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``One-one-thousand, Two-one-thousand, Three-one-thousand, Four-one-thousand, Five-one-thousand, Six-one-thousand, Seven-one-thousand, Eight-one-thousand, Nine-one-thousand, Ten-one-thousand, One-one-thousand, Two-one-thousand, ...''When you get to ten, you start again at one. You aren't really trying to count the words on a page. The counting is just a way to pace your self. Practice counting out loud at Very Slow for thirty seconds before you continue. You aren't doing any reading yet; you are just practicing counting at this speed. The second speed, Slow, is a little faster than Very Slow. For most people it is about two-thirds of a second per count. The exact speed isn't important, as long as it is distinct from your other three counting speeds. To set the pace for the second speed, try counting out loud like this:
``One and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten and One and two and...''.As with the first speed, when you get to ten, start again at one. Practice counting out loud at Slow for thirty seconds before you continue. The third speed, Normal, should work out to about half a second per count. Count out loud like this:
``One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, one, two,...''.With all four speeds your goal is smoothness and consistency. After a while you will have practiced enough that you can maintain a given speed easily and automatically. This will only happen after you have practiced out loud for a while. Practice counting out loud at Normal for thirty seconds before you continue. The fourth and final speed, Fast, takes about one-third of a second per count. It is a fast count, with no pauses at all between numbers:
``OneTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTenOneTwo....''Practice for at Fast thirty seconds before you continue. There is no substitute for practicing out loud. The goal of your practice is to become smooth and steady with each of the four speeds. The rest of the book will refer to these four speeds as
Once you have the four speeds you are ready for the next step, which is to ``read'' while counting. If you want to know how and why this works, you will find explanations in The Rationale. If a quick start is more important to you than the hows and whys, then just start practicing by counting words at the different speeds. You can re-read this paragraph for practice as many times as you like.Read the preceding paragraph once at Very Slow, counting ``One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand...'' one count per word. You should take a little over a minute (74 seconds) to read the paragraph at Very Slow. Every time you start a new number, move your eyes to a new word, and leave them on that word for the full second. One count, one second, one word; always move forward at a smooth steady pace. This will train your eyes to move to the speed of the count. There are seventy-four words in the formatted paragraph, but you should never have counted higher than ten. You should have started with the count of ``one'' on each of the bolded words (Once, the, you, will, is, then, speeds, times.) Your only goals are to count out loud, and to get your eyes accustomed to moving word to word in time with the count. Next, go back and read the formatted paragraph again, this time at Slow speed, counting, ``One and Two and Three and...''. Continue to move your eyes one word per count. This time you should take a little under a minute (50 seconds) to read the paragraph. You should read one word at a time, one word to each count, always moving your eyes steadily forward. After reading the paragraph at Slow, go back and read it at Normal (35 seconds) and then again at Fast (25 seconds.) The times listed are only estimates. Your goal is to move smoothly, one word at a time at each of the four speeds. When you master counting at the four speeds, and you master the trick of moving your eyes smoothly from word to word, then you are ready to continue. Pacing your eyes is an essential part of the method; don't neglect it.
It was a dark and stormy night. The spooky old house was silent and still, sitting alone at the top of the hill. John tried not to be afraid as he walked up the steps, crossed the porch, and timidly knocked on the heavy oak door. There was no answer, but the door slowly creaked open from being knocked upon. Through the opening John could see a foyer, with a coat rack on his right. What wallpaper he could see was old and peeling, but he could just make out, in the flashing of the lightning, an eerie pattern of trees or an ancient forest. As he stared through the opened door, trying to discern the shapes of the shadows on the wall, John was completely surprised by what he saw next.The formatting in the paragraph above makes it easier to see the words in pairs. As you looked at each pair, you probably noticed that some pairs don't fit together so well. For example, the words ``night'' and ``The'' don't fit together as well as do ``spooky'' and ``old''. The Rationale discusses this vital part of how you process language, and how it relates to speed reading. For now, read through the formatted paragraph at each of the remaining three speeds. For each pair, instead of looking directly at the words, look at the space between them. Notice how you can still see both words without looking directly at either one. Also, without looking directly at either word, you can still understand the words completely and sense whether a pair fits together well or poorly.
