7 Speed Reading Software

How to Become a Champion Mental Athlete

December 11, 2012

They don’t get the breakfast cereal or running shoe sponsorships, and there’s no giant parade behind the flags of the world to introduce these champions to the world, or gold medals to reward them afterwards. But the people who train their minds to the highest possible level perform amazing feats worthy of any Olympic athlete.

Speed reading is one of the mental sports that’s gaining more recognition, and there are even competitions for top readers. However, it’s a difficult thing to judge, sometimes, because speed reading isn’t dependent on only one thing. If you’re a sprinter competing in a track and field event, what’s important is that you reach the finish line in the fastest possible time. The judges won’t go back and ask you to explain exactly where your right foot fell at the three-second mark, and whether the runner from Italy was on your left or on your right. By contrast, a speed reader needs to remember the details of the words and phrases they read, and how they fit together in context. That doesn’t mean memorizing every word, but it does mean that speed reading is more than just moving your eyes from the start of the book to the finish.

Speed reading means comprehension as well as pace, and that’s what speed reading competitions judge. The World Speed Reading Championship record holder, Anne Jones, read the final Harry Potter book at an average of 4,700 words per minute and was able to accurately answer questions about what she read afterwards. Yale professor and author Harold Bloom continues to read books at a rate of 300 pages an hour, though he’s over 80 years old, and is able to write comprehensive reviews of each book as he finishes them. American president John F. Kennedy was an early follower of the first speed reading guru, Evelyn Wood, and Theodore Roosevelt was one of many avid readers of the 19th century, reading at least one book per day.

Like any other athlete, practice is important. Like Roosevelt, you can read a book a day once you’ve gotten your speed and comprehension up to top levels. If you can read 700 words per minute you could finish the first Harry Potter book in less than two hours – and you probably spend that much time surfing the computer or watching television each evening!

Do you know how fast you read now? If you’re not using the 7 Speed Reading system to track your reading speed, you can use office supply company Staples’ quick online test and measure both your speed and your comprehension.

Focus, Focus: How to Use Keywords to Increase Reading Speed

December 3, 2012

Have you ever opened up a reference book or a text-dense page on the internet and felt your heart sink a little, thinking, “It will take forever to read through this to find the information I want!” Even when you’ve increased your reading speed, you might be intimidated by the sheer amount of material you need to go through for a major research project, company presentation, or graduate thesis. There’s one trick to effective speed reading that will help, however, and that’s skimming for keywords. One of the 7 Speed Reading exercises helps you learn this technique, but even if you’re not using the software, you can practice on your own.

For this exercise, it’s useful to have someone to help you. That’s because what you’ll be doing is scanning for specific words on a page, and this exercise is most helpful if you don’t already know where those words are. You can use a book or document that you need to read through anyway, or if you don’t have a specific project right now, choose material that is at a fairly high reading level. Ask your study partner to choose one or two full pages of text and have them go through the text to select ten different words. These words can be of any length, but it’s best to choose unique words (not ones that are used multiple times, like the or and). Once they have the list of words, take the page(s) and have them give you the first word. Start skimming and scanning the text to look for that word, and repeat for all words on the list. You can even time yourself to see how long it takes to find each word.

Here’s a quick example of how this works. Read the paragraph below and look for the word departed.

Mrs. Hableton was a lady with a grievance, as anybody who happened to become acquainted with her soon found out. It is Beaconsfield who says, in one of his novels, that no one is so interesting as when he is talking about himself; and, judging Mrs. Hableton by this statement, she was an extremely fascinating individual, as she never by any chance talked upon any other subject. What was the threat of a Russian invasion to her as long as she had her special grievance—once let that be removed and she would have time to attend to these minor details which affected the colony. The grievance Mrs. Hableton complained of, was want of money; not an uncommon one by any means, but on being reminded of this, Mrs. Hableton would reply snappishly that she “know’d that, but some people weren’t like other people,” the meaning of which mystical remark was simply this: She had come out to the colonies in the earlier days, when there was not so much difficulty in making money as now, but owing to a bad husband, had failed to make any. The late Mr. Hableton—for he had long since departed this life—was addicted to the intemperate use of the flowing bowl, and at the time when he should have been earning money, was generally to be found in a drinking shanty, spending his wife’s earnings in standing treat for himself and his friends. The constant drinking and the hot Victorian climate soon carried him off, and when Mrs. Hableton had seen him safely under the ground in the Melbourne Cemetery, she returned home to survey her position, and see how it could be bettered.
(from “The Mystery of a Hansom Cab” by Fergus W. Hume)

By using keywords to help you quickly identify only those sections of a document that contain the information you really need, you’ll cut down on the time it takes to go through text. You’ll be more efficient at research, more productive at work, and altogether a better speed reader!

