Stronger, faster, better

> Tips to increase your reading speed

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor

 

nyone that has been taken a class

with me or has been friends with
me long enough will be able to tell you
that I read very quickly. Generally, on
average, I can read 75 to 100 pages an
hour depending on the complexity of
the language. This has been hugely
advantageous for my education as an
English major. While most students
were struggling to catch up on all
the readings come final essay time,

I was sitting pretty, reviewing my
notes and saved quotations, trying to
figure out what my thesis would be.

I never took a class or did any
sort of group activity that magically
made me quicker at reading. For me, it
was simply a matter of practice—but
there are a couple tips I have that will
increase your reading speed slightly.
Maybe even enough so you can get to
bed on time for that 8 a.m. class.

You don’t need to read, to read

Your brain is hardwired to re-organized
things in a way that logically makes
sense based on context. That’s why
many speed readers train themselves

to only look at the first and last letter
in a word, and not actually read the
entire word. Your brain will fillin the
blank space based off the size and the
subject matter of what youre reading.
You can basically do the same thing

for sentences and even paragraphs,

it just takes practice and precursory
knowledge of what the subject matter is.

 

I don’t recommend doing this for every
paragraph in a book, or every article you
come across in your studies—save it for
the ones that you find a little boring.

The interest-to-speed correlation

If you find something you're reading
interesting, you'll read faster. Whether
it’s because you are less aware of the time
passing, or because reading becomes
less of a chore when you like the subject
matter, interest equates speed. For this
reason, be aware of where your interests
lie, and plan your readings accordingly.
If youre in the process of reading a book
and you don't find a particular character
or scene that compelling, use the first tip

A man named Jam

> Noticing the overlooked people around you

Morgan Hannah
Contributor

 

he first time I saw him, it was a

bright and sunny New Westminster
day. He was wearing a blue Canucks
ballcap, had holes in his jeans, and there
was a plastic Tupperware container

beside him on the sidewalk, where he sat.

“Mornin’,” he said with a
simple smile of his own. Caught
off-guard, I politely nodded back
at him and continued on my way,
avoiding eye contact and the dreaded
moment when I would inevitably
be asked for spare change.
The second time I saw him, it was
a drizzly, grey morning. There he was,
sitting on the sidewalk, accompanied
by another man, this one with a beard
and dishevelled hair. When the two of
them began to talk, it was as if they were
good friends sitting at a cafe, rather
than sitting on the street in the rain.
The third time I saw him, I was at
the recycling depot, my bottles and cans
carefully washed. He had been watching
me from behind a blue barrel filled
with assorted glass bottles. I looked
behind him for an empty barrel and was
startled when he produced one for me.
“Here, you don’t want to get

your hands all dirty.” he said,
“T can help you with that.”

At first, I wanted to tell him that
I was fine and could do it myself, but
curiosity got the better of me as I caught
myself thinking perhaps there was more
to this man than meets the eye. In all
the times that I’ve encountered him, he’s
never asked me for anything, and in fact
has offered to help me with something
instead. So, I accepted his help and
soon found myself talking to the man,
trying to figure out who he was.

“Name’s Jim. Buddies call me
Jam.” He expertly navigated his way
around the depot, despite clearly
not being an employee, so I found
the courage to ask him about this.

It turns out that he previously
worked for Seaspan for 35 years.

“One day, I hurt my foot pretty
bad, went on comp for about a year,
and eventually ended up losing my
job,” Jim said. He told me about how
he was a widower who wasn’t smart
with his money and didn’t have any
savings or retirement funds, nor
had he any family to help him out
when finding work became hard.

As we finished sorting my empties
and waiting for the clerk to tally them
all up, Jim shared with me how he
found himself alone and nearly out of

to scan through it until you've returned
toa part you like. This same tip can be
used for academic readings. Separate
your readings by what initially interests
you and be aware that you'll probably
get through those parts faster, while the
less interesting stuff might be more of
a slog. In tackling the interesting parts
first, you might also be able to find an
angle through which you can increase
your interest in the rest—thus making
it easier for you to finish quickly.

Comprehension

Speed reading is all well and good,
but it means very little if you don’t
comprehend any of what you just read.

Photo by Analyn Cuarto

Comprehension is what allows us to
retain information—so above all else,
my biggest tip to becoming a faster
reader is to make sure you comprehend
what youre reading. This will save you
from having to read the same line over
and over again. Even I am still guilty of
sometimes scan-reading too much. I will
then hit a part that catches me off-guard,
and I'll have to go back in the book to try
and figure out what that part is referring
to. Limiting your use of the first tip to

a few sentences at a time can actually
prevent this. Scanning paragraphs

are fine, entire pages not so much.

In all the times that I've encountered him, he's
never asked me for anything, and in fact has
offered to help me with something instead.”

 

money at age 64, something that a lot
of people fear. He was ina tight spot,
so he ended up having to move into a
crummy, small apartment with a guy he
met named Kyle. Kyle was out of work
too. “We collected our CPPs, but they
barely covered the rent, so we'd usually
find ourselves on the street, hoping to
get lucky, or doing what we can when
we can.” He gestured to the barrels
of empties surrounding us. “You get
used to it after a while. No point being
miserable over it, when it’s easier on the
soul to make the best of where I’m at.”
Jim smiled. I was stunned. This
neglected elderly man was more at peace
with where his life was at than most
people ever are. I wanted to reach out
and help this man, who had been so
generous and open with me, who hadn't
asked for anything but connection,
acknowledgement, and conversation.
“You know what, Jim? I have about
a dozen errands to get to today, so I
better get going, but it'd really help
me out if you could turn in my bottles
for me...” Jim looked at me witha

confused expression. I knew what I was
offering was small, but it was a start.

“But, how will you get your
change?” He asked. I told him that I
didn’t really need it and that he’d be
doing me a favour, as all I wanted to do
was get rid of the bottles. “Okay, but I
owe you one!” He had said, smiling.

I shook my head and began
to walk out the door, stopping to
assure him, “No, we're even!”

As I left the depot I couldn't help
but think about how many people
out there are as overlooked as Jim
is. Does anyone ever really take the
time to stop and say hello? Maybe
ask how someone’s day has been?

It’s possible that Jim only earned a
couple of dollars from the bottles, but
it was an opportunity to do some good
for someone who definitely deserved
it. It was an opportunity to ensure
that Jim Michell, a hard-working man,
was no longer overlooked. At the very
least, he could count on me to wish
him a good day every time I saw him.