How Inflection Can Create Reading Comprehension Problems
August 18, 2009
Inflecting a single word can completely change the meaning of a sentence, and this can cause serious comprehension problems during reading. This problem is linked to the imaginary voice you hear inside your head when reading. The imaginary voice also dictates what to put down while writing. The problem is printed words do not show their inflection, and this can cause comprehension problems for your children and you during reading. This month, we shall learn more about this serious comprehension problem, and a simple solution that can help you find a solution to the problem and start improving your comprehension.
Take a look at this sentence: “I didn’t say she ate the sandwich.” Did you find it confusing? Inflecting the words in this sentence will profoundly alter meaning. To simulate inflection, I will bold the word in the sentence that I want you to hear in an emphasized tone.
What does this sentence mean: “I didn’t say that she ate the sandwich?” The emphasis on the word “I” is my why of saying it wasn’t me but someone else who ate the sandwich.
Now let’s place the emphasis on the word “SAY.” I didn’t SAY that she ate the sandwich. What does this mean? I might have pointed at her, or implied that it was she, but I never actually said it to you verbally.
When I put the emphasis on “SHE”, we again get a totally different meaning: “I didn’t say that SHE ate the sandwich.” I told you that someone else was responsible for eating it.
Now I’m going to emphasize the word “ATE”: I didn’t say that she ATE the sandwich. Now we get a completely different meaning. Perhaps I said she threw the sandwich away, or that she ate the desert, but in no way did I say that she was responsible for eating the sandwich.
In our final example, I shall place the emphasis on the word “SANDWICH”: I didn’t say that she ate the SANDWICH. Perhaps I told you that she ate an apple, but I never told you that it was a sandwich that was eaten by her.
Notice how by simply changing the emphasis of a single word in a sentence, I altered the meaning. Fortunately there is an easy solution to this problem. If a writer used inflection to create meaning in a sentence, and your brain is hearing the wrong inflection pattern, then you might try reading the sentence placing emphasis each time on a different word to see if that changes its meaning and makes the sentence comprehensible. I don’t recommend doing this very often, but if a sentence is particularly important and if inflection is causing the comprehension problem, then this is an easy way to fix it.
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How to Retain & Recall Information For Increased Memory
August 14, 2009
Only four hours after studying you will forget over 40% of what you learn. Over 40%!
As the worlds fastest reader, I have learned the importance of accelerated memory skills for retaining information. The same memory skills that enable me to retain details at even 80 pages per minute, will also help you retain essential school information. Let us see what makes things more memorable.
Centuries ago the Greeks discovered one of the major secrets of memory. They found that powerful emotions glue information into the permanent memory. Just how do powerful emotions glue information into permanent memory? Information already stored in your permanent memory is similar to hangers in a closet. In the same way that hangers enable the storage of clothing in a closet, mental hangers in your permanent memory empower your brain to store new information. An emotional glue instantly links your new information with stored information already in your brain. Your ability to remember is directly proportional to the powerful emotional responses the image elicits. In short, effective linking requires you to create a unique image that produces extremely powerful emotions. Let us see exactly how this works with the following simple drill.
Using your traditional memory technique, memorize the following 5 items in less than one minute: (1) screw, (2) two by four, (3) sneakers, (4) tomato soup, and (5) window cleaner.
In less than a minute, using your traditional memory tool this list can be difficult to permanently remember. Using the emotional anchors discovered by the Greeks you will remember this list in a flash. Furthermore, you will be able to remember it backwards, forwards, or perfectly in any other sequence. Additionally, you will effortlessly be able to accomplish this more difficult task. Hard to believe? Let’s do it together.
The first step is to use a list of objects already familiar to you. Objects previously stored in your permanent memory. These objects will become your memory hangers.
The parts of your body meet all the necessary criteria. Your body parts are highly familiar to you, and are already stored in your permanent memory. Let us use the feet, shin, knees, thighs, and stomach which are in a convenient order for remembering new information.
Our next step is to create a highly emotional image that links the objects in your list to your familiar body parts. The first object is a screw, and the first body part is your feet. Imagine a sharp, rusty screw, going through your foot and out the top. Ouch! This is certainly a powerful emotional image. When you think of your feet what object immediately is recalled? The screw. Congratulations, you have just memorized the first object on your list.
A two by four is the second object on your list, and it must be linked to your shins. Picture your shins being shattered by a two by four. Thinking about your shins, instantly makes you remember the two by four.
Next you need to link sneakers to your knees. To create this emotional image requires a bit of imagination. Picture Dirty Harry wearing a pair of sneakers, kicking and shattering your knees. Imagining your knees instantly helps you remember a pair of sneakers.
