Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike2017
I need tips on how to improve my reading speed and comprehension for college. I took a course last summer that covered two techniques I learned, "long smooth underline," and "tell backs" after reading a few pages. The course was only 5 sessions. Since then I been using those techniques.
I was wondering if now at home if you guys have any tips on how to improve my reading and comprehension? Off the top of my head, maybe to push myself to read longer hours, just read until I cant anymore. Read books that have questions at the end to test my comprehension. Any tips would be great, thank you all and happy New Year...!!
|
Don't allow any perceived reading and comprehension deficit to be or become a hangup. Entering college with a perceived hangup - I don't read well, I'm a poor test taker, I need a quiet dorm and 12 hours of sleep, The Prof's. English is poor I can't understand him/her etc. - all of that is loser thinking.
By having the guts to ask for pointers - you are axiomatically not a loser.
All of this is shamelessly stolen from a friend in town who has worked in the melange of young people and education for a lot of years. He stole it from a prof. of his at UCSF long ago.
Works for reading comprehension and studying, worry about speed later. With better comprehension come efficiency.
Preamble - sitting at a desk if possible, disable all distractions - kill the TV, no music*, no texting/tweeting etc. You want as near silence as you can get. If your study area is noisey for reasons beyond your control cheap foam earplugs will attenuate BG noise by about 25 or 27 db.
Use a timer of some sort........cell phone maybe. Set the timer for 5 minutes.
1. Have your study/reading material at the ready in front of you.
2. Forcefully clear your mind of all thought. Imagine an empty sphere or a blank chalkboard in your head. The idea is to drive out all thought preparing for what you are about read. This clearing exercise should take no more than a few seconds.
3. Hit the timer.
4. Let's assume you are reading, "The Grapes of Wrath". The goal is to read more intensely than ever before and with perfect clarity. You want to feel like Steinbeck wrote the book for you.
5. The instant you feel mental slippage stop. Hit the timer. You might make it 5 minutes the first time.....that's very unlikely. But stop anyway. Shake it off and start over.
6. If you work at it at all in no time you'll be able to do this for 15 or 20 minutes and then 45.
_______________________
Try this too. May be a waste, may help as a many people who perceive themselves as less than great readers have a lot of unnecessary eye movement when reading. Take a note card and slide it along as you read - immediately below the sentence you are reading. And at least try once cutting out a slot in the card such that you are bracketing only the line you are reading.
If these things help do them religiously for a while, soon the card thing will be unnecessary.
______________________
The above sounds crazy simple - but I've seen it work many times.
*Re music after a while you'll get so good at managing distractions you'll be able to listen to music etc. and read with intent.