Speed Reading Techniques: How to Read and Memorize More

People learn how to read in early childhood when they don’t even know the meaning of most words. Reading is considered one of the basic skills everyone should be good at. Indeed, one way or another, we read something daily, whether it is about news feed, assignments, writing services reviews, or a fascinating detective story. It is crucial for students and many other people whose work is somehow connected with processing a wealth of information to read faster and memorize more details. You might have noticed that it is easier to remember the plot of an interesting novel or some unnecessary but catchy info you come across on the web. Why does it happen? It is all about your concentration and interest in what you are reading. If the book doesn’t evoke enthusiasm in you, the chances are high that you will have to reread the info twice or even more to get the essence and memorize what you have just read. Thus, if you want to learn to read faster, you should diminish the importance of interest and excitement about the content you examine. So, what reading strategies can help meet this challenge?

1. Turn off the monologue in your head

When you were just taught to read, it was about putting together letter combinations to form a word and sounding it out. Even though you are not a kid anymore, you continue to pronounce every word you read in your head. It is a time-consuming and useless thing since your brain starts processing the info as soon as your eyes capture words. Thus, you should shift your focus from sounding out words in your head to moving across the page. Scientists claim that your eyes can take about five words at a time, and it is not to mention the fact that you can involve your peripheral vision and increase the number of words read. You should just soften your eyes and relax your facial muscles. So, learn to read several words at once when working on assignments, reading EduBirdie review or nonfiction literature. Thus, you will read three times faster and process a bigger information volume. Let that monologue be a guilty pleasure that you turn to when reading some really interesting book.

2. Scan for keywords

You don’t need to read every word in a sentence to get to the bottom and understand the essence of the info provided. There are so many unnecessary words that don’t contain any crucial info, so you can safely skip them if you learn how to scan the material. Even if you read only nouns and half of the words in total, your brain will fill in the gaps and provide you with vital clues. Of course, this technique will take some time, but when you master it, you will be able to read twice as fast. Besides, you can always get back to the sentence and reread it if you’ve skipped something important.

3. Relate new info to something you already know

Sometimes it can be hard to memorize new information, so it doesn’t matter how many times you reread and repeat everything, but you cannot recall it when necessary. Nonetheless, every word you read is recorded in your subconsciousness, and you should just come up with a trigger that will help meet this challenge. You should add more context to what you read and bind it with something you already know. Such “new connections” will make it easier to recall everything you need. Suppose you read a book on biology and come across a new complicated terminology. Read its meaning and try to connect it with your own experience, life situation, or come up with a story that has something to do with what you have just read. It will be easier to memorize the content than a dry fact that doesn’t tell you anything.

4. Stay focused

Many people tend to reread the same paragraphs because they are distracted by their thoughts or external factors. Poor concentration doesn’t allow you to get what you are reading, so you just waste your time, especially when working on some unnecessary info. Thus, if it is worth eliminating all the distractions that draw your attention and use something as a pointer so your eyes will move along with it. You should turn off music, TV and put aside your smartphone far away, so you will not check your Instagram every five minutes. Besides, you can make yourself stay focused on what you are reading with your willpower. It is the only possible way to learn to read faster and memorize the info read.

5. Do get some stuff in writing

Only a small percentage of people manage to remember all the info they have ever read, while others have to make notes and set reminders. If you are working on some boring yet important info, it is worth highlighting the key moments that will come in handy later. You can even write them down into a separate notebook or electronic document. Thus, all the crucial phrases and statements will be on hand, and you can remind yourself of them at any time. When you have a system and adhere to certain principles in reading and making notes, you increase the likelihood of processing a larger amount of the information over the same period.