Speed Reading Tips - Comprehension and Reading Speed - Can They Really Go Together?

There are many misconceptions concerning speed reading. An effective speed reading system is not one that involves flipping through pages of text, or how fast your eyes can move over a page and somehow absorb knowledge like a vacuum cleaner. The real secret deals with one word - comprehension. The following article discusses the secret to comprehension and reading speed.

Dynamic Speed Reading and Comprehension

Often the question, "how fast can anyone read, and still comprehend?" is asked. The answer is: you can only read as fast as you can understand the material, or comprehend it. Of course, you can turn pages and move your eyes at 10,000, 50,000, or even 100,000 words per minute. But if you're not understanding, there is no comprehension. Unfortunately, most reading improvement programs focus merely on speed. They give little attention to training the cognitive aspect or reading well.

Comprehension the other hand, is understanding what you read, while you are reading it. As you read, as your eyes are moving over the print, is your mind responding?

Reading is a thinking skill. You can read as fast as you can think your way through the material. The secret to faster reading, is learning to get the mind kicked into gear at higher speeds. That is the great mystery we have solved with our approach. We have unlocked the secrets of combining physically reading faster and cognitively how to move your mind along the way. This approach has shown usual gains averaging 15 points or more in comprehension gain.

Remember, it's not how fast you get through the material that matters, it's how fast you understand what your eyes are seeing.

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Public Speaking - Example of a Persuasive Speech Outline to Sway the Audience's Opinion

You may want to persuade an audience to DO something, or you may want to prove to them that something is TRUE. But, there may times when you want to sway your audience to your point of VIEW, that a choice is desirable or is better than other options. To organize such a talk (sometimes called the "Value" method), you still have the three parts of a speech - the intro, body, and conclusion. But the difference is in the Body. The Main Points of your talk would have two or ideally three points: (1) Establish criteria or ideal standards to define your proposal. (2) Measure your proposal against those standards. And if you want to persuade that your choice is better than other options, then (3) compare how your proposal measures up to other options.

To see how this organization would work when you want to persuade your audience to your point of VIEW, let's use the example of persuading them that swimming is the best form of exercise. Let's say the group wants to get into an exercise program - they've already decided they're going to DO some kind of exercise. You want to persuade them that swimming is the best choice, better than running or biking or yoga. Here's how you might outline that presentation:

I. INTRO

A. HOOK: Get their attention and interest. You might share a funny personal anecdote about swimming, how much you hated lessons when you were a kid and how you almost drowned the instructor one time when you jumped blindly off the diving board because you were so scared.And today, you're like a fish in the water.

B. REASON TO LISTEN: "It's been clearly established that exercise is crucial for our fitness and weight loss. We all know we will look better, feel better and be healthier if we exercise regularly. Yet it hasn't been established exactly what the best form of exercise is... But I believe I know the answer... "

II. BODY

A. ROAD MAP: I'd like to show you all the fantastic benefits of swimming, so you can see it's the best choice for your exercise plan.

B. MAIN POINTS:

1. The criteria or "ideal" standards for your proposal:

Present to the audience (or even get them to contribute) the characteristics of the ideal exercise program. For example, you might suggest its characteristics might be a good cardiovascular workout, help you lose weight, be easy on your joints, strengthen and tone all your major muscle groups, and build strong bones.

2. Measure your proposal against those standards.

Show how swimming fulfills those criteria: it's a great aerobic workout, especially if you can swim for at least 30 minutes; it's easy on your joints because of the cushioning effect of the water; because it calls for use of your arms and legs and back, it works all the muscle groups, and it's overall conditioning and aerobic effect helps keep your weight down. Build strong bones? Well, not really, so we can't claim that one.

3. Compare how your proposal measures up to other options, in this case running, biking and yoga. (Plot this visually, if you can. On a chart, list of all the criteria on the left, and then have columns for each form of exercise:

Aerobic Swimming Running Biking Yoga



Lose Weight

Easy on Joints

All Muscle Groups

Strong Bones

For each exercise, check the criteria that apply to it. You would want to have more checkmarks in the column for your proposal, of course!)

"You can see that swimming meets more of the criteria for good exercise than these other forms. It is a healthy and fun way to stay fit!"

III. CONCLUSION

A. SUMMARY: Wrap up with reviewing the criteria and how your proposal measures up to them and compares favorably with others.

B. CLOSE/CALL TO ACTION: "So you can see that swimming is better all-round exercise than these other forms. If you want a good workout that's good for your heart, lungs, muscles, joints and weight management, I urge you to buy your swim suit and goggles and get in the swim!"

