SixReadingMyths

MYTH1:IHAVETOREADEVERYWORD

Manyofthewordsusedinwritinggrammaticallycorrectsentencesactuallyconveynomeaning.If,in
reading,youexertasmucheffortinconceptualizingthesemeaninglesswordsasyoudoimportantones,youlimit
notonlyyourreadingspeedbutyourcomprehensionaswell.

MYTH2:READINGONCEISENOUGH

Skimonceasrapidlyaspossibletodeterminethemainideaandtoidentifythosepartsthatneedcareful
reading.Rereadmorecarefullytoplugthegapsinyourknowledge.
Manycollegestudentsfellthatsomethingmustbewrongwiththeirbrainpoweriftheymustreadatextbook
chaptermorethanonce.Tobesure,therearestudentsforwhomoneexposuretoanideainabasiccourseis
enough,buttheyeitherhavereadextensivelyorhaveanexcellentbackgroundorahighdegreeofinterestinthe
subject.
Formoststudentsinmostsubjects,readingonceisnotenough.However,thisisnottoimplythatan
unthinkingPavlovianlikerereadingisnecessarytounderstandandretainmaterials.Manystudentsautomatically
regressorrereaddoggedlywithaselfpunishingattitude.("Ididn'tgetathingoutofthatparagraphthefirsttime,so
ifIpunishmyselfbyrereadingitmaybeIwillthistime.")Thisisthehardestwaytodoit.
Goodreadingisselectivereading.Itinvolvesselectingthosesectionsthatarerelevanttoyourpurposein
reading.Ratherthanautomaticallyrereading,takeafewsecondstoquizyourselfonthematerialyouhavejustread
andthenreviewthosesectionsthatarestillunclearorconfusingtoyou.
Themosteffectivewayofspendingeachstudyhouristodevoteaslittletimeaspossibletoreadingandas
muchtimeaspossibletotestingyourself,reviewing,organizing,andrelatingtheconceptsandfacts,masteringthe
technicalterms,formulas,etc.,andthinkingofapplicationsoftheconceptsinshort,spendyourtimelearningideas,
notpainfullyprocessingwordsvisually.

MYTH3:ITISSINFULTOSKIPPASSAGESINREADING

Manycollegestudentsfeelthatitissomehowsinfultoskippassagesinreadingandtoreadrapidly.Weare
notsurejusthowthisattitudedevelops,butsomeauthoritieshavesuggestedthatitstemsfromthedayswhenthe
Biblewasthemainbookread,savored,andreread.Indeed,theeducatedpersonwasonewhocouldquotelong
passagesfromthesebooksfrommemory.
Todayproliferationofbooksandprintedmatterbroughtaboutbytheinformationexplosioncreatesareading
problemforeveryone.Furthermore,muchofthisprintedmaterialoffersconsiderablylessthanShakespeareorthe
Bibleinmeaningorstyle.Youmust,ofcourse,makedailydecisionsastowhatisworthspendingyourtimeon,
whatcanbeglancedatorputasideforfutureperusal,andwhatcanberelegatedtothewastebasket.
Theideathatyoucannotskipbuthavetoreadeverypageisoldfashioned.Children,however,arestilltaught
tofeelguiltyiftheyfindanoveldullandoutitdownbeforefinishingit.Ioncehadastudentwhofeltshecouldnot
havebooksinherhomeunlessshehadreadeveryoneofthemfromcovertocover.Studiesshowthatthisisthe
reasonmanypeopledropBookoftheMonthClubsubscriptions;theybegintocollectbooks,cannotkeepupwith
theirreading,anddevelopguiltyfeelingsaboutowningbookstheyhavenothadtimetoread.
Theideathatsomebooksareusedmerelyforreferencepurposesandarenicetohavearoundincaseyouneed
themseemstobeignoredinourschools.SirFrancisBacononcesaidthatsomebooksaretobenibbledandtasted,
somearetobeswallowedwhole,andafewneedtobethoroughlychewedanddigestednomatterhowtrivialthe
content.Nowondermanypeopledislikereading.
MYTH4:MACHINESARENECESSARYTOIMPROVEMYREADINGSPEED

Nonsense!Thebestandmosteffectivewaytoincreaseyourreadingrateistoconsciouslyforceyourselfto
readfaster.Machinesareusefulasmotivators,butonlybecausetheyshowyouthatyoucanreadfasterwithout
losingunderstanding.Rememberthattheyareinflexible,unthinkingdevicesthatchurnawayatthesamerate
regardlessofwhetherthesentenceistrivialorvital,simpleordifficult.Theyarelimitedtoo,forifyouare
practicingskimming,youarelookingformainideassothatyoucanreadmorecarefully.Sincethesemaynotbe
locatedinadefinitepattern(e.g.oneperline)norbeequallyspacedsothatthemachinecanconvenientlytime
them,machinesmayactuallyslowyoudownandretardthespeedwithwhichyoulocatetheideasthatyouneedfor
understanding.Ifyoufindyourselfinneedofapusher,usea3x5cardasapacer,oruseyourhand,oryourfinger.
However,thereisonecautionyoushouldobserveifyoutrythis.Besurethatyourhandorfingerorcardisusedto
push,notmerelytofollowyoureyes.

