Abby Marks-Beale - 10 Days to Faster Reading

ABBY MARKS BEALE

&

THE PRINCETON

LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

Zip Through Books, Magazines, and Newspapers.

Understand and Remember Everything You Read!

SELF-IMPROVEMENT IN ONLY MINUTES A DAY

10 Days to Faster Reading

By Abby Marks Beale (sponsored by The Princeton Language Institute)

Zip through Books, Magazines, Newspapers

Understand and Remember Everything You Read

Self-Improvement in Only Minutes a Day

Printed Version

Produced by The Philip Lief Group, Inc.

Published by Warner Books, A Time Warner Company

Copyright 2001, The Philip Lief Group

ISBN: 0-446-67667-5

E-Book Version

Produced by Abby Marks Beale

Copyright 2008, Abby Marks Beale

www.RevItUpReading.com

The clip art included in this ebook is from Microsoft.com

The ebook was transcribed by Jon Kaufman and page layout by Joni McPherson.

ISBN: 978-0-9745928-2-4

Congratulations! By having this book in your hands, you have taken a very important step in improving your reading skills. Since you probably have not had any reading training since elementary school, now you will learn something new about how to read more efficiently and effectively.

You may be a busy professional looking to get through your reading workload or master new material more quickly, an interested educator looking for strategies for your students, a homemaker or retiree looking to develop your reading skills, or a student who'd like to know the magic involved in faster reading. Whatever the reason, you've chosen the right book. By reading this book and using the information daily, you will learn all you need to know about how to read faster and improve your comprehension.

But what does "reading this book," mean? Like many other "how-to" books, each chapter builds on the previous one. So I encourage you to read at least the first five chapters in the order in which they are presented to maximize your speed-reading potential. After that, you can skip around to the remaining chapters in which you have most interest. This book has these key objectives:

• Help you realize the value of what you may already be doing. Throughout this book, you will find many concepts that you are already familiar with yet you may not have known that they were good reading strategies. You will be able to identify several positive things that you are already doing that no one formally taught you, but rather, due to survival or ingenuity, you have figured out on your own.
• Introduce you to a wide spectrum of ideas to pick and choose from. There is no one best way to read. But there are many great strategies you can use. This book is not intended as a book of rules but rather as a book of options. This is why you are asked to try the strategies, think about the concepts, and eventually decide which will work best for you. The last page of this book is blank. If you print this eBook, use it to write down your "keepers" the most important or valuable ideas you personally got from this book. If you are reading on- screen, create a separate word document to keep track of your keepers. Doing so keeps you actively looking for what you want and documents your keepers for later review.
• Enhance your level of reading confidence. For many people, reading is something they do, not something they love. Many readers think they are the slowest readers in the world or feel inadequate in their overall reading abilities. True or not, one thing is certain: If you do not feel confident in your reading ability or do not get satisfaction when you read, then you won't choose to read. When you reach a point where you feel like the time you spend reading is worthwhile, because you understand or get what you need from it, then you will choose to read more often. It is that simple.

I also recommend you keep the following materials handy to help you do the exercises in each chapter:

• Pencil or pen
• Highlighter
• Paper
• Calculator
• Watch with a second hand or stopwatch
• Blank 3x5 white index card or the blank side of a business card
• Familiar reading material such as favorite magazines or newspapers

You are a reader who wants to learn how to become skilled at speed-reading. A comparable relationship exists between car drivers and those who want to learn how to become skilled at race car driving. Therefore, I have used a race car theme, drawing analogies between speed-reading and car racing. Be reassured that you do not have to be a race car fan to appreciate the connection.

Practice is an important aspect of improving your reading speed. Each day has a practice reading called a Time Trial. Most contain four hundred words, very short in comparison to newspaper or magazine articles, and are followed by a series of ten comprehension statements to answer. You will be able to track your progress in your .

The comprehension statements ask you to choose among three possible answers: True (T), False (F), or not discussed (N). All your answers need to come from the information in the reading, not from what you may already know.

Though this book will show you how to efficiently read anything, most of the information is focused on reading nonfiction such as business books and periodicals or school textbooks. Nonfiction readers are always looking for ways to read more in less time. Fiction readers, who enjoy reading stories and novels, have a choice. As a result, you will find that all the Time Trials in this book are nonfiction except for one fiction reading on Day 7.

If, after finishing this book, you have lingering questions or concerns or want to share your success with me, please write to me:

Abby Marks Beale Rev It Up Reading

P.O. Box 4212

Wallingford, CT 06492

www.RevItUpReading.com

Enough said. Have fun at the races!

Abby Marks Beale

Think of this book as a key that enables you to jumpstart your reading abilities and test-drive a whole new set of skills and techniques. If you are like many, you already feel confident about having this book in your hand because learning to read faster is a goal you have set many times. Now, by opening this book, you are closer than ever to achieving that goal.

As you sit poised in the driver's seat, let's look at the benefits of becoming a faster reader:

• Read more in less time. You will double or even triple the amount you read in the same amount of time. At times, you may find that you only have to skim material.
• Improve your concentration. The faster you read, the more you pay attention and focus on what you are doing.
• Understand material with greater depth and accuracy. As your concentration improves, you will better understand what you read.
• Retain information better. You can remember information better because you are paying attention, concentrating, and understanding more.
• Enjoy Reading More. The faster reading strategies in this book help you build confidence and competence in your reading abilities, so you quickly find you enjoy reading more.

There are some more little known benefits of learning to read faster benefits I have personally experienced or participants in my workshops have shared with me. (I know there are more than these and maybe someday you'll let me know what they are.)