfilled and satisfied with their physical appearance and other areas they are not too comfortable with.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind.

The name itself tells what to expect inside the book once you begin perusing through the pages. The power to achieve anything you desire in life is all inside of you. If kids and teenagers are made to understand this, all their woes are over. Your subconscious mind holds the key to your happiness and fulfillment all you have to is to unlock it and rest assured that everything you dream of achieving in this life is possible. After reading this powerful book, stand in front of the mirror and say to the reflection, ‘you can do it’. Do this every morning before you leave your room and repeat it to yourself like a mantra before you go to sleep. In due time, you will notice a big change in the way you view things around you including yourself. It is very possible if you believe.

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway.

One of the best self-improvement books. The best way to overcome your fears is by finding it in yourself to face them. The sooner we understand that our fears are the biggest hindrance to achieving our goals, the sooner we must begin to work towards alleviating them.


Author Bio

Helen Birk is a social worker at Chicago, who studied modern problems of society. Today she studies anti-racist programs, organizes support to non-formal education for developing countries and helps students at https://customwriting.com/write-my-essay. Most programs are held in small groups of people. She believes that education is the only way to prevent society from national violence and previous mistakes made by humanity.

6 Fun Reading Activities For Kids (Guest Post)





Anna Marsh


The act of reading can start a child on a journey that would take him to new places every day. Reading is encouraged by just about every educator, teacher, and parent, as this is one activity that can develop a person’s inner being as well as provide him with essential life skills.

However, getting children interested in reading from a young age can be a challenging task. This difficulty is increased multifold by the modern devices that fascinate kids these days. Laptops, smartphones, and tablets are not only detrimental to a child’s health but also decrease his attention span, along with making it difficult for him to start reading early. As children grow older, they are only surrounded by more and more devices and distractions to keep them from reading.

For the child’s own sake, he has to be exposed to reading from the very beginning of his life. In order to facilitate reading in children, reading experts have suggested certain activities that could help to get a child interested in books and words, thereby laying the platform for a healthy reading habit. Just a few of these are discussed below:

For Beginners: Baby Books

In order to inculcate reading into a routine, kids need to be shown books that they can relate to at a very, very early age. Baby books have been designed with holes to look through; textured cloth and fibers to give a tactile sensation, and even buttons to produce noises.

Such books can be a delight for very young children who have not even mastered the alphabet yet. These would help children in developing positive memories linked to a book. If the parent is the one reading or interacting with the book alongside, the memories would be even pleasanter.

Bright and simple pictures, touch-and-feel features, and the parent’s voice and proximity are what would attract a child towards books from the start. Hopefully, this would be a solid base upon which to build a lifetime of loving books.

Asking And Answering Questions

After baby books, the next step is having your child read books that answer questions. On order to get them interested here, remind them of similar experiences you have had with them. For example, if a boy and his father are walking in the park in one book, be sure to take your child for a walk sometime soon, if you haven’t in the recent past.

Experiences would help the child to connect more with what they’re reading. Visits to the library, the zoo, different houses, and museums could really get the thought process of a young mind started. The parent could further facilitate this process by asking questions, giving comments, ad, most importantly answering the child’s questions with love, patience, and attention.

The talking part of such trip, and any time spent with a child is an essential part of their development. Talking leads to increased vocabulary and an enhanced understanding of the outside world.

Books With Repetition

Repetition and rhyme is an excellent way to keep children interest in a book. Books can even turn into songs if they’re written and read in the proper way, which would again help a child feel more connected to the book than ever.

Hence, parents and teachers should seek out book version of nursery rhymes as well, so that the pictures and words could soon be familiarized and set into the child’s memory.

Good examples of repetitive and rhyming books include: What Do You See? By Bill Martin and The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper.

Through listening to these books, a child could even complete the phrases or give answers. By participating like this, kids would be more likely to pick up a book on their own later on.

