How to read correctly? The question seemed somewhat stupid. If we don’t talk about literacy, then take a book and read for your health. In fact, it's not that simple. Almost all of us read books for our own development. But are we effectively extracting the most useful things for ourselves? This is especially true for books on self-development, psychology, and so on.

So, let's name the main condition that you will understand how to read books correctly and will get the most out of this process useful information. You must have a passionate desire to learn what is described in a particular publication. That is, you, as a reader, must firmly decide for yourself that you want and will develop all the qualities and skills that the book teaches you. You should get the most complete impression of her. You should not skip any chapters or sections out of a desire to save time. If the material presented in it needs to be remembered, then reading it alone will clearly not be enough. It often happens that a person misses important points. While reading, you need to deeply comprehend what is written, stopping every now and then. You can stock up on a simple pencil and highlight important points. It will help a lot if you do it again. If the material presented is really important to you, then you should refresh your memory about once a month. Just look through the book, stop at the highlighted points. The acquired knowledge must be consolidated in practice.

Concerns the question of how to correctly read scientific literature, self-improvement books, and so on. But with other publications you are free to do as you see fit. If you read it doesn't matter how you do it. Some, for example, prefer to study such books in order, while others deliberately look at the last pages in order to know the outcome.

There is one more question that worries many today. In our age, when the amount of printed information is simply off scale, such a skill will be very valuable. Therefore, how to read correctly is, of course, important, but it is much better to learn how to do it as quickly as possible in order to develop at a higher speed. So what does it take?

Firstly, return your eyes less often to what you have already read. If you need this to fully understand what is written, then you should pay attention only to individual fragments.

Secondly, you must determine for yourself what the purpose of reading a particular book is. If we are talking about professional and educational literature, then it is usually studied with the aim of obtaining specific information. Concentrate on that.

Thirdly, it is necessary to learn to perceive the text using a differential algorithm, and it includes keywords, necessarily semantic series, and a dominant. What does all of this mean? When reading, underline the key words that express the main semantic load with a pencil. From them semantic series are formed, they allow you to briefly understand what the we're talking about in a specific paragraph. The dominant expresses the semantic part of the text, but at the same time it is formed by the reader himself in his own words after understanding the information received.

Fourthly, it is worth reading to yourself. The main enemy of speed reading is articulation. You should not pronounce individual words out loud or even move your lips. If that doesn't work, hold a pencil in your mouth. You can get rid of articulation by tapping the rhythm with your hand while reading.

Fifthly, it is simply necessary to develop. So you will quickly find the necessary information in the text, while focusing on keywords. The text should ideally be perceived as whole paragraphs, not lines or words. You must keep one page in your sight.

Sixth, you should develop attention. After all, such qualities as stability, concentration, volume, switching and distribution make reading productive.

There is only one correct answer to this question: use the three-step reading method.

The point is not at all how to learn to read correctly and quickly. A quick superficial reading does not produce results. We need to master effective reading, learn to work with a book, extracting from it all the valuable information that interests us.

And if you are not a fan of reading the same text several times (exceptions are fiction and poetry, which are recognized classics), then you should learn to squeeze all the “juice” out of each book you read, so as not to return to its content in the future and use this time more rationally - on new books.

There is no need to rush - after all, our goal is not reading as a process, getting acquainted with information “for show,” but mastering new knowledge, expanding our horizons and increasing the level of skills. Reading a book correctly means working on its content. And if after a month you don’t remember 80% of the information that was presented in it, the work was not done and the time was wasted.

Books are ships of thought, traveling the waves of time and carefully carrying their precious cargo from generation to generation...

F. Bacon

In order not to waste time reading the same book twice, or even three times, you need to learn how to read books correctly - getting all the benefits the first time, which consists of three steps.

Step one – “rough” introductory reading

Imagine that you are choosing a new car. Where do you start? Of course, from a common acquaintance: her appearance and the materials that were used in its manufacture. And only then, having received the first visual impression, do you begin to get acquainted with her technical characteristics and complete set.

