Speedreading experiences? Forum

[jkhalfa]

I know there have been other threads on this topic but with that Spritz app in the news lately I thought there might be some new responses.

My question is, Is it really possible to double or triple your reading speed without reducing comprehension?

That would obviously be great for RC, but I'm skeptical. While admittedly I've never devoted much practice to speed-reading, I remember and understand almost none of the text any time I try to read super fast or eliminate "subvocalization" (the voice in your head that pronounces the words you read). Has anyone here seriously tried to practice speed-reading, and if so, what were your experiences?

[RobertGolddust]

I know I fooled around with it. Never picked up the skill. Some people think speed reading is a mythical art but I have seen it done successfully before. So, it can be done.

Anyways, its not necessary to do well on RC.

[TLSanders]

Without taking any position on whether or not it would help you, the time investment in learning to speed read versus learning an efficient approach to the LSAT reading comprehension section makes it a very extreme and possibly counterproductive solution.

The key to reading passages quickly isn't reading every word faster--it's picking and choosing what to read on your first pass through, knowing that a lot of the detail isn't going to be important later. This is uncomfortable for many people prepping for the LSAT, especially those who are coming out of undergrad as conscientious students who took the time to thoroughly read and understand everything, but that's just not what the LSAT is testing.

A lot of test prep companies recommend three minutes to read, and you can use three minutes if you need it. But, in my experience, most students don't. Once you shift your focus to marking key points and making a high-level outline (in margin notes) of the passage, you can get through each passage in much less than that, without missing anything you'll need to answer the questions--when the questions involve details, you're going to want to look back, anyway.

I can consistently complete the RC section -1/0 in about 20 minutes using this method; 90 seconds or less is devoted to first-pass reading of each passage. Most of my students don't quite reach that speed, but (in my experience) letting go of reading every word significantly improves timing and accuracy for most people.

[mornincounselor]

Post removed.

[TLSanders]

Without taking any position on whether or not it would help you, the time investment in learning to speed read versus learning an efficient approach to the LSAT reading comprehension section makes it a very extreme and possibly counterproductive solution.

The key to reading passages quickly isn't reading every word faster--it's picking and choosing what to read on your first pass through, knowing that a lot of the detail isn't going to be important later. This is uncomfortable for many people prepping for the LSAT, especially those who are coming out of undergrad as conscientious students who took the time to thoroughly read and understand everything, but that's just not what the LSAT is testing.

A lot of test prep companies recommend three minutes to read, and you can use three minutes if you need it. But, in my experience, most students don't. Once you shift your focus to marking key points and making a high-level outline (in margin notes) of the passage, you can get through each passage in much less than that, without missing anything you'll need to answer the questions--when the questions involve details, you're going to want to look back, anyway.

I can consistently complete the RC section -1/0 in about 20 minutes using this method; 90 seconds or less is devoted to first-pass reading of each passage. Most of my students don't quite reach that speed, but (in my experience) letting go of reading every word significantly improves timing and accuracy for most people.

So, the first reading is just for main point(s) and author bias? Then, do you read the questions before your second read through or after? When do you outline?

Outline on the first pass through, while identifying the main point and the author's view. Use that information to answer the main point/purpose questions, then start working your way through the questions--you're never going to make another full pass through the passage, just use your margin notes to refer to the pieces that are relevant to answering the questions.

I"m on my way out the door right now, but will come back to this thread and expand later.

[WaltGrace83]

Very interested... ^

[AbhiJ]

Without taking any position on whether or not it would help you, the time investment in learning to speed read versus learning an efficient approach to the LSAT reading comprehension section makes it a very extreme and possibly counterproductive solution.

The key to reading passages quickly isn't reading every word faster--it's picking and choosing what to read on your first pass through, knowing that a lot of the detail isn't going to be important later. This is uncomfortable for many people prepping for the LSAT, especially those who are coming out of undergrad as conscientious students who took the time to thoroughly read and understand everything, but that's just not what the LSAT is testing.

A lot of test prep companies recommend three minutes to read, and you can use three minutes if you need it. But, in my experience, most students don't. Once you shift your focus to marking key points and making a high-level outline (in margin notes) of the passage, you can get through each passage in much less than that, without missing anything you'll need to answer the questions--when the questions involve details, you're going to want to look back, anyway.

I can consistently complete the RC section -1/0 in about 20 minutes using this method; 90 seconds or less is devoted to first-pass reading of each passage. Most of my students don't quite reach that speed, but (in my experience) letting go of reading every word significantly improves timing and accuracy for most people.

