Learn to Read Faster

It's the Information Age - How Fast Can You Read?

Learn to read faster and you will increase your income, your

This page is going to show you many different ways to learn to read faster including a discussion of phonics and how that impacts the entire process.

In our high speed, 24-7 information age - reading skill is the most important skill you can develop. Most people think that you are done with reading instruction after the third grade. Get this idea out of your head -- it simply isn't true - reading skills continue to develop throughout our lifetime.

The first issue to address as you learn to read faster is phonics.

Did you learn to read using the phonics method or the sight method?

This matters as you learn to read faster and I'll tell you why in a second. To determine whether you learned by the phonics method or the sight reading method ask yourself this question -- Did I learn the sounds that letters make? Or did I learn the shapes of words? In other words did someone simply point to a word CAT and say "This word says 'cat'."

If you learned by phonics your teacher would say something like -- this letter makes the sound k,k,k - this letter makes the sound aaa -- this letter makes the sount t,t,t - like the ticking of a clock. Phonics readers often repeat the 'sound' of a letter over and over again as they memorize it. Generally the name of the letter is introduced after the 'sound' of the letter.

Did you learn that the letters 'ph' make the sound ffff... or did you learn that the word 'phone' simply 'meant' phone.

The reason this makes such a huge difference in your reading skill lies in a very simple principle.

If you learned by the phonics method - you learned a few secrets or keys to reading that sight readers missed out on. Your brain has not been trained to recognize the 'building blocks' of words.

So, if you were taught by the sight reading method -- the first step is to remedy some of the missing info and to practice reading phonetically (or by sounding out each word in a left to right progressive manner).

It's perfectly fine to read at a slow rate during this phase. You are teaching your brain some important recognition skills. When you see the letters 'ph' your brain should recognize ffff without any further clues.

Sight reading has it's place in the scheme of things - but only after you have thoroughly mastered phonetic skills.

Sight reading allows a student to 'power read'. But it doesn't work without the phonetic foundation. Your brain hasn't been trained to recognize the underlying mechanics and you make mistakes.

Phonics trains your brain to be precise. Speed reading teaches your brain to make educated guesses.

You really do need to practice both - but phonics first.

If you are confident that your mechanical precision is up to snuff - then it's time to move up to some power reading principles.

Every word has a unique shape. Our brains are able to decipher that shape in a millisecond. This is the foundational principle of all speed reading courses.

It is easy to train your brain to 'suck in' all the shapes it sees on a page and instantly translate those shapes into words and meanings. That means super fast reading with comprehension.

It takes practice and time.

If you want to learn to read faster please go to Power-Read.

learn to read faster