It was a dark and stormy night. The spooky old house was silent and still, sitting alone at the top of the hill. John tried not to be afraid as he walked up the steps, crossed the porch, and timidly knocked on the heavy oak door. There was no answer, but the door slowly creaked open from being knocked upon. Through the opening John could see a foyer, with a coat rack on his right. What wallpaper he could see was old and peeling, but he could just make out, in the flashing of the lightning, an eerie pattern of trees or an ancient forest. As he stared through the opened door, trying to discern the shapes of the shadows on the wall, John was completely surprised by what he saw next.Congratulations! You have just completed your first official speed reading drill!! The rest of your drills will all follow this pattern. Each drill will consist of nine one minute readings. The first reading will always be at Very Slow or Slow. You will usually work from smaller groups to larger groups then back to smaller. You will soon find reading word pairs easier than reading single words. You might find it easier to read phrases at Slow speed than to read single words at Fast speed. This means it can be easier to read 360 words per minute than to read 180 words per minute. If phrases average roughly four words each, and Slow speed is about 1.5 counts per second, then reading phrases at Slow is reading six words a second, for 360 words per minute. Compare to one word at a time at Fast speed, which is about three counts per second. That makes a straight 180 words per minute. You go faster by going slower. Slow speed is plenty slow enough for a comfortable phrase per count, but even one word per count seems like a lot of work at Fast speed. This is the difference between working hard and working smart. At first you will practice reading single words, then pairs of words. From pairs you will move up to groups of words that make phrases, then groups of phrases that make clauses, then groups of clauses that make sentences. You will practice reading each of these different sized word groups at each of the four speeds. Before you finish you will know the largest group you can comfortably see in about half a second, and you will start reading this way whenever you feel like it. Don't get too worried about terms such as ``phrase, clause, or sentence''. Word groups come in different sizes and they fit together different ways. Even in grammar class, the terms phrase, clause, sentence are not exact. The following example can give you an idea of what the terms usually mean:
People should treat each other better, if they want to make the world a better place.The example has two parts, separated by a comma. Those two parts are called clauses. Each clause is almost a sentence of its own. In the first part of the example the words
treat each other betteris a phrase, a group of words that work together almost as if they made up a single word. As a rule, you can spot clauses by punctuation such as commas, semi-colons, colons, and parenthesis. Phrases usually aren't marked so clearly, but you know them when you see them. You know all about different kinds of word groups, without paying attention to them. Think about the difference between;
The dog chased the catcompared with
The cat chased the dog.The two sentences have opposite meanings, but you don't need an English degree to know it. You don't have to think about the mechanics of the two sentences to know they have opposite meanings. You don't need to know a direct subject from a direct pass. The same is true for phrases, clauses, and sentences. You speak and think in phrases, clauses and sentences, even if you didn't know it. Think about the way lines and curves and angles go together to make letters. Then think about how letters go together to make words. Letters make words the same way lines and curves make letters. It is the same idea. Two words make a pair, and some pairs fit together better than others. Take a sentence such as