MYTH5:IFISKIMORREADTOORAPIDLYMYCOMPREHENSIONWILLDROP

Manypeoplerefusetopushthemselvesfasterinreadingforfearthattheywilllosecomprehension.However,
researchshowsthatthereislittlerelationshipbetweenrateandcomprehension.Somestudentsreadrapidlyand
comprehendwell,othersreadslowlyandcomprehendpoorly.Whetheryouhavegoodcomprehensiondependson
whetheryoucanextractandretaintheimportantideasfromyourreading,notonhowfastyouread.Ifyoucando
this,youcanalsoincreaseyourspeed.Ifyou"clutchup"whentryingtoreadfastorskimandworryaboutyour
comprehension,itwilldropbecauseyourmindisoccupiedwithyourfearsandyouarenotpayingattentiontothe
ideasthatyouarereading.
Ifyouconcentrateonyourpurposeforreadinge.g.locatingmainideasanddetails,andforcingyourselfto
sticktothetaskoffindingthemquicklybothyourspeedandcomprehensioncouldincrease.Yourconcernshould
benotwithhowfastyoucangetthroughachapter,butwithhowquicklyyoucanlocatethefactsandideasthatyou
need.

MYTH6:THEREISSOMETHINGABOUTMYEYESTHATKEEPSMEFROMREADINGFAST

Thisbeliefisnonsensetoo,assumingthatyouhavegoodvisionorwearglassesthatcorrectyoureye
problems.Ofcourse,ifyoucannotfocusyoureyesatthereadingdistance,youwillhavetroublelearningtoskim
andscan.Furthermore,ifyouhavedevelopedthehabitoffocusingyoureyestoonarrowlyandlookingatword
parts,itwillbeharderforyoutolearntosweepdownapageoftyperapidly.
Usuallyitisyourbrain,notyoureyes,thatslowsyoudowninreading.Youreyesarecapableoftakingin
morewordsthanyourbrainisusedtoprocessing.Ifyousoundoutwordsasyouread,youwillprobablyreadvery
slowlyandhavedifficultyinskimmingandscanninguntilyoubreakthishabit.

StepstoFollowinSkimmingfortheMainIdeas

1. First,readthetitleofthechapterorselectioncarefully.Determinewhatcluesitgivesyouastowhattheselection
isabout.Watchforkeywordslike"causes,""results,""effects,"etc.,anddonotoverlooksignalwordssuchas
thosesuggestingcontroversy(e.g."versus,""prosandcons"),whichindicatethattheauthorisplanningtopresent
bothsidesofanargument.

2. Lookcarefullyattheheadingsandotherorganizationalclues.Thesetipyouofftothemainpointsthattheauthor
wantsyoutolearn.Youmaybeaccustomedtooverlookingboldfaceheadingsandtitleswhicharetheobvious
cluestothemostimportantideas.Ifyouconcentrateonthedetailsandignorethemainideas,youwillhavemuch
moredifficultyretainingtheinformationyouread.
Rememberthatauthorsofcollegetextbookswantyoutorecognizetheimportantconcepts.Theyuse:

a. Majorheadingsandsubheadingstoconveymajorpoints.
b. Italicizedwordsandphrasessothatcrucialnewtermsanddefinitionswillstandout.
c. Listsofpointssetoffbynumbersorparagraphsthatbeginwiththephrasessuchas"Thethreemostimportant
factors..."etc.
d. Redundancyorrepetition.Bystatingandrestatingthefactsandideas,theauthorensuresthatyouwillbe
exposedindifferentwaystotheconceptsshefeelsarethemostcrucialforyoutounderstand.Shehopesthat
onatleastoneoftheseexposuresyouwillabsorbtheidea.Therefore,itisvitalthatyourecognizewhenan
importantconceptisbeingrestatedinslightlydifferentwordsandwhenyouhavecompletelymasteredthe
idea.

MITO 1 : Tengo que leer cada palabra

Muchas de las palabras utilizadas en la escritura de oraciones gramaticalmente

correctas en realidad no transmiten ningn significado . Si , en la lectura , se ejerce
tanto esfuerzo en la conceptualizacin de estas palabras sin sentido como lo hace los
ms importantes , se limita no slo su velocidad de lectura , pero su comprensin
tambin.

MITO 2: LECTURA Una vez es suficiente Descremada vez lo ms rpidamente posible

para determinar la idea principal e identificar las partes que necesitan una lectura
cuidadosa. Vuelva a leer con ms cuidado para tapar las lagunas en su conocimiento.
Muchos estudiantes universitarios cayeron de que algo debe estar mal con su
capacidad cerebral si tienen que leer un captulo del libro ms de una vez. Para estar
seguro, hay estudiantes para quienes la exposicin a uno una idea en un curso bsico
es suficiente, pero, o bien han ledo extensivamente o tienen un excelente fondo o un
alto grado de inters en el tema. Para la mayora de los estudiantes en la mayora de
los sujetos, que lee una vez no es suficiente. Sin embargo, esto no es dar a entender
que una irreflexiva relectura pavloviano-como es necesario para comprender y
retener materiales. Muchos estudiantes regresan de forma automtica o releen
tenazmente con una actitud de auto-castigo. ( "No he tenido una cosa fuera de ese
prrafo, la primera vez, as que si me castigo por la relectura que tal vez lo haga esta
vez.") Esta es la forma ms difcil de hacerlo. Buena lectura es una lectura selectiva.
Se trata de seleccionar aquellas secciones que son relevantes para su propsito en la
lectura. En lugar de volver a leer de forma automtica, tome unos segundos para
autoevaluarse en el material que acaba de leer y luego revisar las secciones que
todava no estn claras o confusas para usted. La manera ms efectiva de pasar cada
hora de estudio es dedicar el menor tiempo posible la lectura y la mayor cantidad de
tiempo posible para pruebas a ti mismo, revisar, organizar y relacionar los conceptos
y hechos, el dominio de los trminos tcnicos, frmulas, etc., y pensando en las
aplicaciones de los conceptos, en una palabra, pasar el tiempo las ideas de
aprendizaje, no dolorosamente procesamiento de palabras visuales.