Do you really know how to read and speak? (Part I)

There are two 'academic' skills that (most) schools fail to teach to their students: reading and speaking.

You must be think what an idiot I am right now. Obviously, if you're reading my blog right now, you are, well, reading. But here's the question - how efficiently do you read?

Remember those high school years where you have to take the SAT Verbal/Reading sections? Remember how many people struggled with finishing all the passages in the allotted time? Perhaps you were one of them. Perhaps you're facing this issue right now. Does your head swell when your teachers assign you large reading assignments? Do you ever feel like you're reading one paragraph - or even one sentence - over and over again without comprehending a word you're reading?

If you've answered yes to these problems, then you aren't reading efficiently. Let's examine how your school has contributed and helped along this problem.

When you're in grade school, you learned phoenix, then you read words, simple sentences, and eventually short paragraphs to more complex stories. Your teachers encouraged you to read out loud or even place your finger along the words to help you follow them better. Eventually, most people are able to read silently...and that's about as far as your teachers will take you in this area.

What's the problem? For one, if you're one of those people who still read out loud and placing your fingers on the words, you need to stop. Now. Why? Your brain processes much faster than the time it takes for you to speak the words out loud or the time it takes you to drag your finger from one word to the second word. In other words, you're physically slowing your brain down.

If you're one of those people who(silently) read every single word you see. You need to stop. Now. Why? Your brain can register groups of words. You're wasting time if you're trying to read every single word.

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Now, if you don't fall into one of the two groups above, you're in pretty good shape. You probably had/have an awesome teacher, read a book that taught you how really to read, or is naturally smart so you figured it out yourself... As for the rest of you who DO fall into one of the two categories, stay in tune for "Do you really know how to read and speak? (Part II)"!

'Til Next Time

TM