THEORY Faster reading requires good habits: 1. A minimum number of eye fixations 2. Wide eye span to grasp phrases at each eye movement 3. No lip movements or vocalization 4. No returns over material just read Number, letter and word recognition exercises develop efficient eye movements. The recognition span exercise prepares the reader to visualize in his or her mind entire phrases at each glance. In addition to visual habits comprehension can be improve. Words are recognized through their appearance. One must be confident in the difference between words with a similar appearance such as road and roar or though and thought. Word meaning can be established from memorized definitions, from the context, from prefixes, suffixes and roots. The ability to use those hints in the reading process improves with the word meaning exercise or synonym recognition. When walking the eyes don't normally focus; one looks anywhere. When running, most people concentrate on what comes directly ahead. For speed reading, at the beginning, one has to concentrate as if running looking about one foot beyond the screen or the book to obtain the necessary recognition span. Each sentence expresses a complete idea. Each phrase within a sentence covers necessary information about one aspect of that idea. When eye movement and recognition span are combined to extract the information of each phrase to decipher the idea of the sentence, reading abilities adjust to the efforts made by the writer. Paragraphs group sentences to express main ideas about the authors central theme. Mind mapping uses the specialized abilities of each hemisphere of the brain to assemble ideas. In the mind map only single words are used with simple pictures link by lines. The center of the mind map or imagined drawing must be the central theme. Numbers are used to depict the hierarchy among words and objects. Hence, the logical and problem solving abilities of one hemisphere are combined with the forms, dimensions and space representation abilities of the other hemisphere. Since concentration must be devoted to the assembly of ideas, reading skills must be used unconsciously. Exercises undergone playfully will have the desired result. Read at 100 words per minute then at 200 words per minute and finally at 300 words per minute. You will find that you do not have to isolate each word to understand what the author meant. First understand and then make notes. Consider the number of books you have to read and the time you have to read them and figure out the necessary reading speed. You will find time to formulate your own ideas. Reading will not be a race to grasp ideas. In fact, reading is usually an enjoyable activity. We hope you will increase your enjoyment easily with the computer exercises. Perhaps one day we will have a more fruitful exchange of ideas from improved reading. To perfect one's speed reading skills, the recognition span is improved until one letter at both ends of the screen is recognized, the eyes being fixed on the letter in the center. Then number recognition from the left is practised until the number repeated is detected without moving the eyes. Letter recognition follows number recognition. Word recognition is the crucial step which combines recognition span and letter recognition skills to read. When one is efficient in the recognition of words, the recognition of synonyms begin to work the ability to extract information from symbols. Information extracted from string of characters must be organized in one's mind. Mind imaging improves the ability to extract information until the brain rebuilds the world described by the writer. These skills become automatic until the reader concentrates on meaning and what should be remembered. This is where speed reading stops and literary interpretation, science or note taking begins. This program has been written knowing that almost everyone has been gifted with the ability to think. When people become efficient, they never go back to learning basic skills again. Speed reading will stay within you and save time, improve communications and the ability to detect what is useful in your environment. If we ever meet, you will have well defined productive ideas to influence me with. Reading newspapers, magazines, contracts, textbooks, instruction manuals, income tax and other business forms for only 2 hours per week, with an improvement of comprehension of only 10%, implies 2 hours x .1 x 50 wks/year x 20 years = 200 hours saved at minimum wage, you have enough to buy a computer of the next generation. In the main menu, pressing PGDN triggers the score board. In the set-up you can select the reader under which the scores will be updated. You can monitor each exercise as you improve to see which skill hold your speed down. With the initial settings, reader 3 shows the scores of a good speed reader. The mind imaging score is the score of the last mind imaging exercise, easy or hard. If you have a VGA/TV converter, record your sessions to find patterns in missed selections. Use ReadFlex to warm up before extensive reading. References There are many books on speed reading, most of the will cover the tools used in this program. Here are 2 books among many others: Improving Reading Ability: A Manual for College Students James B. Stroud, Robert B. Ammons, Henry A. Bamman Appleton Century Crofts, New York 1956 Speed Reading Tony Buzan Penguin Books USA Inc. 1991 The graphics packages from COREL Corporation, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, have been used with permission to publish according to the guidelines outlined in COREL Draw 6.