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The Importance Of Reading

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary.

It is observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. It is recommended that parents to inculcate the importance of reading to their children in the early years. Reading is said to significantly help in developing vocabulary, and reading aloud helps to build a strong emotional bond between parents and children. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better.

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as those from the days of yore and makes us sensitive to global issues.

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Playing Your 'A' Game: How to CRAM your Way to Academic Success

Professional athletes recognize the importance of being at their best. They realize that their individual performance has a direct impact on their team and organization. If they are at their finest or playing their 'A' Game, competitors and observers will notice. It is at these times that they seem unstoppable. Besides athletics, this peak-performing zone can too be experienced in other areas of life; in business, in relationships, in leadership, and especially in the field of academics.

All student leaders desire to be at the top; however, their work habits and level of discipline do not always support their scholastic desires. What is it that causes one student to perform poorly, and another to play his or her 'A' Game all year long? Today It is my goal to show you how "CRAMMING" can lead you to play your 'A' Game.

Now you are probably asking yourself, "Wow, can I really cram my way to a 4.0?" "I thought cramming was unhealthy, and unsuccessful?" Each of your thoughts is valid, however, I want to bring more value to your life as a student and leader, by propelling you to a higher level of thinking.

Before we investigate this aspect of cramming, we know that students all across America get far too little sleep. Classes, social activities, leadership roles, and part-time or sometimes full-time jobs get more attention than that of sleep. As the end of the semester or exams approach, sleep deprivation becomes more apparent. This now places students in a "Do or Die situation. Failing the exams could mean more years in college, or even flunking out - thus the need for cramming.

There are a few good reasons to cram for exams. The first one is that it doesn't work, and the second reason is that it doesn't work at the last minute. However, if cramming is used at the proper time it can bring forth great results. Let me clarify this with an example from my college life.

As a Chemistry major at Norfolk State University, during my freshman year, I made some immature academic decisions. I was a P.P. - a Professional Procrastinator. I would wait to the last minute to do everything! I waited to the last minute to study notes, prepare for tests, and work on homework and reports. I procrastinated so much that I would go to the cafeteria for dinner right before closing. This last minute lifestyle forced me to have many "cram sessions" and to pull "all-nighters".

As a new college student on an academic scholarship I realized in order to maintain my scholarship and graduate with honors my (poor) study habits and (lack) of time management was going to have to change. This became further apparent when I would take my class exams with headaches and aching body pains. During most tests I felt sluggish and crappy. I even felt as if I had a serious hangover, and I actually did - a hangover from the previous night of cramming, drinking bottles of root beer, eating candy bars and greasy pizza all for the sake of trying to stay awake to focus..

Studies and reports have shown that "cramming" or "last-minute cramming" (as I have termed) will cause the below to take place. If you are a consistent crammer, you can testify to the following effects.

o Your anxiety level will go up tremendously

o You will lose sleep and eat poorly because of this

o You will get sick more easily because of this

o You will miss the exam because of this

o You will take the more difficult essay make-up exam because of this

o You will fail the exam

o Seriously, at a minimum you will do worse on the exam than you would have otherwise. Guaranteed.

Last minute cramming does not work because of a few biological reasons. When cramming occurs, information is stored in the short-term memory side of the brain. This is where everyday information that is not really worth remembering is stored. In order to learn we have to transfer information into the long-term memory side of the brain. Here information can be retrieved far easier and over a longer period of time. Let's further examine the difference between short term and long term memory.

All information is processed in the brain and stored in short term memory. The problem is that this information sort of overloads the brain and is not kept for very long. Can you remember what you had for breakfast two days ago, or the outfit you wore this past weekend? What about the price of your lunch on Monday? No. So what makes you think you will remember some theory from class, which you never heard of before? Yes you may remember it for a about a day or two, but since it's not necessary to remember it all, the brain will dump it after a short period of time.

Long term memory is the type of memory used when we want to store information in a more permanent way. This is either done by making information especially memorable or by consistent daily repetition. Have you ever tried to remember the lyrics to your favorite song? How many times did you listen to that song or read the lyrics before you finally remembered it? The same should be true for your class work. Once something is transferred from short term to long term memory we say it has been learned (or at least remembered).

This is why last minute cramming is not beneficial for students. Last minute cramming fails because you are relying on short term memory. But what would happen if you crammed every single day, or simply put large amounts of information in to your memory consistently and purposely. Cramming in itself is not wrong; it's just pointless, if not done properly.

