Speed Reading and Reading Comprehension? Forum

[RZ5646]

Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Most students can read faster without losing comprehension, and they should try to get used to reading somewhat faster. But some students make speed-reading the focus of their RC prep and try to read as quickly as possible, and that's wrong.

To do well on RC, you need to leave adequate time for the questions, but you also have to be able to answer those questions. To correctly answer the questions, you need to become familiar with the common question types and their indicators in the passage, practice how to answer the questions that require thinking (e.g., how to distill the main point), and remember a moderate amount of detail from the passage. I'm afraid that many students focus on speed-reading as a magic bullet and neglect all of those other factors. For most of them, this is the exact opposite of what they should be doing: since they probably read quickly enough already (if they try and really concentrate), their prep should focus on developing those other skills.

[clovis]

Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Most students can read faster without losing comprehension, and they should try to get used to reading somewhat faster. But some students make speed-reading the focus of their RC prep and try to read as quickly as possible, and that's wrong.

To do well on RC, you need to leave adequate time for the questions, but you also have to be able to answer those questions. To correctly answer the questions, you need to become familiar with the common question types and their indicators in the passage, practice how to answer the questions that require thinking (e.g., how to distill the main point), and remember a moderate amount of detail from the passage. I'm afraid that many students focus on speed-reading as a magic bullet and neglect all of those other factors. For most of them, this is the exact opposite of what they should be doing: since they probably read quickly enough already (if they try and really concentrate), their prep should focus on developing those other skills.

Fair enough, it's certainly not a magic bullet. The other things you mention are indeed more important and no amount of speed reading will save you from having to develop those skills. For me, working on speed became important only toward the end of my preparation as I was trying to get those last few points.

[Clyde Frog]

Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Most students can read faster without losing comprehension, and they should try to get used to reading somewhat faster. But some students make speed-reading the focus of their RC prep and try to read as quickly as possible, and that's wrong.

To do well on RC, you need to leave adequate time for the questions, but you also have to be able to answer those questions. To correctly answer the questions, you need to become familiar with the common question types and their indicators in the passage, practice how to answer the questions that require thinking (e.g., how to distill the main point), and remember a moderate amount of detail from the passage. I'm afraid that many students focus on speed-reading as a magic bullet and neglect all of those other factors. For most of them, this is the exact opposite of what they should be doing: since they probably read quickly enough already (if they try and really concentrate), their prep should focus on developing those other skills.

Fair enough, it's certainly not a magic bullet. The other things you mention are indeed more important and no amount of speed reading will save you from having to develop those skills. For me, working on speed became important only toward the end of my preparation as I was trying to get those last few points.

How long does it take you to read a passage btw?

[clovis]

Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Most students can read faster without losing comprehension, and they should try to get used to reading somewhat faster. But some students make speed-reading the focus of their RC prep and try to read as quickly as possible, and that's wrong.

To do well on RC, you need to leave adequate time for the questions, but you also have to be able to answer those questions. To correctly answer the questions, you need to become familiar with the common question types and their indicators in the passage, practice how to answer the questions that require thinking (e.g., how to distill the main point), and remember a moderate amount of detail from the passage. I'm afraid that many students focus on speed-reading as a magic bullet and neglect all of those other factors. For most of them, this is the exact opposite of what they should be doing: since they probably read quickly enough already (if they try and really concentrate), their prep should focus on developing those other skills.

Fair enough, it's certainly not a magic bullet. The other things you mention are indeed more important and no amount of speed reading will save you from having to develop those skills. For me, working on speed became important only toward the end of my preparation as I was trying to get those last few points.

How long does it take you to read a passage btw?

I honestly can't remember. It was probably something normal, like 2-3 minutes by the time I took the test, but I really don't know.

I think I am someone who tends to really go slowly and try to grasp everything by habit, and so to improve I needed to let go of that and read more fluidly. But other people may have different habits and needs.

[Clyde Frog]

Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Most students can read faster without losing comprehension, and they should try to get used to reading somewhat faster. But some students make speed-reading the focus of their RC prep and try to read as quickly as possible, and that's wrong.

To do well on RC, you need to leave adequate time for the questions, but you also have to be able to answer those questions. To correctly answer the questions, you need to become familiar with the common question types and their indicators in the passage, practice how to answer the questions that require thinking (e.g., how to distill the main point), and remember a moderate amount of detail from the passage. I'm afraid that many students focus on speed-reading as a magic bullet and neglect all of those other factors. For most of them, this is the exact opposite of what they should be doing: since they probably read quickly enough already (if they try and really concentrate), their prep should focus on developing those other skills.

Fair enough, it's certainly not a magic bullet. The other things you mention are indeed more important and no amount of speed reading will save you from having to develop those skills. For me, working on speed became important only toward the end of my preparation as I was trying to get those last few points.

How long does it take you to read a passage btw?

I honestly can't remember. It was probably something normal, like 2-3 minutes by the time I took the test, but I really don't know.

I think I am someone who tends to really go slowly and try to grasp everything by habit, and so to improve I needed to let go of that and read more fluidly. But other people may have different habits and needs.

Yeah, that's ideal. Definitely not speed reading.