Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Language learning and speed reading

Today I read this article on Lifehacker about speed reading, and it got me pondering whether there are any applications of speed reading in language learning.

My initial reaction is that, no, there aren't, because going slower helps you absorb better, but I suppose there could be some argument to covering quantity.

Thoughts?

Links: Repeat "A-E-I-O-U" to Read Faster [Lifehacker]
Posted by Vincent at 11:26 PM

6 comments:

  1. with speedreading you have to be able to recognize a whole phrase or sentence (or more) all in one glance, but i have enough trouble figuring out each word when i'm learning a new language.

    a related thing that i find very handy is to just skip over the words that i don't know, rather than stopping to look them up in the dictionary. this preserves the flow of your reading and makes it much more enjoyable, and you get more exposure to content than if you looked up everything. but i don't really see any value in trying to apply any speedreading techniques
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  2. I like to read a certain chunk—a sentence, a paragraph, a page—marking down the words I don't know and then coming back to them later. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't, but just the act of marking them down makes me more conscious of them as I get further exposure to them.
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  3. ShinetruemusicApr 1, 2011 10:58 PM
    I just read about 40 pages of French for Dummies and could correctly pronounce French. I tried not to consciously comprehend what I was reading and just skim through it.
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  4. Though I've never tried any speed reading program, I think it's somewhat helpful. If you could read at a fast pace and you understand them, that would be an advantage--especially when you are a blogger and a researcher.
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  5. I think reading at a fast pace would be an advantage especially for bloggers and researchers provided that they can understand and grasp the info and thought of what was read.  I've came across reviews of speed reading programs and somehow they find it helpful since they've really improved with regards to speed reading.
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  6. Hmmm. Yes you can actually absorb the meaning what you are reading if you read slowly--that's the normal thing. But would it be much better if you can read fast while still understanding the thought of what you are reading?

    There are various speed reading software today that can actually help you to improve your speed at reading by teaching you some strategies and techniques on how to read fast and understand.
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