C.R.A.M. as I have termed it can be translated into a simple four word phrase - Consistent Reiteration for Advantageous Memorization. It is imperative that you study your class work (C.R.A.M) every single day, even if it is for a few minutes. College is your current occupation and career, so see school as your 9 to 5 job, and C.R.A.M. When its time to study, work just as if it were your job. make sure you check in at a certain time and check out at a certain time. If your mid-term or semester exam is two weeks away, you should have had daily C.R.A.M. sessions throughout the semester so the information would have already been transferred.

My main purpose for addressing this issue of cramming is to impress upon you to develop daily disciplines for academic success. The thing you give your attention to the most, will be the thing that controls your mindset and memory bank.

You have what it takes to play Your "A" Game every school term. Just don't wait until the last minute to cram, but C.R.A.M. intensely every single day with a planned regimen. Many students fail because they fail to plan. To better your grades, you must have a detailed plan of attack and mastery over your daily schedule. To avoid last minute cramming and to play your "A" Game in school, here are 12 practical things you must do when creating your daily schedule for school.

1. Schedule personal quiet time and motivational time. Use this time to encourage your self and develop a mental image of your day.

2. Allocate the times you must be in class.

3. Define the time periods in which you will study.

4. Plan for breakfast and lunch, but don't eat for longer than 30 minutes; use the other designated half hour to prepare for your next class.

5. Set time aside for part time jobs, extracurricular activities, and other necessary events.

6. Carry a detailed appointment book or organizer, so you will always know what needs to be completed for the day and for a specified hour.

7. Communicate your study times to friends and family so that they are aware of your schedule and won't interfere.

8. Go to your study periods as if they are an important appointment.

9. Designate a specific location outside your room to study each subject. Study location can differ based on mood, surrounding, and time of day.

10. Establish your play time. Don't be a workaholic.

11. Study for a designated class at a designated hour, even if you don't have a test or homework assignment. Place this daily into your schedule

12. Don't allow planned activities to overlap; schedule activities on purpose and then do them on purpose. When it's time to work, work. When it's time to study, study; and when it's time to have fun, have fun!

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Why You Should Consider Getting Essay And Thesis Editing Services

A local Wales newspaper ran a story on a man killed in a train crash and inadvertently wrote in the caption: Bob Jones 60, who was killed in the crash LOL. A headline from another paper read: Girls' school still offering 'something special' - head. Another paper in Toronto misspelled the word "correction" when it ran a correction in an issue. You see, even the professionals make mistakes. These are just a few. Big brands like CNN, The Economist, and Vogue have had to print several apologies and retractions on wrong headlines, quotes, and attributions. What can essay and thesis editing services do to prevent this from happening to you?

Mistakes in a written work can have bad consequences. This is especially true when you're trying to secure a good grade, a lucrative project, or the ideal job. Poorly constructed essays and theses could be failed or rejected. Expert editing services will make sure that this does not happen to your written work. They could clean up your documents, making sure that your essays and theses are readable and polished. They will run through the entire page and determine which passages seem unnecessary, confusing, and ambiguous. As the headline from that one local paper illustrated, certain words, when constructed together, can create an entirely different meaning than intended.

Essay editing from experts can also add nice little touches to your content that could potentially elevate the quality of your work. Sometimes, in your intention to finish a written project, you might miss out on writing more consistent sections. Expert editors know how to re-write certain sentences or paragraphs in a better way, without compromising your message. This will help reinforce your message more effectively, allowing your readers to digest and recall it long after they've read your work.

Expert editors guarantee that your documents are error-free through their proofreading services. They will ensure that all your "i's" are dotted and all your "t's" are crossed. They will know exactly how to spot for misspelled words, misused punctuations or lack thereof, typos, and every little mistake. Sometimes, it is always better to have an expert look back at your work to see if you've missed any necessary correction.

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College Planning: How To Investigate When You Can't Visit Campus

I've been getting a lot of questions about things you can do to investigate colleges and express interest in colleges so that you can decide if a college is a serious enough contender for a campus visit (which costs a lot of time, effort and money if the college is farther than 100 miles).

One solution is to attend college fairs. One of the biggest fairs around are the NACAC College Fairs. There are smaller ones - hosted by local schools, etc. BUT if you want to have the opportunity to meet and greet the majority of colleges on your list this is a great opportunity.

Now, while these fairs are great, you've got to understand that because they are BIG, they can be overwhelming - and a waste of time if you don't use them properly. Because there is so much, you can get distracted by lots of "bright shiny objects." In other words, if you're not focused, you can spend a lot of time on things that will not bring you any closer to your goal of getting to a final list of colleges.

