SEE - UNDERSTAND
In order to strengthen a skill, it is necessary to push yourself to your limits. EXAMPLE: If you can do 50 pushups and want to increase your ability until you can do 100 pushups, you don’t do 25 then quit. If you are interested in increasing your ability, you must do 50, and then add as many more as you can force yourself to do. You may start doing only 51, then 53, 65 etc. Only by pushing to the very limits and then beyond, little by little, can the dimensions of ability be stretched. Never forget that reading is a skill. It is governed by all the natural rules that govern skills. As you begin to push yourself, you will lose understanding. When you practice, you are not reading! You must accept this. Do not worry about anything when you are practicing, except the single skill you are told to develop. In the beginning, the skill you learn first is the skill of eye movement. Don’t be concerned with anything else, until directed to do so. As the ability to move your eyes grows stronger, your understanding begins to come back to you, better than ever.
Many people who read and write a great deal, and even many who read and write as an occupation, have described their efforts to read faster than they normally read. They explained that as they push themselves to go faster than they normally read, they become frustrated because
of a great reduction in understanding and the greater occurrence of regression in the attempt to increase their understanding. Regardless of how they tried, they were not able to read any more in a given period of time than they normally did. In nearly every case, the attempt to read faster resulted in skimming.
Now, you are going to begin learning the new reading skill. This is a new skill, to you, and it may not be easily learned. It will not be learned at all, IF YOU DO NOT PRACTICE. It may not be difficult for you to learn, IF YOU DO PRACTICE.
You must learn to look at the print on the page correctly. Forget about understanding the text and concentrate on eye movement. If you don’t do these things, you are just going to become a better skimmer, not a better reader. The better you learn to see the print, the better your
understanding will be. Movement first. Seeing second. Understanding third.
Taken From: THE ALPHA-NETICS
RAPID READING PROGRAM
