In the first part of this article series you discovered the importance of reading faster. You learned how to use your hands to dramatically increase your reading speed by 10-15%. By now you should have practiced the technique outlined in this article, and experienced this reading speed increase for yourself. This second article will focus upon improving your understanding of what you read.
Most people read in a single step. They open a book, and turn to the first chapter. They begin reading the first sentence of the first paragraph, and continue moving down the page until they reach the end of the book. After all, that is how most of us were taught to read when we went to school. Unfortunately, this is a terrible strategy, and causes all kinds of comprehension problems. Fortunately, there is an easy solution.
Reading experts use a simple formula for improving comprehension while reading. In fact, this same formula can be used while speed reading. The formula has an acronym which is SR2Q. SR2Q stands for: skim, read, review, and question. These four steps are easy to learn, and will make a dramatic improvement in your reading comprehension. Let’s begin.
Before you start to read a text to learn the details, you should skim it from the beginning to the end. This skimming should be done at very high speed. For example, it should take no more than 10 minutes to complete a thick college text. Once you are done skimming the material, you are ready for the next step.
Now begin to read the material. It is a good idea to look for the main ideas, and any supporting information. After all, why should you believe what you are being told if there isn’t evidence to support it? While reading, place a tick (-) mark in the margin using a pencil. Place this tick mark next to anything that is confusing to understand.
Next you search for all of your tick marks, and review that material. You can use other texts, and sources of information to decode the meaning that is confusing to you.
The last step in this process for improving reading comprehension is to continuously ask questions while you are reading. Questions create curiosity. Curiosity creates interest, and interest results in better comprehension.
SR2Q is an easy process to use to improve your reading comprehension. With just a little practice, you will be amazed at how much better you are able to read for comprehension.