Pretending

Almost every kid loves to play pretend, whether it’s by playing house or pretending to shoot someone with a toy gun. The same goes for reading.

If a child is pretending to read, don’t stop them, or worse, make fun of them. Looking at words again and again was the traditional way to learn how to read, and it’s still a magical transformation and experience that every child deserves to experience.

Acting Out Stories And Poems

Acting out a story, reciting a poem with actions and gestures, and even setting up a tableau based on a book; all these are excellent and fun activities that kids can easily accomplish.

These activities would probably fill up a lifetime with memories, with videos and recordings of the acting available for revisiting one’s childhood. Additionally, these are extremely effective ways to get the story indelibly into the minds of children.

Many teachers around the world insist that their students, whether in elementary school or university, act out at least part of the text they’re reading. This is because acting out a text would give new and useful insights into the book or specific characters. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that acting’s a whole lot of fun!

Looking For Chances To Read Everywhere

Books aren’t the only medium for reading. There are reading opportunities everywhere, from cereal boxes to billboards to restaurant menus. Whenever people go out with their kids, and even while sitting at home, they can make a little game of creating reading ops.

The kids could have the task of finding words to read, or even write down the objects they see. This would facilitate both reading and writing skills.

Plus, reading the newspaper shouldn’t just be for grownups. Have your kids read out the headlines as soon as they’re old enough? However, it is recommended that they read mostly positive headlines, and on those subjects that interest them.

Plus, there are many, many children’s magazines that contain a lot of fun activities like crossword puzzles and word searches, as well as reviews and articles to sharpen the reading process.

Wrapping Up…

These reading activities would hopefully develop the enthusiasm and interest in both younger and older children. However, take note that it is the parent, guardian, or teacher who has to cheer the child on. Without their input, the activities would probably not be possible. It is even more important to realize that the child should learn to love the act of reading itself, not the prizes that come along with finishing a book or sentence. A balance hence needs to be kept while training a child to love reading.


Author Bio

Alyssa Healy is a highly experienced and qualified elementary school teacher at UK assignment writing service, who also blogs for a living. She is passionate about her teaching, and seeks to improve it in every way possible. You can reach her on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The Wolf Gamer, Baden Ronie, Expounded “geek speak” and More In An Exclusive Interview




Baden Ronie



“Write what you’re passionate about” is advice frequently given to would­be bloggers and online entrepreneurs (along with “don’t forget to check your spelling before hitting the [Publish] key”). Someone who’s turned his passion into blogging is Baden Ronie, who runs the popular site Wolf’s Gaming Blog. We asked Baden about writing and blogging in a recent interview.

UV: You started your blog out of your passion for gaming and a desire to share information on the topic. After more than five years of writing about gaming, do you find that you’re still as enthusiastic about your blogging?

?Generally yes. Now that I play more games than ever I do find myself getting burnt out from time to time, so these days if I’m not actively in the process of reviewing a game I tend not to play anything at all and instead spend my time catching up on movies, reading or chatting with friends.

As for the blogging, it’s largely the same answer. There are those days when you get up and feel like you’re banging your head off a brick wall because views haven’t gone up much over the past month or because nobody seems to be commenting, but then there are days when you get to play a cool game you may have never known about or when you get a pile of comments thanking you for the review that make it feel pretty awesome. There are so many other sites out there that becoming successful is pretty unlikely. Most of the time, though, I feel that so long as even a few people are reading what I write, I’ll keep doing it. Luckily, though, there seems to be a lot of really awesome people who come and check out my site. Yup, I’m pretty damn lucky.

UV: What do you do to make sure you’re always coming up with new and interesting ways to present information, when you’re talking about similar games, or upgrades to older versions?

I don’t sit down and plan out reviews or how to change up the way I describe certain things. At the end of the day there are so many similarities between mechanics in games that after a while you run out of ways to talk about them. Still, while I’m writing I do attempt to vary the way I approach talking about something. Quite honestly one of the ways I do this is by reading a lot of other reviews. By checking out the style other writers use and how they tackle talking about certain mechanics it provides a little inspiration.