The cat fell off the wooden ladder.``The'' and ``cat'' fit together differently than the way ``cat'' fits together with ``fell''. ``Off'' and ``fell'' fit together differently than the way ``wooden'' fits together with ``ladder''. You know these things about word groups without ever thinking about them. The sentence fragment, ``The cat fell off,'' hangs together better than ``fell off the wooden'', which doesn't make any sense at all on its own. As a native speaker of English, you automatically know which works better, even if you failed English class. The drills teach you to rely on this kind of automatic knowing. All you need do is ask yourself, ``How well do these two words fit together?'' Don't worry about getting the right answer; simply trying to answer the question makes you process the full meaning of each word. Soon you will find it is easier to take in groups of words than to read them one at a time. Letters are made of lines and curves. Words are made of letters. Phrases are made of words. Clauses are made up of phrases. Sentences are made up of clauses. Paragraphs are made up of sentences. This isn't precise, but it is a start. The drills train you to see larger and larger groups of words. Instead of trying to cram words in one at a time, you can work at a comfortable speed with the word group size that works best for you. Don't let the phrase, ``words per minute'' fool you. Seeing larger groups at slower speeds means higher words per minute with less work and no feeling of ``hurrying''. You start the drills reading one word per count at Very Slow speed and work your way up to reading one or more lines at whatever speed is comfortable for you. On the way you will read single words, pairs, trios, phrases, clauses, and whole sentences at Fast. Most people are uncomfortable when they read at Fast. Practicing at Fast helps you learn to sense which speed and which word group size works best for you. The more you practice the larger the word group size you will comfortably take in. Learning to find the right combination of word group size and speed doesn't happen overnight, but it does happen automatically after you do the drills for a while. The drills let you experience the way comprehension and emotional impact vary with the speed of the count. The drills also show how comprehension and emotional impact vary with the word group size. Natural speed readers, who read at 3,500 words per minute, read by the paragraph at a slow comfortable speed. This may seem incredible, but you have already taken the first step towards that goal; the rest is a matter of degree. Years ago you learned how lines and curves make letters and how letters make words. Now you can pick up where traditional schooling left off; by learning to automatically see the way words go together to make phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs. It is the same lesson, only with bigger blocks. Your drills for day one of your twenty-one day learning program are as follows:
One minute of reading one word per count at your Very Slow speed. (60 wpm)You must count out loud for at least the first few days. Counting at the same volume as normal conversation is best. If you feel awkward, then find a place where you can practice alone. Counting out loud guarantees you won't subvocalize. Counting out loud is the best way to guarantee you develop and use four distinct speeds. Counting out loud is the best way to train your eyes to move rhythmically. These things are all explained in The Rationale. After a few days you will feel your eyes moving smoothly and steadily to the speed of your counting. Then, and only then, you can keep the count silently, ``in your head'', instead of counting out loud. Count out loud until your eyes can keep pace with the count all on their own. Count out loud until moving your eyes to the count is as automatic as your breathing. When you don't count out loud, count subvocally; this will keep you from subvocalizing the words you read. The drills are listed below. They are planned for a three week course of about ten minutes a day. The fastest you will read on your first day is 180 words per minute. Twice on the first day you will work at the snail's pace of sixty words per minute. You almost certainly read faster than that already. Starting slower than normal lets you go a lot faster in the long run. Remember, the words per minute aren't important. What counts is reading a new way, reading bigger groups per count and finding the speed that works best for you.
One minute of reading one word per count at your Slow speed. (90 wpm)
One minute of reading one word per count at your Normal speed. (120 wpm)
One minute of reading one word per count at your Fast speed. (180 wpm)
One minute of reading two words per count at your Very Slow speed. (120 wpm)
One minute of reading one word per count at your Fast speed. (180 wpm)