We do the same with the book. For a deep and effective understanding of the meaning of what is written, we start with a preliminary acquaintance:

• carefully study the cover of the book, paying attention to small details;
• If there is an author’s biography, then it is necessary to get acquainted with it in order to create general idea about the person who wrote this book and become closer to him: find out the history of life, the events that took place in a given time period, the conditions in which it was created - this is necessary condition how to read books correctly;
• important sections are articles that can be placed at the beginning and end of the book: “Introduction”, “Prologue”, “Epilogue”, “Preface” - they often tell the story of the creation of the book, contain Interesting Facts, the names of the people thanks to whom this book was written and those to whom it is dedicated;
• these sections may list the main topics, mention of other books by this author and authors who covered the same issues, as well as other information that will be interesting and useful to readers;
• You need to pay special attention to the table of contents - see how the content is structured: sections, sequence;
• further acquaintance with each of the chapters consists of reading its title and a brief acquaintance with the text and footnotes, if present - this will make it possible to read the book faster without being distracted by explanations;
• As you begin to superficially familiarize yourself with the content, always make various notes, which will become a kind of “knots for memory” and will make it easier to memorize the text.

If you use the technique of “rough” reading, spending from 10 to 20 minutes on it, depending on the volume of the text, this will help you better understand the idea, the views of the author, and will allow you to better comprehend what you read.

Step two - active reading

Reading is a process in which visualization of images and concepts occurs.

What does it mean? When we read carefully, we concentrate and images of what we read appear before us. We not only imagine what a person or object looks like, feel the wind blowing or other natural phenomena, but we also feel even the described emotions and states: pain, shame, thirst, heat, cold.

This happens because we think, and the thinking process is characterized by visual images. Thus, in the second step, we read carefully, take notes, collect information, find answers to questions - this method increases the degree to which we remember what we read.

By receiving multiple answers to questions of interest, we increase our life experience, our horizons become richer, and the experience gained becomes invaluable.

A deep analysis of the text we read allows us to get to the true meaning of what is written, to become an active reader who understands himself and the world around him.

A good book is like a conversation with an intelligent person. The reader receives from her knowledge and a generalization of reality, the ability to understand life...

Tolstoy A.

Remember how you perceived this or that work from the school curriculum as a child and compare it with how you understand it now. Isn't it true that these are different impressions from what you read? This happens because in childhood we used the method of superficial reading, when our life experience did not allow us to see all the nuances of what we read. It was reading for fun or out of necessity - not meaningful reading.

An adult is characterized by a method of actively comprehending what he read. Experience comes, and with it comes understanding of things. The more we read, the deeper we become, our actions are more appropriate and we are more interesting to others. By making notes in the margins of the book, we highlight the main thoughts, key phrases, favorite quotes that may be useful, mark pages containing important concepts and topics covered - this way we create our own structure of the book, understandable only to us and contributing to better memorization of the content.

Let's draw conclusions from the second stage of reading:

• be an active reader;
• wonder big amount questions;
• look in books for answers to all existing needs;
• when reading, structure the material in various accessible ways;
• make as many “knots for memory” as possible - various notes;
• delve into the deep meaning of everything you read and then your reading will be meaningful and beneficial.

Step three - reading from notes

After the book has been completely read and disassembled, put it aside for a few days - let the information received be absorbed. After a while, pick it up again and take a few minutes of your life to read it again.

You will need much less time and reading will be faster. Why? Yes, because this time you will focus on the most important thing, what you have highlighted for yourself, considering it the main thing. Taking notes and delving into the essence, you thought about the questions, commented on the reading. And now you will look at the material with different eyes, it will shine with new, previously unnoticed colors, it will seem that only now the whole meaning of what the author has written has reached you.

I read strangely, and reading has a strange effect on me. I read something I re-read a long time ago and it’s as if I’m exerting myself with new strength, I delve into everything, I clearly understand and I myself gain the ability to create...

Dostoevsky F.