In fact reading in general helps. It’s amazing how much you learn without even realising it. The way different writers piece their sentences together can vary so much. It’s amazing how versatile the English language can be. Perhaps one day I’ll actually be able to write well enough that people will recognize it as English, rather than the mess it is now :)

UV: Gamers, like other online groups, often have a jargon that only insiders will understand. Some of those words (like “noob”) eventually make it into standard English usage, but other words and phrases are confusing to non­gamers who might be looking for information. How do you handle the difference between “geek speak” and everyday English vocabulary?

I think the bigger question is where exactly do you draw the line between “geek speak” and normal English? Is describing a game as being a cover­based shooter too geeky for most people, or not? These days “geek speak” is almost is a part of the everday English vocabulary, so I don’t actually avoid using it very much. Indeed, l tend to assume that most of my readers are already entrenched within the culture of gaming and understand terms such as “noob.” If I attempted to avoid all “geek speak” then almost every review would increase massively in length because I’d have to describe a lot of basic stuff, such as what a cover­based shooter is. Having said that I try not to pepper my articles with incomprehensible gibberish. Provided a term like “noob”, for example, is presented in the right context I think even the uninitiated can generally understand its meaning, at least enough to accept it and carry on reading. Really it comes down to the fact that if I simplified everything I was saying and attempted to explain each individual element of a game or word then reviews would be messy. It comes down to attempting to concisely describe things while also describing the mechanic, theme etc. as a larger picture.

On the other hand I also review board games, and in those I tend to be a lot more mindful about using terminology that my regular readers may not be familiar with. Whereas with videogames I’m writing to an audience that already known their stuff, with the boardgames I’m hoping some of those videogame fans might read some of the boardgame stuff and check them out, so I actually take the time to stop and quickly explain what a worker­placement game is. How long I’ll keep doing that, though, is hard to say.

I guess when you get right down to it I’m probably not the most accomodating when it comes to people who have don’t have at least a passing knowledge of videogames :)

UV: In many ways media are seamless, with movies morphing into video games (or vice versa) which leads to online fanfic and blogs like yours. What’s your vision for the future when it comes to gaming and participation in communities devoted to gaming (virtual and IRL)?

Now that is a complex question. Obviously at the moment we have virtual reality entering the picture, having suddenly become a technology that anyone can acquire and have in their living room, provided they can afford the hefty price. At the same time the adoption rate hasn’t been fast, although we can probably safely assume that the high cost of something like the Oculus has a lot to do with that. The headset itself is expensive, as is the computer upgrade most people would need to run it. Until VR becomes much cheaper I don’t see it becoming too common, and thus at least for the forseeable future I don’t think gaming will change too much from what it is right now. Perhaps what is more important in the gaming landscape right now is that consoles are going to start getting hardware upgrades, moving them away from what consoles once were and closer to the PC market.

As for the other topic E­sports seems to be growing and growing, and with it Youtube. Video reviews from people like AngryJoe let people connect more with the reviewer, and through that subtantial followings are built. Written media, on the other hand, is struggling, which is bad news for me since I’m not pretty enough for Youtube! Sadly, though, we’re still seeing plenty of hostility within the gaming community, which the media loves to focus on.

Honestly, I can’t even begin to guess what the future holds for gaming. I’d love to see VR become more affordable, and for the media to grow bored of using videogames as a scapegoat for bar parenting or acts of extreme violence. But more than that I’d like to see larger companies back down from their various anti­consumer policies.While we get treated to many amazing games, we’re also treated pretty poorly by the likes of EA and Ubisoft. Awful pre­order bonuses tha tare designedto boost pre­order numbers with no real benefit to the customer, games being released in buggy states or with poor performance, and questionable microtransactions. These are just some of the problems that need to be solved.