One minute of reading one word per count at your Normal speed. (120 wpm)
One minute of reading one word per count at your Slow speed. (90 wpm)
One minute of reading one word per count at your Very Slow speed. (60 wpm)
V for Very SlowThe units are symbolized:
S for Slow
N for Normal
F for Fast
1 (single words)The speeds have already been explained, but we need to spend a little time discussing the units. Single words, sets of two, three, and four words should be clear enough. Fractions of a line should be clear as well. If you are looking at one-quarter of a line per count, then you will be reading at four counts per line. When the units are sentences you are looking at all the words between an initial capital letter and the period at the end of the sentence. The previous units are all fairly clear; leaving just clauses and phrases. The first clause in a sentence is all the words from the beginning capital letter to the first punctuation mark such as a comma, colon, semi-colon, or parenthesis.1.1 Some sentences have only one clause. The last clause of a sentence is the group of words that starts with the second to last punctuation and ends with the period. If there are more than two clauses, the rest will be groups of words marked off by different punctuation. This will make more sense as you practice the drills. Phrases are even less clear, but they are even more important. The best way to spot a phrase is to ask yourself if the words in a group fit together. The first six days of drills are focused entirely on words grouped by counting. When you look at a group of four words, you are asking the same question you asked in the earlier exercises, ``How well do these words fit together?'' On day seven you will read phrases at slow speed. Phrases are the most important block you will learn to read, because spotting phrases depends entirely on your ability to process each word's meaning. Counting words, counting beats per line, and looking for punctuation all train you to look at larger groups of words. There is no point to any of it, however, if you aren't processing the meaning of all those words. Reading by phrases is what really retrains your brain to process word groups. You already understand language this way; you are just now learning to read the way you naturally process. If the table below looks confusing turn to Appendix B on right now for an explanation of each day's drill
2 (word pairs)
3 (trios of words)
4 (sets of four words)
ph (Phrases)
cl (Clauses)
sn (Sentences)
1/4 (one-fourth of a line)
1/3 (one-third of a line)
1/2 (one-half of a line)
Day One: V1, S1, N1, F1, V2, F1, N1, S1, V1On day one you drill at speeds from 60 words per minute to 180 words per minute. On day twenty-one you might average as fast as 900 words per minute. But, because clauses and sentences come in different sizes, you might drill as high as four times that, which would be 3,600 words per minute. Comprehension at high speeds is quite different from comprehension at low speeds. Experiencing this difference is an important part of your training. You will challenge your brain to make sense of information faster than you might have thought possible. Let your experience be your guide. By pushing up from the early speeds of 60 words per minute all the way to 3,600 words per minute you will gain experience with three vital tasks:
Day Two: S1, N1, F1, V2, S2, V2, F1, N1, S1
Day Three: V2, S2, N2, F2, V3, F2, N2, S2, V2
Day Four: S2, N2, F2, V3, S3, V3, F2, N2, S2
Day Five: V3, S3, N3, F3, V4, F3, N3, S3, V3
Day Six: S3, N3, F3, V4, S4, V4, F3, N3, S3
Day Seven: V4, S4, N4, F4, Vph, F4, N4, S4, V4
Day Eight: S4, N4, F4, Vph, Sph, Vph, F4, N4, S4
Day Nine: Vph, Sph, Nph, Fph, V1/4, Fph, Nph, Sph, Vph
Day Ten: Sph, Nph, Fph, V1/4, S1/4, V1/4, Fph, Nph, Sph
Day Eleven: V1/4, S1/4, N1/4, F1/4, Vph, F1/4, N1/4, S1/4, V1/4
Day Twelve: S1/4, N1/4, F1/4, Vph, Sph, Vph, F1/4, N1/4, S1/4
Day Thirteen: Sph, Nph, Fph, V1/3, S1/3, V1/3, Fph, Nph, Sph
Day Fourteen: V1/3, S1/3, N1/3, F1/3, Vph, F1/3, N1/3, S1/3, V1/3
Day Fifteen: V1/3, S1/3, N1/3, F1/3, Vcl, F1/3, N1/3, S1/3, V1/3
Day Sixteen: S1/3, N1/3, F1/3, Vcl, Scl, Vcl, F1/3, N1/3, S1/3
Day Seventeen: Vcl, Scl, Ncl, Fcl, V1/2, Fcl, Ncl, Scl, Vcl
Day Eighteen: Scl, Ncl, Fcl, V1/2, S1/2, V1/2, Fcl, Ncl, Scl
Day Nineteen: V1/2, S1/2, N1/2, F1/2, Vcl, F1/2, N1/2, S1/2. V1/2
Day Twenty: V1/2, S1/2, N1/2, F1/2, Vsn, F1/2, N1/2, S1/2, V1/2
Day Twenty-One: Scl, Ncl, Fcl, Vsn, Ssn, Vsn, Fcl, Ncl, Scl