While your strategy makes sense it seems you are pretty good at reading to begin with. Your baseline is high and your performance would remain same irrespective of the strategy you use. Would be interested in your performance when you read the passage in 2-3 mins and then answer the questions. My estimate would be you will be able to finish the section in 25 mins. What results your strategy would bring to someone who is taking 40 mins to finish the section. While he may be able to finish faster his accuracy might suffer, leading to similar performance. Hope I am making some sense.

[Straw_Mandible]

Right. Your average reader can't just 'decide' to lock on to the main points, skim the details, and finish a passage with full structural comprehension in under a minute. Only truly excellent readers are able to organize their reading process so efficiently.

A novice reader is going to spend a lot of time processing and re-processing sections of a passage just to get enough comprehension to sort out the main points from the details. Once your reading skill is at the level where you can do this instantly, you're already an expert at RC.

I guess my point is that skill has to come before strategy, and I think this is truer w/r/t RC than it is with any other section.

[TLSanders]

A lot of fair questions. I will try to answer them all; feel free to follow up if I don't.

1 - Yes; I've always been a "good reader" and read quickly. It's definitely true that mileage will vary. That said, when I took the LSAT for real many years ago, I finished the RC section and scored well, but both my timing and my score improved significantly as I developed this approach to reading the passages. In addition, I've worked with a lot of students over the past 15+ years. Most never get their timing down to the <90 seconds that is my norm--they don't have as much time to practice as I've had--but they don't need to. In addition to cutting out reading time, this approach makes answering questions very efficient, so timing improves even if you're still taking 2.5 minutes to read the passage.

2 - It's true that not everyone has the natural ability to pick out the important points and skim over the details, but THAT is the skill that the LSAT is designed to measure with Reading Comprehension, and it's the skill that you must take with you to law school and the practice of law if you don't want to spend huge blocks of time carefully reading material that isn't relevant to your case. Picking out those key points is the foundation of IRAC, and you have to learn it. If you don't already have that skill, would you rather struggle through the LSAT with a different approach and then have to learn this anyway when you get to law school, or would it make more sense to learn it now and enter law school with a leg up?

3 - That said, I don't think I entirely agree that "skill has to come before strategy." Clearly, the strategy won't work without the skill, but the strategy informs skill development; it tells you which skills to develop. Breaking down the RC passage is a key skill, just like breaking down a Logical Reasoning argument. If you're not a "good reader," you need to be one for law school and your profession--this can help you become one.

Like anything else, it takes practice. One of the great advantages to LSAT prep, though, is that you're developing skills that are going to help you both in school and in your career; it's virtually the only standardized test (I have a pretty extensive familiarity with the ACT, SAT, GED, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, DAT and multi-state bar exam) for which your preparation will be directly relevant to what comes next.

How I would suggest implementing this, if you want to try it, would be different for a June test-taker than a September-or-later date. I'm not sure which I'm talking to here?

In either case, the foundation involves following the paragraph structure. The first and last sentences of a paragraph, even if they aren't substantively super-important, typically guide the direction of the content, so they're good road signs in most cases. Words and phrases like "for example," and "First...second...third" typically signal blocks you can skim through very quickly. That may be counter-intuitive, but an example just illustrates a point already made and the "first, second third" string typically details a process already referenced. There will be questions that refer specifically to these types of content, but with good, BRIEF margin notes, you'll know right where to find them IF you need them. Though I haven't made an exhaustive study of it, I have counted random passages and discovered that in some the questions draw on as few as 1 in 7 details from the passage. There's just no benefit in learning the other six in case you might need them.

[WaltGrace83]

Id be, as I'm sure everyone would be, very interested in a guide outlining your entire approach TLSanders.

[love4life29]

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[LSAT Hacks (Graeme)]

[quote="jkhalfa"
My question is, Is it really possible to double or triple your reading speed without reducing comprehension?
[/quote]

No. At least not in any reasonable timeframe. I say this as someone who recommends increasing reading speed for the LSAT. Here are a few facts for context:

1. I read comfortably at about 550-600 words per minute, full comprehension (probably better than most)
2. Most students I test read 250-280
3. Some read as low as 200
4. Outliers read at 300, 350, 400
5. In my experience, a short time fooling around with Spreeder can improve speeds about 10-50%, and vastly improve skimming ability (useful when searching for info)
6. Speed increases beyond that I can't speak to.

Could someone go from 200 WPM to my speed? Probably, but I suspect they'd need a while. A lifetime of nerdy reading is what produced my reading speed.

However, I expect most people can read somewhat faster than they currently do. In my experience, this latent improvement can be achieved very quickly, and is worth going for.

[jkhalfa]

However, I expect most people can read somewhat faster than they currently do. In my experience, this latent improvement can be achieved very quickly, and is worth going for.