UV: Ernest Cline’s book “Ready Player One” has been turned into a movie that looks as if it may be as popular as the book. Do you have any plans for writing a book, a movie script, or anything like that?

I’ve thought about writing a book or comic/graphic novel a lot over the last few years. I’ve always got characters, scenes and plot outlines floating around my head. But my problem is that I’m terrible at creating all the smaller things that need to happen along the way. In my mind I know the big things that occur at the beginning, middle and end, but get utterly lost when it comes to joining it all up to create a book­length tale. For this reason I think that if I really want to get into writing some stories I’d start with fanfiction. By choosing to write about characters and worlds I already know I could focus entirely on learning how to structure a story and join all the major plot points up.

My fear is that I’ll write a book and by some strange miracle people will enjoy it, but I’ll be completely unable to write another one. Maybe I’ll just have one book or comic in me. Or maybe I’m the next George R.R. Martin! But y’know, with less death and depression. Actually, scratch that, if I could be even a fraction as good as great, late Terry Pratchett I would be one very, very happy person.

15 Books That You Must Read To Achieve Success (Guest Post)




Robert Everett


In this article, I have gathered a list of 15 best business books written by various successful people, where they disclose the tricks and tips on the way to success. Many famous industry leaders, celebrities, and entrepreneurs have all given credit to the impact that these books have had on their lives. I have chosen such inspirational books which take a comprehensive approach to personal development, life and money. These motivational books will show you how to be successful in life, how to reach your goals and how to write my essay like professional. I hope this list of personal development books inspire you to work hard, never stop learning and to dream big.  

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill


Even though Think and Grow Rich was published back in 1937, you could not call it outdated. This book helps to understand that whatever your mind can imagine and believe, it can achieve. Your thoughts create your beliefs. By focusing your thoughts positive, success will be much more likely to achieve, rather than thinking about obstacles and failures.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie


This bestseller is a must-read for everyone who wants to learn how to build relationships and deal with people. There are many advises how to make people like you, how to change people or how to get popular within your current community.

The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale


This book teaches us that positive and focused beliefs are required to gain success and anything you desire. The philosophies in this book have helped millions their financial, personal and spiritual goals.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki


This book is not just about money. Robert T. Kiyosaki points the differences between how poor, rich or middle class teach their children. Instead of working hard for money, try to make money work for you.

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson


The book is about the great minds and digital revolution they have made. It is about modern times, about the era of technology, computers, and the Internet.

The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield


This masterpiece will teach you how to tackle daily challenges, avoid obstacles, increase your confidence, live with goals and realize your life plans.

Purple Cow by Seth Godin


Very nice book about marketing and how business should focus on creating a wonderful and unique product that meets the needs of consumers.

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss


In this book, the author tells how one can build a business and effectively delegate work and home tasks as well as to avoid information overload. In general, the book teaches how to be effective for quick achievement of business goals.

Zero to One by Peter Thiel Blake Masters


Legendary investor and entrepreneur Peter Thiel tells us that there are still many frontiers to explore and inventions to create. This book was written to teach you to ask questions not just follow in the footsteps of other people. We should all think outside the box and produce new unique products. Also, this book is included in a list of must-read-aloud books for every MBA student.

Good Leaders Ask Great Questions by John C. Maxwell


Plenty of leadership questions are answered in this book. The author teaches us that questions are very important, what questions you should ask yourself as a leader, and what question you should be asking your team. You will improve your leadership life thanks to this book.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey


This book has many practical instructions and guides in management and leadership which are useful for both individuals and business. In the end of the book, you will rethink the attitude toward finding success.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell


The main question the author wants to answer is what makes high-achievers different. He describes the life of billionaires, great football players, and famous stars. The book is full of good stories and jokes so it’s enjoyable to read. Forbes also included this book in their list of 5 books that can help change your life.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck


Psychologist Carol Dweck describes that the right mindset is incredibly important. The way you think ultimately determines your level of success.