The final step of reading will show that what was emphasized and highlighted earlier is analyzed now and stored in memory for a long time. Even after a long period of time and having forgotten what this book was about, you, looking through your notes, will quickly remember the smallest details, not to mention the main thoughts and provisions.

Do you know why curious, gifted and resilient children grow up to be people who hate reading? You can give me a dozen reasons that will make me feel sad and sit on Internet forums. No need. I'll tell you a simple secret. It has nothing to do with speed reading techniques and other diagonals.

They were forced to read by a dirty impulse that has nothing to do with joy - the habit of perfectionism. Remember that boy from Sunday school, which Tom Sawyer also attended? The boy who memorized the entire prayer book to distinguish himself before an evil teacher with a rod, and immediately went crazy? We are not talking about this kind of book reading. We are about reading that brings Joy.

There is no way we can learn to find joy in life, let alone reading. Before I tell you the secret, I’ll digress and give an example on topic.

One man told a real story that happened to him in a cafe. Once, entering a certain catering establishment, he sat down at a table, ordered something and, while waiting for the order, began to read a book. And then I caught the disapproving glance of the barmaid. This look became more and more disapproving, until finally the barmaid burst into tears. She walked right up to the table and said the following: “Man, they don’t read here.” (Like “we don’t smoke here”). In response to the perplexed “Why?” She, hesitating a little and clearly trying to formulate for the first time her hitherto unconscious impulses, answered that the cafe is a place of relaxation. Rest, you understand,” the lady clarified. People come here to relax, and you... read!

What is happening to all these people? And now I’m revealing a secret.

You need to read books correctly: “from fifth to tenth.” Jumping chapters and skimming boring descriptions. Start and quit. It’s chaotically scattering dozens of books around you and reading five at the same time. Forgetting the author and character names. Taste everything and go through the options. This is what children do, who are trying with all their might and using threats to wean them from this disgrace. As a result, excellent students grow up, and at the first convenient opportunity they grab Cosmopolitan like a sick person grabs an oxygen pillow.

Some parents do not trust their children. Then, wanting the book to be absorbed in its entirety, they take on the hard work and, straining their ligaments, (sometimes taking turns) read aloud to the child. It’s like force-feeding a political prisoner who is on a hunger strike in his cell.

And the result? The child still “switches off” at some stage, suddenly starting to dream about his own. At this moment, only the monotonous voice of the parent sounds in the mind, and the child himself feels like the girl Ellie, caught in the very center of a poppy field.

You won't understand the whole book the first time. And from the thirtieth - you won’t learn it. That's why it is a Book - that is, it is a sacred object. It fully complies with the law formulated by Le Tzu:

“Nothing in the whole world can be fully exploited.”

Instead of cramming an entire book into a child “from board to board,” children should be taught to re-read.

And in order for a child to have such a desire, the child must love the book. At first not a book, but artistic speech, a plot unfolding in time, leading to who knows where.

There are periods in early childhood when the child himself begins to fall in love with a sound literary text - this is when he asks to be told the same fairy tale and strictly corrects the narrator if he notices deviations from the “canon”. Oh, how this bothers parents!

They want to tell him ten, no, a hundred new fairy tales - but the child is adamant - give him the one he loves. What parents don't suspect: from mental retardation to sophisticated bullying.

And everything is much simpler: the child has a favorite toy, and it is dearer to him than all the new ones. There is no need to slip him a new tank model every day, he must learn to love, learn to become attached to one, learn constancy and fidelity. And not only in the world of material things.

As for the fairy tale, the analogy is direct - the child learns to love the sounding text, discourse, the ligature of tricky words that form a whole world. Your fairy tale is an access code to worlds unknown to you, but already living in his imagination. To enter there, the child needs to hear the usual call signs: “Once upon a time there was a poor woman and she had a daughter...”. Don't devalue the Word in your eyes little man, changing fairy tales like gloves, because you are “already tired of telling the same thing for the hundredth time.”