The fourth object in your list is tomato soup, and your next familiar object is your lap. This is an easy image. Think about a boiling pot of tomato soup spilling onto your lap. Contemplating your lap you instantly remember tomato soup.
Your last object is window cleaner, and it must be linked to your stomach. Think about drinking a bottle of window cleaner and having it drain into your stomach. Pondering your stomach immediately makes you think about window cleaner.
Now you are ready to instantly remember the five objects on your list by recalling the emotional images linking them to your five body parts. I will give you the name of a body part and you picture the object linked to it. Ready? Begin:
(1) feet, (2) shins, (3) knees, (4) lap, and (5) stomach. See how easy it is to remember items when using emotional anchors. You can use this same technique for memorizing information for school?
Incidentally, I used painful images because every agrees on what is painful, while our concept of pleasure can vary. Nevertheless strong positive emotions are also effective in anchoring information into memory.
“Excellent & potentially life-changing information and tools” – Bill, a coach in Covington on Maximum Power Reading
Asking Good Questions To Get Better Grades
August 13, 2009
The questions you ask strongly influence your brain. If you ask, “Why am I a loser, and why does no one like me,” what will you learn? Nothing useful. Yet a simple rephrasing of the question to, “How can I become more successful and loveable,” produces very useful information. Your brain is a like a simple computer, and the questions you ask determine what solutions it seeks. It becomes critical for learning success to ask better questions.
Many learners sabotage their success by asking poor questions during studying. A question like, “why am I so stupid, and why do I not I understand this,” will not provide useful information. “What does this mean,” would be a far more useful question to posit. One of the most useful questions you can ask while under stress is, “what is the next best step I can take.” It immediately forces your brain to realistically view your problem, while seeking a positive solution. This question works not only for studying, but during any other life crisis as well.
The importance of questions can not be understated. Just a little over a century ago, the question being asked was, “can man fly?” The answer was an emphatic, “no!” This was an excellent answer given the failure to solving this problem by some of the greatest minds who ever lived including Leonard da Vinci. Yet, two men who built bikes, Orville and Wilbur Wright, did not realize they could not succeed. Their first successful flight lasted only a brief amount of time, and went a very short distance. However, their flight proved that man could fly. After thousands of years of failing to fly, mankind was able to fly to the Moon, and Mars only a little over a hundred years after their short flight. Planes, rockets, and other flight enabling devices of every shape and size have been created. What changed? The questions changed. The questions now being asked were about how to fly higher, faster, longer, and heavier. Questions lead to new insights and significances. They are the secret to supercharging your understanding.
These techniques are part of our College Central and Teen Advantage series. They will help you learn faster and achieve better results whether your a student or professional.
Speed Reading Introduction: How To Increase Your Reading Speed (Part 1 of 3)
August 13, 2009
This is a written excerpt from Howard Berg’s speed reading program, “Maximum Power Reading” available on DVD.
Why is it so easy to read the road while driving at 70 miles per hour, while it is far more difficult to read text at only 200 wpm? Think about it. Reading the road in a car should be far more difficult since we read in four directions: front, back, left, and right. A book sits in front of you in one direction. Yet in just a few days, most of us only remember about 10% of what we read, but while driving we get so bored we turn on the radio and talk to friends. Understanding the difference between these two types of reading will unlock your child’s reading speed.
The difference between reading the road and reading a book is simple. While driving in a car your brain processes all the data as a movie. The result is information that is easy to process. Reading text is quite different. During reading there seems to be an imaginary person in back of your head that reads aloud: one….word….at….a….time. This imaginary voice creates the bottleneck that slows down your reading. The solution is simple, start viewing a movie of the text while reading—just like you did while reading the road during driving.
How can you begin seeing more while reading? Instinctively you already have started to master this skill, but not quite enough to increase your reading speed. When you first learn to read, you read letters. The dog is viewed by your brain as the letters:
“d o g.” As your reading skill progresses you begin to see these individual letters as a single word. “Hot” is another word comprised of only three letters. However, placing the word hot in front of the word dog changes the meaning of both words. You don’t see hot dog as a dog that is hot. Instead you recognize a popular food. Your brain has chunked these two separate words into one unit of meaning.
Look at this grouping of words: United States of America. Your brain doesn’t see four words; instead, it sees one grouping that you recognize as our country. By learning to speed read your brain quickly adjusts to chunking large groupings of individual words into easy to understand units of meaning. Most people can double their reading speed in only 4 hours with Maximum Power Speed Reading Program.
I hope you enjoyed this tip on speed reading. Click here for part 2 or continue to browse the speed reading, speed math and speed writing tips here at MrReader.com
Learn how remedy your information overload with Howard’s brain based learning programs. Each learning system includes the power house speed reading course, “Maximum Power Reading”. Click here now
Speed Reading Introduction: Using your hands to increase reading speed (Part 2 of 3)
August 2, 2009
Part 2 of How to Increase Your Reading Speed
This is a written excerpt of Howard Berg’s DVD speed reading program, “Maximum Power Reading”.