The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy


An incredible book by the sales guru Brian Tracy is a must-read for every business owner. This book gives you numerous ideas, strategies, and methods which you can use to make more sales.

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko


This book is a collection of interviews of rich people. It is also about the lifestyle that creates wealth.

Author’s Bio

Robert Everett: I am a freelance writer currently based in Chicago. Solving students career and university problems. Having an interest in marketing and business

My Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/roberteverett82
My Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/3/110029123750852456335

5 Ways Students Can Do To Increase Their Reading Speed (Guest Post)




Alyssa Johnson


Many students think that only geniuses have the power to read books at high speed. Every normal human being can increase his/her reading speed. This is because reading does not deal with inherent capabilities such as the mind utilization capacity. It deals with conditioning one’s motor skills and human recognition (ability to process information quickly). In other words, every student can learn it. It is evident that speed-reading comes with many benefits. Some of these advantages include saving time (you may find that lunch breaks great for reading) and going through many texts. Let us review five ways or tips, if you will, on how you can increase your reading speed as a student.

Determine your reading speed

This is the initial step towards fast reading. It tests reading speed or how fast can you read a particular text. You do this by counting the number of characters and words in each sentence. After counting the number of characters and words in a sentence, count the number of sentences in a page. Multiply the number of sentences with the number of words on a page. Now read at your average reading speed with a set timer maybe in seconds on in minutes. If you do not have a timer, you can use online apps or programs. In case the time goes off before finishing the page, stop reading and count the number of sentences you have read. Do this from time to time using the same page until you minimize time spent in reading. To gauge your advancement, use super-fast reading programs found through various websites

Get rid of sub-vocalization

Sub-vocalization are those small voices one hears while reading. In most cases, students vocalize nearly every word in their heads. This results in confusion and hence slow reading. You do not have to say the words to process what they mean. Learn how to look at words on the page and try your best to process their meaning. You may think that this is impossible, but your mind is made in a way that it interprets texts. This trains you to minimize your reading time as you advance from one level to another.

Use of the pointers

To avoid wandering of your eyes, you need to use a pointer. You may not realize the movement. However, even those small movements from what you are supposed to be reading consume your time. By use of pointers, you maintain your eye contact and focus on what you are reading. This technique comes with regular practice. At the initial stage, use a pointer and then pace yourself by reading one line in a second. Advance and pace yourself regarding minutes as the pointer slides across the page. You should training until you move at the speed of the pointer. Repeat these processes as many times as possible until your eyes move at the pace of the pointer. You must read and try to understand all the words in the page to be a successful fast reader.

Use of peripheral vision

Reading and understanding do not mean you read every word in a sentence. You may find a student reading from the first word of every line to the last word. This is time-consuming. Scanning is the best technique. Train your eyes to scan quickly over words. You can do this through focusing on the middle line of a sentence and then allow the peripheral vision to interpret and process the rest. If possible, skip few words at the start and the end of each sentence. By use of these techniques, you read only the relevant words. All you need is to practice and try your level best to stay focused. This is essential even when you seek help in writing papers.

Avoid re-reading words in a page

Flitting and jumping back and forth on a page means more time is spent in reading. You do not want to be caught up in a scenario where it takes you weeks to paraphrase exercises that probably require one day. As discussed in the above speed-reading techniques, you can use the pointers to read every word. You can also use a bookmark or your finger as a guide in reading. Gauge your comprehension after you are done with reading to avoid confusion.

7 Simple Speed Reading Tricks for Beginners




With a few improvement in how you read, you can quickly improve your reading speed and save a lot of time. But first, forget everything you know about reading rules you’ve been taught as a child. Reading as an adult comes with a lot of hacks and strategies. Here are seven of the best:

Speed Reading Trick #1: Skim and Scan

Long-form reading is not always important or necessary. You need to be critical in what you choose to read by developing your “skim and scan” habits. Scan the piece of content in front of you for key sections in the main body, and always pay attention to the introduction and conclusion where the main ideas are often recapped. That allows you to skip over anything that isn’t essential to the information you need to get from the text. With 7 Speed Reading™ you’ll learn the techniques that help you quickly locate essential content in all of your documents.