Speed Reading Raises Money And Books For Kids

November 25, 2012

The group First Book Philadelphia had its second annual speed reading contest recently, where they invited local actors, librarians, television stars and celebrities to read from Dr. Seuss books as fast as possible. The fundraising effort was designed to promote First Book Philadelphia’s goal of providing children’s books to low-income areas of Philadelphia, especially in neighborhoods where there is no library or where libraries are closing. The “mini-libraries” the group creates are important in the support of literacy for children, especially since families in these areas often have little money to spare to buy books, and there may be no habit of reading in the home because of the lack of available books. First Book Philadelphia knows how important it is for children to get into the habit of reading early in life. You can watch a video of the 2011 Speed Read event here.

First Book Philadelphia is part of the nationwide First Book organization, which has been providing free books to children around the United States and Canada for over twenty years. They work with school districts and nonprofits to identify disadvantaged areas where children don’t have easy access to books, and use their funding and donations to provide those books. Not only do they contribute books to libraries and schools, but they also provide books to homeless shelters, preschool programs, and Boys & Girls Clubs, ensuring that no matter where a child is or whether they can get to school, there will be a book available for them somewhere.

As First Book’s research has found – and as many independent studies have shown – when children have access to books and are encouraged to read, they’re more interested in learning in general, and they’re more likely to read on their own instead of only when they’re required to read for school. This organization provides a valuable service for many communities, and we’re grateful for their hard work in the support of reading skills!

To learn more about First Book and get involved, visit their website here.

Too Dark, Too Light, or Just Right? Tips For Faster Reading

November 16, 2012

We can be grateful for electric lights these days, because reading by candlelight or firelight is both difficult and bad for the eyes. The flickering light creates shadows that force you to slow down to see words clearly, and the level of illumination is so low you’ll probably strain your eyes trying to make out the letters on the page. On the other hand, when the light is too bright there’s a glare coming off the page that will also stress your vision and make it hard to read. To make sure that you’re able to read smoothly and easily, whether that’s on paper or on a computer screen, you need to make sure that the level of light in the room is just right.

The contrast between background and text isn’t something you can adjust with a printed book, but the black-on-white print is generally easy to read. However, this contrast might be too much if you’re outside in the direct sunlight; reading on the beach will be easier if you’re sitting where the book is in the shade, and you’re wearing sunglasses. If you’re reading on a Kindle or laptop, you can change the contrast or the text size to make it easier to see.

If you’re in a dim room and can’t increase the overall light level, use an adjustable spot lamp to add illumination where you’re sitting. For printed material, you can focus the circle of light over your shoulder and directly down onto the page. With a computer display, you don’t want the light to be right on the screen, because that creates too much glare. Instead, angle the light from the side and across the keyboard so that the light isn’t in your eyes or directed at the screen.

If you use your computer at night, alter the color settings of the display so that they’re not as harsh, to reduce eyestrain. Tired and sore eyes lead to slower reading speed and increased mistakes in reading. There’s a utility called f.lux that will do this for you, adjusting the display for your local time zone; it’s said to help you sleep better, too, if you’re one of those people who fall asleep with the computer still on.

7 Minutes to Speed Reading Success

November 16, 2012

Learning to speed read involves training your eyes and your mind to process words quickly, which means not spelling them out letter by letter as you read. Because of this, you might wonder why we’re talking about typing skills today, and how those skills also help you become a faster reader. After all, you don’t type all the letters of a word at once, so how can faster typing lead to faster reading speeds? The answer is simple: you’re training your brain to work more quickly and to recognize words and patterns without consciously thinking about it. A good touch typist doesn’t sound out a word letter by letter, but instead allows their brain to control their fingers to create that word while their eyes are already moving on to the next words in the sentence. If you think about it, that’s exactly what a good speed reader does as well.

If you don’t know how to touch type, then you haven’t yet opened up that unconscious mental channel to connect your brain and your fingers. If you already touch type but don’t have the speed you want, then that channel’s not processing information as quickly as possible. In either case, you’ll be glad to know that there’s a powerful new software program available that will double or even triple your current typing speed – or your money back! Check out the features of eReflect’s newest product, Ultimate Typing, and find out how just 7 minutes a day can give you all the advantages of touch typing: improved job skills, faster communication, and a professional, polished look to all your correspondence.