Remember when your teacher told you not to use your hands while reading? Mine did too, but she can’t read 25,000 words per minute as I can now by using my hands. In this month’s column we will learn a simple hand motion that can increase your reading speed by 10-20% in just a few short minutes.
Your hand can help your brain overcome the need to hear a page while viewing text. Part of the reason for this working is related to how your eye and hand are wired into your brain. You eye is directly wired into your brain. In fact, the retina is actually an extrusion of brain matter that forms it. As a result you are emotionally affected by what you see. Viewing things can make you laugh or cry.
Your hand is not as hard wired into the brain, and it rarely feels emotion, unless you slam a car door on it. Then you get very emotional. Let’s learn a simple pattern for moving the eyes across the page with your hands. Here are a few techniques you can apply using the template that appears below:
* Move your hand on the lines from the left to the right margin
* Don’t stop if you miss a word
* Slow down if you are missing many words
* Your eyes can follow your hand as it goes across the line
* Move as quickly as you can read
Your browser may not support display of this image. Your browser may not support display of this image. Your browser may not support display of this image. Once upon a time there were three little pigs. The first pig made his house out of straw. The second pig was more industrious and built his house out of twigs. The third pig was diligent Your browser may not support display of this image. and hard working, and built his house out of bricks. Which house do you think was strongest?
Now continue practicing this simple pattern while reading text with familiar words and content. Don’t practice on text containing new ideas that you are trying to learn or lots of words you haven’t seen before. You will soon notice that your reading speed is quickly accelerating with no loss of reading comprehension when you implement this simple skill. Click here for part 3
Learn how remedy your information overload with Howard’s brain based learning programs. Each learning system includes the power house speed reading course, “Maximum Power Reading”. Click here now
Another Use For The Contents Page: Better Speed Reading Comprehenion, Faster Study Techniques
August 2, 2009
Previously, we learned how properly using a contents page can prevent the frustration of wasting countless hours pouring over the wrong book to complete a work or homework project.
Now, we learn another comprehension secret contained within your text’s contents page. To perform this exercise you will need to briefly skim the sample contents page shown below:
Chapter 11
Fish
Fish physiology
Fish Mating Behavior
Fish Eating Habits
Chapter 12
Amphibians
Amphibian Physiology
Amphibian Mating Behavior
Amphibian Eating Habits
Chapter 13
Reptiles
Reptile Physiology
Reptile Mating Behavior
Reptile …………………
What do you think the missing will be after Reptile Mating Behavior? You can easily see that it is probably Reptile Eating Habits. This is easy to do because you have become familiar with how the writer of this Biology book is organizing her/his topics. Each chapter covers a different animal’s physiology, mating, and eating habits. This is extremely valuable information.
Many of you read slowly because you are afraid of missing important information. However, if you know what information is going to come next in a text you will be consciously looking for it to appear. When your brain consciously searches for information that is located in a text, it is easy to locate that information when it appears. This is another powerful use of your text’s contents page. It reveals the organizational pattern of a writer so that you can anticipate and find information even at higher reading speeds.
If you enjoyed this article, please continue to browse the website for more valuable information that will help you to get finish your professional work/reading faster, homework help, study and test taking tips.
Study Skills: Faster Using The Book’s Content Page
August 2, 2009
Do you know how to use a text’s contents page to increase your understanding of text? A publisher typically demands an excellent contents page from an author before deciding whether or not to publish their book. The publisher understands that the contents page is the book’s outline, and it describes how the book is put together.
For a reader, the contents page contains several invaluable pieces of information that can help you dramatically increase your comprehension. Take a minute to quickly skim this brief sample content’s page:
Part One: Freedom in the New World
The People of the New Land………………………………10
The Legacy of the Colonial Period………………………………………………………….…..15
The Seeds of Revolution………………… ………………..25
Already you have powerful information to put to use. First, what is the topic of this text? You probably answered history. If I asked you what kind of history, you would probably answer American History.
If your purpose in using this book was to write a report on the Bush Administration, do you think it would be very helpful? No! How do you know this? Because this book is about the founding of the country, and probably doesn’t provide much information on modern American history.
How long did it take you to realize this book was not going to be helpful? Just a few seconds. How often have your children or you spent days reading a text only to realize that it wasn’t providing you with the information that you required?
Simply previewing the contents page can save you days of wasted time, and the frustration of having to start a project over again. Next month, I shall demonstrate another powerful use of your text’s contents page.