Speed Reading Trick #2: Selective Reading

Any piece of text contains a lot of filler words: words that often facilitate meaning, but aren’t necessarily required to understand the essential details. This means that you don’t truly need to focus on these words to make out the meaning of a sentence. Take the following excerpt from a 7 Speed Reading™article:

“The Winter 2014 semester class going on now focuses on films, poetry, photography, essays and a heavy dose of the mushrooming subgenre of speculative fiction known as climate fiction, or ‘cli-fi’, novels like ‘Odds Against Tomorrow’ by Nathaniel Rich, and ‘Solar,’ by Ian McEwan.”

The highlighted words are the key words that you need to focus on. The rest are descriptive language, conjunctions, and other extra information you don’t really need to read to understand the paragraph’s meaning. There are dozens of professionally-designed exercises in 7 Speed Reading™ that train your eyes to find and focus on the key words in the text.

When you’re reading a longer paragraph, always start by reading the first and last sentence to get the gist of the paragraph. You’d be surprised how much you can learn by reading only these two sentences out of each long paragraph.

Point and Read

If you’re reading on a computer, use your cursor to accelerate the reading pace. If you’re reading a book or journal, try using your index finger to guide your eyes to move faster. This tip helps you to stop yourself from re-reading what you’ve just read, and increases your focus on the text so that you comprehend what you read, even if you’re reading much faster. The accelerated training program in 7 Speed Reading™ uses moving text displays to help you focus on the text in front of you.

Stop the Voices In Your Head

Even if your tongue and mouth don’t move, and even if no noise comes out of your mouth when you’re reading, you might still notice a voice in your head that “reads” what you read. This is called subvocalization and it’s a technique that helps us process what we’re reading when we first learn to read as a child. One way to avoid subvocalization is to read in chunks of words rather than word by word, and 7 Speed Reading™ uses this “chunking” method in many exercises and activities to train your eyes to read word groups. Because your mind cannot process a set of words all at once, you won’t automatically try to sound them out, and that will save you time.

Trust Your Brain

This tip goes along with the “selective reading” hack. Your mind is very good at filling in missing details, and if you’re getting the sense of text from the important words, you don’t have to worry about the rest of the paragraph. In fact, your eyes are actually seeing all of the words, even if you’re only consciously reading a few of them. Trust your eyes and your brain to automatically read and store the rest of the words, and don’t be tempted to re-read text over and over again. The many reading comprehension tests in 7 Speed Reading™ help you develop the confidence you need to be a top speed reader.

Cover the Page

If you can’t get out of the habit of re-reading text, make it impossible to do so. When you’re reading printed material, use a blank piece of paper to cover the text from top to bottom as your read down the page. If you’re reading on line, adjust the display so that the line of text you’re reading is at the absolute top, and then use the cursor key to scroll down line by line as you read. When you practice with 7 Speed Reading™ you’ll see this technique in action during the “Text Highlighter” exercises.

Learn More Words

One big thing that slows down a lot of people is having to stop and look up words, or figure out what a word means. If you have a bigger vocabulary, you’ll be able to read without stopping. To save time, keep a notebook (or on-screen notepad) handy and jot down unfamiliar words as you read, and then make a note of their definitions. Use these notes for vocabulary practice later so you’ll never have to look them up again. And the more you read, the more words you’ll learn, so read as many different types of text as you can. With 7 Speed Reading™ you can easily access and import text documents from almost any source, so you’ll never run out of things to read, and words to learn!

 

GRE Reading Comprehension Practice




Taking and passing the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is a requirement to get into most advanced university programs in English-speaking countries. Students who are pursuing a doctorate in their field will need to take the GRE General Test, and may also be required to take one of the GRE Subject Tests. In these exams, students are required to show their ability to read and analyze texts in the reading comprehension section.