Not only will the mental training you get as a touch typist help you read faster by improving your word-recognition skills, but you can also use Ultimate Typing to practice your speed reading by importing texts to use in the typing exercises. This allows you to practice reading a variety of materials, which improves your vocabulary along with your reading speed and typing speed. It’s a win-win situation for anyone who wants to speed up their ability to process all the information we have to handle daily in this high-speed and high-tech world, whether you’re taking it in by reading, or sending it out by writing. Your typing skills, like your speed reading skills, will help you keep pace with the demands of your job, and of your daily life. Find out more about Ultimate Typing today, and how 7 minutes a day can lead to success!

How to Start Speed Reading When You’re Only Three Years Old

November 10, 2012

It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? After all, children are barely reading on their own at three, so how in the world can they be speed readers? The answer is found in the way children learn to read, and how they learn language overall, as supported in a recent research study jointly funded by Vanderbilt University, Temple University, and the University of Delaware. The study focused on the effect that reading to children has on their language development, and concluded that the first three years of a child’s life are very important in their ability to skillfully handle language and reading for themselves later on.

If you’re still wondering what this has to do with speed reading, think about it: it’s not just how fast your eyes skim over words on a page, it’s how much of that text you understand, make use of, and remember. Knowing what a word means allows you to comprehend text on a page. When children learn to read, they learn words and their meanings, and the earlier this process starts, the more words they’ll know. The more words they know, the faster they’re able to read. And when a child is able to read quickly, they won’t fall into the slow-reading traps of backtracking and subvocalization that many children develop when they’re taught to read in a classroom situation, where the teacher has to depend on group activities and slow-paced drills to keep all of the class together in the exercises.

This and many other studies emphasize the importance of reading to and with children, even at the very early ages of 8 months or so. While infants may not be able to vocalize, they’re still hearing words and learning to associate those sounds with brightly-colored images on a page, if the parent helps them make that connection. By the time the child starts to associate the sounds and images with the letter patterns of the words, and to start sounding out the words for themselves, they’re already miles ahead of children who aren’t exposed to books until they get to school.

The study also pointed out how quickly children learn when they have the opportunity to participate in conversations and ask questions – in other words, when they’re using words right after learning them. Once again, this individual interaction is much easier in a one-on-one situation, such as a parent reading to a child at bedtime, rather than in a large group situation like a classroom.

Obviously, if you want to help your child be a good speed reader when they’re older, the best thing you can do for them is to start them on the road to reading as early as possible!

Reference: David K. Dickinson, Julie A. Griffith, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, “How Reading Books Fosters Language Development around the World,” Child Development Research, vol. 2012.

Don’t Just Read Books, Read Books You Like

November 1, 2012

Is one of your motivations for learning to speed read the idea that you’ll finally be able to go back to all of the “really good books” your high school teachers recommended – those books you couldn’t get through back then because it was taking you so long to read them? Well, even though learning to read quickly is an excellent idea, using your new speed reading skill to read books that aren’t very interesting or very good might be a waste of time, even if the time spent is markedly shorter than it would have been before. That’s not to say that all books on a “required reading” list should be ignored, but now that you’re an adult, you can read things that you want to read, not just what someone tells you you should read.

The reason we brought this is up is because we read this entertaining article on why focusing on the “should read” list might actually prove to be a disincentive to reading. After all, just because something goes by quicker doesn’t mean it’s enjoyable. Everyone has different likes and dislikes when it comes to reading material, and you should allow yourself to say “no, thank you” if you don’t like a book, even if it’s recommended by Oprah or a good friend or your local library. It’s great to get suggestions, but if you’re not enjoying the material, what’s the point?

One way that speed reading skill does help is that if there truly is something that you have to read, being able to do that reading in half the time cuts the boredom factor by 50% as well. You’ll be able to get through material you’re not especially interested in more quickly, which will leave more time for the books you enjoy. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should stick with easy texts all the time. One of the best ways to improve your reading speed is to pick challenging texts, or ones on topics that are new to you. Your brain will be forced to focus, and that will hone your reading skills even more quickly.

Is there a “good reads” book that you don’t think is very good at all? Help your fellow readers avoid them by making suggestions and recommendations in the comments!