Here are five tips to make the most of attending any college fair:

1. Register for the fair before you go - so they know you were there and can contact you even.

2. Go with the right frame of mind - your purpose in attending is to spend time with colleges you are already interested in. This is not the place to wander aimlessly trying to find colleges you might like.

3. Have the list of colleges you're currently considering with you and make it a priority to get to those colleges' booths first.

4. Save your hands - you may want to print out a sheet of mailing labels with your name, address and phone number. That way when you stop at the booth, if they have any card they want you to fill out, you can slap the label on it instead of handwriting your information over and over again.

5. Be prepared to stop and chat with the representatives at the colleges you are already interested in. Go with questions (you should already have them - just pull out the questions we've created around your criteria and pick a few to ask before you go.)

After you've stopped by all of the colleges you are already considering and investigating, then and only then, if time allows should you start wandering to anyone new.

Your Smart Plan For College Assignment

Evaluate your plan to investigate the colleges you SAY you're interested in. Are you talking with them? Are you asking good questions that can help you come to a decision? You can't visit every college out there - you need to "vote colleges off" your list (kind of like Survivor). Add the "College Fair" to your plan as a tactic to investigate colleges to see if they are worthy of further consideration.

Once you decide to attend, create your plan for making the most of that college fair - or else you'll be spinning your wheels and have yet another thing you've spent hours doing with little to show for it.

Jeanmarie Keller has helped thousands of students get into colleges they love while making sure their parents save a fortune on the bill. Jeanmarie is the creator of the Smart Plan For College System which teaches her client-families how to get noticed in the admissions office, get in at the colleges right for them and how to get the money they need to help pay the bill.

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The Age of Reason and the spread of English

What non-English-speaking people would have taken the trouble to learn English in 1700? For study and diplomacy, the answer is practically nobody. That had changed by the year 1800: English had become an important language. Now, the language of the United States is predominant and more people are learning English than the total number of native speakers. The roots of this expansion are in the Eighteenth Century, and inextricably tied to the literature and history of the period.

The Seventeenth Century had closed with a triumph of scientific reasoning. Isaac Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687. Science, which at that time was called Natural Philosophy, began its ascendancy over traditional philosophy and religion: it concerned itself with publicly observable phenomena and not with the subjective or wishful aspects of the individual human mind. Newton wrote for an international audience of educated men. He wrote in Latin.

Latin was still the international academic language of Europe. It was also the language of the Roman Church and possessed the prestige of the ages; and it was a necessary part of any well-to-do child's education. Academies wrote in Latin. Diplomats wrote and spoke French, and French was the language of the courts of Europe.

So, the predominant languages of the Eighteenth Century were associated in the European mind with two enduring institutions - Church and Monarchy. It was these two institutions that came under particular attack during the Enlightenment.

This was nothing new. The Protestants had broken with Rome because of its arrogance in claiming to be the direct successor of the spiritual Roman Empire in the 1500s. The English had overthrown their monarch in the 1600s. In 1700, the idea of Rome persisted as a community - one church catholic and universal - though its geography had little to do with the secular empire of Rome, which had included the whole of North Africa, together with the Middle East; whereas in the Eighteenth Century most points east and south of Vienna were in the hands of the Moslem Ottomans. Indeed, there was a European institution that called itself the Holy Roman Empire up until 1806. Voltaire stated the obvious when he pointed out that it was neither Holy nor Roman - it was German. But the idea of Rome persisted.

There were two aspects of the Roman idea which appealed to two different factions. Rome as Empire attracted the Catholic Church and Absolute Monarchies. Rome as Republic drew the attention of men who wanted to change the existing order of government and society. The imperial notion had proved extremely durable. It was more than a blend of myths. It had represented peace, order and security to an uncertain medieval world. It was something to hold on to.

To the rationalists, the underlying consistency of the laws of nature should be reflected in the consistency of natural laws of man. The idea of The Rights of Man gained currency. However, the fundamental difference between the two is that natural laws have automatic consequences, whereas the laws of man require administration. Were men to constitute and administer fair government, then mankind would be on the road of progress. Men would return to a natural state of harmony with the removal of iniquity and inequity.

What models of government were available in history and in what way did men contract to be part of this government? There was the practical Roman republican model of laws and administration and there was the late Roman ideal of simple Christian community as a House of Peace - a Pax Romana.