Good reading comprehension is based on having a good vocabulary. Obviously, if the text you’re asked to analyze contains one or more words that you don’t know, you’ll find it harder to accurately discuss the meaning and content of the text. We’ve found a passage from H. G. Wells’ “The Outline of History” that’s related to vocabulary. Read the text, then answer the questions we’ve provided, which are modeled on questions you’ll encounter in the GRE.

It is improbable that there was ever such a thing as a common human language. We know nothing of the language of Paleolithic man; we do not even know whether Paleolithic man talked freely. We know that Paleolithic man had a keen sense of form and attitude, because of his drawings; and it has been suggested that he communicated his ideas very largely by gesture. Probably such words as the earlier men used were mainly cries of alarm or passion or names for concrete things, and in many cases they were probably imitative sounds made by or associated with the things named. The first languages were probably small collections of such words; they consisted of interjections and nouns. Probably the nouns were said in different intonations to convey different meanings. If Paleolithic man had a word for “horse” or “bear,” he probably showed by tone or gesture whether he meant “bear is coming,” “bear is going,” “bear is to be hunted,” “dead bear,” “bear has been here,” “bear did this,” and so on. Only very slowly did the human mind develop methods of indicating action and relationship in a formal manner. Modern languages contain many thousands of words, but the earlier languages could have consisted only of a few hundred. It is said that even modern European peasants can get along with something less than a thousand words, and it is quite conceivable that so late as the Early Neolithic Period that was the limit of the available vocabulary. Probably men did not indulge in those days in conversation or description. For narrative purposes they danced and acted rather than told. They had no method of counting beyond a method of indicating two by a dual number, and some way of expressing many. The growth of speech was at first a very slow process indeed, and grammatical forms and the expression of abstract ideas may have come very late in human history, perhaps only 400 or 500 generations ago.

Question 1: According to Wells, is a large vocabulary necessary for communication?

Question 2: How does Wells imagine Paleolithic man communicating the difference between the phrases “bear is coming” and “bear is going”?

Question 3: What is the main difference that Wells finds between modern language and the earliest forms of language?


To increase your GRE score by 7 points in 2 weeks, click here to start practicing for free with PrepEd GRE

How and When Did Reading Start?





People are so used to using written language that it’s almost impossible to imagine how the arts of reading and writing were first discovered. How weirdly magnificent a moment that must have been when they were invented. Although no one knows exactly when or where the first inspiration struck, we can enjoy the thought of a Neanderthal standing in front of a cave wall, saying, “Okay, this symbol will mean ‘we are hungry’ and this one will mean ‘forest’ and this set of symbols will mean ‘bears here, stay away’ …” – even though it never really happened like that.

In fact, the invention of writing was a gradual process, rather than a one-time thing. And while historians are in disagreement as to the exact time true writing was brought to life, it’s presumed to have taken place about six thousand years ago.

Reading glyphs and graphemes out loud

Before letters became language, the first languages were glyphs. And we still have their modern equivalent: emojis. Like early pictographs and glyphs, drawings have long been used to communicate in a way that’s more lasting than the oral record.

Many specialists in early civilizations confirm that reading these graphemes was something that was likely done out loud, rather than silently. The concept of deciphering these graphemes without reading them for all to hear was not a concept people were familiar with for centuries.

What’s most important, reading or writing?

Today linguistic rules, literary strategies, and critical analysis skills enable us to arrive at common interpretations of standard symbols. Reading is widely perceived to be a creative, cognitively complex process. However, during the Enlightenment, reading was considered inferior to writing.

Reading was deemed to be a passive, uneventful activity. In contrast, writing was considered a vivid sign of people actively participating in and contributing to their societies. Historians see reading and writing as connecting the values and sociocultural attitude of people during the Age of Enlightenment.