Studying and homework whether for college students or professionals doesn’t have to take forever. Continue to browse the Mr.Reader’s Blog for even more study tips and register for a free webinar!
Introduction To Speed Reading: Speed Reading Exercise (Part 3 of 3)
August 2, 2009
Part 3 of How to Increase Your Reading Speed
This is a written excerpt from Howard Berg’s DVD speed reading program, “Maximum Power Reading”.
Now that you are controlling your eye movements easier using your hand, you are ready to begin dramatically increasing your reading speed using a simple four minute exercise:
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Set a clock to beep after each minute. Click here for a timer you can set for 1:00 minute, it will open in a new window. You can reset the timer for each step.
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Read for one minute at your peak comprehension rate
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Read at double your comprehension rate for one minute.
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You will not be able to comprehend text during this minute, but will be making your brain work harder so it can read faster during the fourth minute.
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Read at triple your reading comprehension rate for one minute. Again you will not be able to comprehend text during this minute.
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Read at your peak reading comprehension rate.
Amazingly, you will be reading faster—and with improved comprehension! A good speed reading program will help you further increase your reading speed, and teach you better reading comprehension, and memory/recall skills as well. As the world’s fastest speed reader, I’ve taught thousands of students just like you to become speed readers too. In “Maximum Power Reading” speed reading program we focus heavily on helping you to learn any subject with greater ease. Memory and study skills are incorporated into my leading edge reading techniques as well to put you on the path to successful information management.
Learn how remedy your information overload with Howard’s brain based learning programs. Each learning system includes the power house speed reading course, “Maximum Power Reading”. Click here now
How Schema Makes Text Comprehensible For Speed Reading
August 2, 2009
When people observe me speed reading eighty to ninety pages per minute, they are quick to ask me if I am reading every word? I always tell them, “of course not”, but neither do you. The difference is you don’t realize your brain is not reading every word, and read much slower than I do. Let me prove to you that your brain does not read each word. Read the following passage:
Olny srmat poelpe can read this.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearer at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat latter be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you cn raed tihs psas it on !!”
Notice what happened? Your brain can read this entire passage even though all the words are scrambled. Research at Cambridge University proved that your brain doesn’t read every letter by itself, and all that matters is that the first and last letter of a word be in the correct place. This is because your brain reads words as a whole and not one letter at a time.
When I read at top speed I see several sentences at a time and understand their content just like you do when reading a sign on the highway while driving at high speed. It is your brain’s ability to process large chunks of information at a time that makes speed reading so easy to learn.
An average person using one of my brain friendly speed reading programs can increase their reading speed by 100% or more in just a few hours. It really is amazing what our brains are capable of when we learn the skills and techniques to “speak” its language.
How inflection can create reading comprehension problems
August 2, 2009
Inflecting a single word can completely change the meaning of a sentence, and this can cause serious comprehension problems during reading. This problem is linked to the imaginary voice you hear inside your head when reading. The imaginary voice also dictates what to put down while writing. The problem is that printed words do not show their inflection, and this can cause comprehension problems for your children and you during reading. This month, we shall learn more about this serious comprehension problem, and a simple solution that can help fix it.
Take a look at this sentence: “I didn’t say she ate the sandwich.” Did you find it confusing? Inflecting the words in this sentence will profoundly alter its meaning. To simulate inflection, I will bold the word in the sentence that I want you to hear in an emphasized tone.
What does this sentence mean: “I didn’t say that she ate the sandwich?” The emphasis on the word “I” is my why of saying it wasn’t me but someone else who ate the sandwich.
Now let’s place the emphasis on the word “SAY.” I didn’t SAY that she ate the sandwich. What does this mean? I might have pointed at her, or implied that it was she, but I never actually said it to you verbally.
When I put the emphasis on “SHE”, we again get a totally different meaning: “I didn’t say that SHE ate the sandwich.” I told you that someone else was responsible for eating it.
Now I’m going to emphasize the word “ATE”: I didn’t say that she ATE the sandwich. Now we get a completely different meaning. Perhaps I said she threw the sandwich away, or that she ate the dessert, but in no way did I say that she was responsible for eating the sandwich.
In our final example, I shall place the emphasis on the word “SANDWICH”: I didn’t say that she ate the SANDWICH. Perhaps I told you that she ate an apple, but I never told you that it was a sandwich that was eaten by her.
Notice how by simply changing the emphasis of a single word in a sentence, I altered the meaning. Fortunately there is an easy solution to this problem. If a writer used inflection to create meaning in a sentence, and your brain is hearing the wrong inflection pattern, then you might try reading the sentence placing emphasis each time on a different word to see if that changes its meaning and makes the sentence comprehensible. I don’t recommend doing this very often, but if a sentence is particularly important and if inflection is causing the comprehension problem, then this is an easy way to fix it.
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