I have had some people ask me what I thought of the speed reading class I took last week. So I thought I would post my progress here.
The quick result is that I can now read twice as fast as I could before I took the one day course. That in itself is amazing to me. However, it is not enough and I am not yet satisfied with my reading speed.
The one day class was very worth my while, but just like anything, speed reading cannot be fully learned in one day. I have a lot of practice ahead of me. There are some extended classes that I am going to take to help me stick to the practicing that I need to do in order to reach the point I want to be at. At this point, reading is still a chore and does take a lot of concentration. But that is because I have to “unlearn what I have learned”. In other words, I have bad habits that hinder my ability to read with this new method. I need to forget about reading and comprehending the old way so that I can train my brain to learn how to read the new way.
In a way, it is like going back to Elementary School and learning how to read again. However, in my opinion, it is very worth it. The resulting speed at which I will be able to read will be hindered only by how long it takes me to turn a page.
I fully expect this process to be hard and uncomfortable. Learning is like that. Yet, because I understand the learning process, I am alright with the difficulty ahead of me. Just like any learning process, the more we practice the better we get and the easier the task becomes. In a couple months and even in a year from now, if I have been diligent in my practice of this new skill, I know that I can expect it to be as easy as reading the old way has become for me.
I will post more results in a month or so when I am done with the other classes.
If you are interested in taking the classes and would like to know more, take a look at the web site of Abundant Reading Systems. I highly recommend them.