Today: Reading as a powerful tool

In today’s world, literacy is not only a fundamental human right. It’s considered the foundation for lifelong learning.

Advanced societies believe literacy to be essential to the development of humanity and human cultures. Several initiatives around the world currently promote literacy programs for underdeveloped nations and minorities in Western civilizations where financial constraints put education and literacy in the back seat.

Today, there’s no question as to what’s best and what people should prefer. Both reading and writing are instrumental to our personal and professional growth and continue to be the preferred channels for communication, entertainment, and cultural exchange.

Importance Of Speed Reading For Children, Teens, And Adults





Reading will be a part of every day for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if you’re reading tweets, books, legal documents, or your daughter’s homework, reading is a way of obtaining information that is vital to our survival and success as human beings.

Yet for all that, most people are never taught a productive way to read. Instead, children learn the basics, but they often learn bad reading habits at the same time. Only when we’re older do we realize just how crucial it is to learn the right way to speed read.

The benefits of speed reading are numerous. You probably know about many of them already. But have you put that knowledge to use?

Remember, when you speed read you improve  your comprehension and expand your understanding of the topic. As a result you become an expert at – and an authority on – what you do.

Because of the sheer amount of knowledge you accumulate, you’ll also be able to exert influence and inspire others. In short, speed reading is the springboard to success. But success requires strategy, not shortcuts.

Speed Reading for Children

“But wait,” you might think, “surely speed reading is secondary to teaching children the basics of how to read!” The problem is that most children never go past the basics, and continue early reading habits like subvocalization and regression into adulthood.

A child can grow up still sounding out the words in their head as they read (subvocalization). They still go back to re-read whole passages of text (regression) because they weren’t paying attention. As an adult, you’re being slowed down by these habits learned in childhood.

That’s why it is so important to teach the right reading skills from the start. Offer children the tools and know-how to read fast without sacrificing comprehension. And when you read a lot and read the right things, a world of opportunities opens up, and the road to realizing your dreams becomes real.

Imagine the time you’ll save and the amount of books you’ll read once you learn to read words in groups instead of one by one. Once you stop backtracking and reading text twice to be sure you understand. Once you have developed the critical skills needed to skim through paragraphs and chapters and only slow down in important sections of a book or textbook.

Speed Reading for Students

The good news is that with the proliferation of cloud-based apps and speed reading software you can quickly improve your reading speed.

Learning to let go of time-consuming reading habits becomes easier when you have software or a virtual tutor to guide you through the essential skill-building exercises.

Speed reading is not a buzzword. Speed reading is not difficult to master. It’s a skill you can acquire through practice and the right guidance.

Let me explain.

Take the sentence “Mary gave John and Julia the keys to her apartment.”

This sentence contains 10 words. You can read it word after word or slice it into two semantic clusters, choosing to ignore words such as ‘and’ and ‘the’ and ‘to.’ Why?

Because these words are not giving you the gist of the sentence. Words like ‘gave’ and ‘keys’ and ‘apartment’ do, and its keywords like those that you need to focus on. Students have a lot of reading to do, and keyword recognition is a speed-reading skill that helps them keep up with even the heaviest course load.

Speed Reading for Adults

It’s obvious that speed reading is all about being smart about your reading. It’s what will ultimately save you time, improve your knowledge base, and keep you a step ahead of the competition. Reading clusters of words instead of one word at a time is one way to learn to read faster. For example, software or online tools will help improve your eye fixation rate and span, which increases the number of words you can read at one time. A good online app will also help you to eliminate subvocalisation and reduce backtracking.

This might sound like a lot to start learning as an adult, but you can learn at any age. In fact, you can master these skills right now. Speed reading will benefit you at every point in your life and give you the seeds to grow your own tree of success and happiness.


7 Speed Reading is designed to be the world’s most powerful speed reading training program. If you want to learn speed reading, 7 Speed Reading is the best option.