How Technology Helps Teens to Improve Reading Skills

October 25, 2012

Middle school and high school students today have never known a world in which they couldn’t look something up on the internet, or use a cell phone, or download a book for reference. It makes sense to use the tools of modern technology as much as possible to teach speed reading and to promote good reading habits – they’re tools that students are familiar with, and comfortable with. What’s more, because it’s so easy to create interactive and fun games with technology, students are more likely to use those tools willingly, and might even forget that they’re working hard and studying! Here are some ways that teachers around the world are using high tech to help students get high scores on reading tests:

By making text messaging a valid way for kids to respond in the classroom, teachers are encouraging full participation, even from students who are normally too shy to speak up, or who don’t want to “feel stupid” if they give a wrong answer. By linking an overhead display to the message chain, everyone can see all of the answers, but not who sent them. The fast pace of messaging and response boosts the reading speed of all students.

While students might complain about having to write an essay on paper, they’ll probably not object to using a blogging tool to do the same amount of writing – or more. Reading and writing go hand in hand when developing the ability to speed read, because the more you do one, the better you’ll be at the other. When students can write their own texts as well as reading what other students have written, they’ll advance faster than by doing everything on their own.

When students are using online resources they’re exposed to many areas of learning, including visual arts. When teachers encourage exploration and research into online databases and stored texts, students will quickly learn how to scan documents for the information they need, which is a key technique for increasing reading speed.

Outside the classroom, there are lots of games and apps out there (many of them free) that focus on reading skills and promote speed reading. If you’re a parent or teacher, encourage children to download and use them. And remember that it’s never to late to learn new technology – get a few apps for yourself while you’re at it!

Study Shows Intervention Helps Improve Reading Skills

October 17, 2012

The US Department of Education funded a recent study that looked at the results of intensive reading intervention for children in middle school who were having a great deal of difficulty improving their reading skills. This study, conducted by Education Northwest, looked at how much students’ skills in reading were affected by their participation in one or more skills-focused reading programs. After one year of participation, these students scored higher on the state reading tests than they had before the intervention program. Because the funding was cut for the program after one year (it was supposed to run for three years), researchers could not verify whether this intervention would be able to help the children who were having the most difficulty, those whose reading levels were two grades lower than their peers, but given the positive outcomes of the one-year study, it seems likely that more participation in such programs will lead to more improvement in a student’s reading ability.

The researchers also concluded that it made less of a difference which reading intervention program was used – the important part of the process is getting a child this intervention, having them participate on a regular basis, and giving the teachers the instruction and education they need to effectively lead their students through the intervention program. Because many schools in the United States are struggling with funding, it’s often difficult for school districts to justify the additional expense of these reading intervention programs, no matter how big the benefit to the individual students.

What this means is that if you’re a parent with a child who’s having difficulty reading, it’s important that you do everything you can to help and support them at home as well as at school. By teaching your child to eliminate some of the problems that slow reading down, like subvocalization and backtracking, you’ll help them learn to read faster, and also ensure that they enjoy reading rather than looking at it as a chore. No matter which reading improvement program you use, you can be sure that your child will benefit from regular use of that program, and that will have a major – and positive – impact on how well they do in school, at university, and in their future career.

Read the full study here.

Literacy Leads to Success, So Start Early

October 11, 2012

Reading skill is something we develop at an early age, and the earlier a child starts to read, the faster they’ll be able to increase their reading speed, their vocabulary, and their conversational skills. While much of the reading instruction children get comes from their school classes, it’s also important that parents promote reading and help children learn to enjoy reading so that they’re motivated to get better at it. Unfortunately, many parents don’t have enough time as they’d like to devote to reading instruction, so it’s up to the schools to teach reading skills. However, not all teachers are equally as skilled in this task, and many of them aren’t up to date on the latest in reading theory and practice.

That’s the reason the Haskins Literary Initiative was created: to make sure that teachers have the skills they need as instructors to get the best results from and for their students. Since reading instruction starts by grade one (or earlier), and since – as we’ve discussed before – most people retain the reading style they learn in those early grades, to make sure that children get effective training as readers, it’s important that teachers know the best way to teach reading skills. When children are fluent and able readers, they’re in the best possible position to improve their reading abilities by applying speed reading techniques, something that will help them to get the most out of the material they read, get through school texts more quickly, and be more efficient at their jobs in the future.

But in the end (or is it the beginning?) it all starts with a solid knowledge of how to read, and that’s why the Haskins Literary Initiative is so important. Teachers who have participated in the program affirm that they feel more confident and energetic as instructors, and participating schools have seen significant increases in the students’ abilities to identify words, pronounce them correctly, and understand what they’ve read.

Is your school one of the participants in the Haskins Literary Initiative? Tell us about it!

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.