Take Roman republican virtues of thrift and hard work. Take noble protestant yeomen. Mix them in a place with a classical name such as Philadelphia (Greek not Latin) and you have an ideal city.

The concept of a simpler and purer Rome was current in the Eighteenth Century. However, its realisation was prevented by the mundane institutions of Church and Monarchy which had become moribund: they were no longer holy and roman and so deserved neither respect nor belief among the rationalists. Also, to the Protestants, they represented an arrogant and unaccountable intermediary between men and their God; an unnecessary and luxurious obstacle which ruled by might and not right. Men had been given brains: it was up to men to use them.

The Church and Monarchy had also become entrenched elites. It was hard to get a look in if you were not well-born. They were not institutions of opportunity for those who believed that men could make their own way in the world by reason of their lights and efforts; though churches and monarchies, like political parties, have never been obstacles to the true opportunist.

This was the significance of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed by the 13 American Colonies on 4 July 1776: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

The American Declaration of Independence was written in English. At its inception, the United States declared itself to be an English-speaking country. Although, in the next century, Mr Noah Webster might have preferred the revolutionary title Dictionary of the American Language, he decided to call his great work An American Dictionary of the English Language. English it was and English it is.

The rational proposition was made that men are capable of governing themselves, in their own interests, by common consent. And that simple proposition was made in plain language.

English was, by this time, a fairly standardised written language. Printing presses had been in operation for two and a half centuries and spelling had gelled more by custom than by design. Dr Johnson had interfered with some spellings, insisting, for example, that dett be spelt debt for (bad) etymological reasons. Noah Webster would do the same in Massachusetts. There were 26 letters in the English alphabet, j and v having been added. The golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge, and London had established an educated and mercantile form of English. The King James Bible of 1611, appointed to be read in churches, and The Book of Common Prayer, meant that all Protestants heard the same words for the same texts - though, of course, they heard regional variations of pronunciation. Charles I had passed a law on the standardisation of chapbooks by which itinerant hawkers peddled the rudiments of literacy.

The language of Cambridge England passed directly to Cambridge Massachusetts where Stephen Day founded the first press in 1639. Hezekiah Usher of Boston added books to his General Store list of commodities in 1647.

There are no census figures for literacy in the Eighteenth Century, but there are detailed accounts of the number of printing presses in operation. No press could operate without a licence, granted by the Lord Chancellor's office which was also responsible for censorship. So, in the 1760s, the question is not how many people were literate but how many were completely illiterate? Universal literacy was not achieved until the late Nineteenth Century, but it is likely that the majority of English people had at least a basic knowledge of reading and writing a century before - perhaps 80%.

Protestants insisted on literacy, and the United States was largely a Protestant creation. So, literacy among the early American settlers was high. Their texts were religious rather than political. They knew their Bible. There were chapbooks of homiletics. The four editions of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, 1570-1583, were standard fare in Protestant homes and shaped Protestant views of The Inquisition and the reign of Bloody Mary for a century. Also, from its publication in 1678, the other book that ranked next to the Bible was John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

Newton, hardly at the same time, came out to it from Cambridge along the old Roman road, that had survived unmended for twelve centuries. At Stourbridge he bought prisms in the Dutch Row with which to unweave the rainbow.

'The Pilgrim's Progress' was probably the last truly popular work of English fiction, in that it appealed to all sections of society who read or heard it. Parts of the book have passed into the language, so that even those who have never read it may well know The Slough of Despond, Giant Despair and Doubting Castle, Mr Worldy-Wiseman, as well as Vanity Fair (taken by Thackeray as the title of his novel serialised 1847/48).

It is still a very powerful allegory of a pilgrim's passage through this world in hope of achieving the Celestial City. It touches the dark pit of the Protestant mind as well as the rapture of light. Bunyan knew Foxe's book and consigned Faithful to the flames of martyrdom in the best tradition of gloom and uplift.

Languages gain prestige, in part, through their literature - and this includes their religious literature. Hebrew and Arabic, for example, can claim to be languages of revelation. That in itself is not enough to ensure the continuance of a language among anyone other than scholars and priests. Religious languages become fixed and dead. Living languages change. Literature is a changing medium. Add the new dimension of technical literature and English is now the nearest language to a Universal Tongue.

The British gave Great Power prestige to English in the Nineteenth Century. The United States sponsored English in the Twentieth. The British claimed, for good or ill, the largest Empire in the history of the world. The industrial and military power of the United States in August 1945, compared with the rest of the world, was unprecedented in history. New Rome had grown up in New England.

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