Just reading

When I was in high school, I did do some research and thought that I would learn how to speed read. I went to a Coles store and bought a book that had the technique to teach you how to do this. The irony of buying a book to do this is not lost on me.

I know that the technique is attributed to Evelyn Wood but I’ll be honest; I don’t know if she wrote the book I bought or someone else. It just seemed to me that everyone else was a faster reader than me and maybe I was doing something wrong. I recall working my way mostly though the book. I do remember that I wasn’t a disciple but I did learn some techniques that helped me read faster and so appreciated that.

It’s a technique that served me well at school and at university in some areas. But, when you’re studying mathematics and computer science, it’s a different type of reading. I do know that I need to go slowly when trying to follow the logic in a computer program to fully understand. I do tend to read other things these days and the old reading techniques have returned. Reading novels and blog posts are an entirely different game. I can seem to read them quickly.

Recently, I’ve done some reading on the topic of speed reading and it comes as no surprise that there are all kinds of differing opinions.

• Slow-Reading is the New Deep Learning
• Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes
• A speed reader shares 3 tricks to help anyone read faster

I’ve always been in awe of teacher-librarians who can zip through books in no time flat, it seems. Even on my best days, I languish in their dust.

I don’t have an answer for this. I know from my own schooling that I was taught to read slowly and think deeply about everything that’s passing by my eyes. I also know that when I learned some of the technique of speed reading that I ended up being quicker and having more success.

I suspect that slow and deep is the most used technique. Is it the only one though? I’d be interested in your thoughts.