How do you recommend doing that? Just by using a phone app or browser extension to "read" at a much higher rate until you can understand the text? Any tips for eliminating subvocalization?

From what I've read, it seems like modest gains are possible, but it takes a lot of painful practice.

[AbhiJ]

TLSSanders,

What will be your advice for some who wishes to improve his/her reading skill from average to above average ?
The usual suspects would be: read more, read high quality fiction/non fiction, read about diverse topics.
What I find with these advice is that they are not structured/specific enough. For example, if someone says read 10 non fiction books and your reading speed/comprehension would improve by 20%. I would also be interested in how the reading skill varies as we read more and more. I would expect that there would be a sharp improvement in the beginning and then the rate of improvement will slow down.

[LSAT Hacks (Graeme)]

However, I expect most people can read somewhat faster than they currently do. In my experience, this latent improvement can be achieved very quickly, and is worth going for.

How do you recommend doing that? Just by using a phone app or browser extension to "read" at a much higher rate until you can understand the text? Any tips for eliminating subvocalization?

From what I've read, it seems like modest gains are possible, but it takes a lot of painful practice.

This is what I use: http://www.spreeder.com/

[Clyde Frog]

I think some of the posters in here are overemphasizing the importance of speed. I always found that if I made a good outline then it really didn't matter if it took 3-3.5 minutes to move on from the passage.

[jkhalfa]

I think some of the posters in here are overemphasizing the importance of speed. I always found that if I made a good outline then it really didn't matter if it took 3-3.5 minutes to move on from the passage.

Even if average reading is fine for the LSAT, I'm interesting in improving my speed because faster reading is a valuable skill in general. In college I already have to read hundreds of pages per week, and I'm sure that will only get worse in law school.

[LSAT Hacks (Graeme)]

I think some of the posters in here are overemphasizing the importance of speed. I always found that if I made a good outline then it really didn't matter if it took 3-3.5 minutes to move on from the passage.

Even if average reading is fine for the LSAT, I'm interesting in improving my speed because faster reading is a valuable skill in general. In college I already have to read hundreds of pages per week, and I'm sure that will only get worse in law school.

This is probably the best reason. I can read documents twice as fast as most people. This is invaluable for any profession that requires document readings such as, say, law.

Clyde also makes a logical error. Just because reading speed isn't necessary for good results doesn't mean it's not worth seeing if you can improve it.

[papercut]

Speedreading isn't real.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_read ... ed_readers

These people are getting 50% comprehension. That's not gonna do for the LSAT.

[Clyde Frog]

I think some of the posters in here are overemphasizing the importance of speed. I always found that if I made a good outline then it really didn't matter if it took 3-3.5 minutes to move on from the passage.

Even if average reading is fine for the LSAT, I'm interesting in improving my speed because faster reading is a valuable skill in general. In college I already have to read hundreds of pages per week, and I'm sure that will only get worse in law school.

This is probably the best reason. I can read documents twice as fast as most people. This is invaluable for any profession that requires document readings such as, say, law.

Clyde also makes a logical error. Just because reading speed isn't necessary for good results doesn't mean it's not worth seeing if you can improve it.

Lol my statement doesn't imply that it's not worth it's not to improve your speed. I just think that having full comprehension of the passage is more important, and as a rule of thumb it's better to shoot for that goal first before trying to increase speed. I mean if you can hit 600+ words per minute with full comprehension then that's amazing and an especially valuable tool in law but it's going to take some time, as you said, "a lifetime of nerdy reading."

[papercut]

I think some of the posters in here are overemphasizing the importance of speed. I always found that if I made a good outline then it really didn't matter if it took 3-3.5 minutes to move on from the passage.

Even if average reading is fine for the LSAT, I'm interesting in improving my speed because faster reading is a valuable skill in general. In college I already have to read hundreds of pages per week, and I'm sure that will only get worse in law school.

This is probably the best reason. I can read documents twice as fast as most people. This is invaluable for any profession that requires document readings such as, say, law.

Clyde also makes a logical error. Just because reading speed isn't necessary for good results doesn't mean it's not worth seeing if you can improve it.

Lol my statement doesn't imply that it's not worth it's not to improve your speed. I just think that having full comprehension of the passage is more important, and as a rule of thumb it's better to shoot for that goal first before trying to increase speed. I mean if you can hit 600+ words per minute with full comprehension then that's amazing and an especially valuable tool in law but it's going to take some time, as you said, "a lifetime of nerdy reading."

+1

I take 4-5 minutes to read and annotate a passage, and I very rarely miss a single RC question.

Do some research on comprehension and speed reading. It's really just a bunch of bunk. Don't waste your time on it.