To start rereading a book, a child must love it. The one who crams reading into children like cold borscht is...

doesn't know the Way...

Those who stand on tiptoes will not stand for long,

He who walks wide will not go far.

Those who rush forward will not gain glory.

For the Path, this is only “an extra treat”, “a waste of time”.

For people this is only a reason for hatred.

This is what Taoist wisdom says. I will also introduce you to the commentary to enhance the effect.

Gladenkoe in the literary translation is “a wasted treat”, in the literal interlinear translation it sounds like “leftovers”. In China, leftovers were food that was not eaten immediately after cooking. It was considered “not suitable” for making sacrifices to spirits because it was harmful to human health. And it was necessary to bring only the best to the spirits.

Children are averse to reading because of their parents' vanity, which Lao Tzu famously described. “In an effort to please their ambition, people fill their lives with the futility of thoughts and feelings. The results of such a life turn out to be exactly the opposite of expectations.”

Some books are easy enough to try, others you want to swallow in one fell swoop, and there are those that take a long time to chew and digest.

Francis Bacon

1. Open the book.
2. Read the words.
3. Close the book.
4. Take the next book.

What could be simpler, right?

Yes, indeed, if you read just for fun, just to kill time, then this is pretty much what happens. But if you want to take something useful out of this lesson, you want to gain knowledge and new experience, then everything is not so simple. And that's why.

In 1940, Mortimer Adler wrote a work entitled “How to read books. A Guide to Reading Great Works", which is now considered a classic. Today we will try to very briefly get acquainted with some of its provisions, expressed about 75 years ago, but which do not lose their relevance in our time.

This study revealed that there are as many as four different ways of reading.

• Elementary. This is exactly what is meant by this word. We get this skill in primary school, and it only means that we can read the words on the page and understand their meaning, and also follow the main plot, but nothing more.
• Inspection. This is reading with a glance, what we call “across the sheet.” We look at the beginning of the page, then move to the end, along the way trying to catch the main key points and understand the flow of the author’s thoughts. This often has to be done when there is a need to master large educational or work materials under time pressure.
• Analytical. This is when you really immerse yourself in the text. You read slowly and carefully, you take notes, you look up words you don't understand, and you follow the links the author provides. Your main task in this case is to fully understand and assimilate the ideas presented in the text.
• Research. Mainly used by writers, scientists and creative workers. At the same time, you read several books on the same topic at the same time in search of confirmation or refutation of your own theories on this issue. This is a rather specific way of reading, which is associated more with work than with hobby or pleasure.

Next, we will take a closer look at the second and third types of reading as the most relevant and useful skills. Because elementary reading is probably already familiar to you, since you are reading these lines, and research reading is a rather specific type of activity that will interest few. With analytical and inspection reading, the picture is completely different: many people need it, but not all people have it. So, what do you need to do to take your reading skill from elementary to the next level?

Inspection Reading

As mentioned above, this type of reading is applicable in a number of situations. For example, in a store you need to quickly assess the feasibility of purchasing a particular book, quickly understand the essence of a voluminous report, keep abreast of the latest events in your area of ​​interest, and so on. In any case, you will not be required to deeply immerse yourself in the text, but to quickly capture and evaluate the information you need. To do this you need to do the following.

Read the title and examine the front and back covers of the book

This advice seems obvious, but many people neglect it, immediately moving on to the content. But everyone knows that the author always attaches great importance to the title and cover design, often investing in them the main meaning (or a hint of it) of the entire book. If you manage to guess this message, then much will become clear even before the first lines of the text.

Pay special attention to the first few pages

This is especially true for business and popular science literature. Here you can immediately go to the ending to find out the main conclusions, and only then, if they interest you, begin to get acquainted with their proof.

Read reviews

If you are choosing a book on the Internet, then it will not be difficult for you to get acquainted with the opinions of other readers. Although these comments should be taken with a certain amount of skepticism, since sometimes they are dictated by selfish motives to increase sales or, conversely, to “drown” the author. But you can still find book sites that publish reviews from real people.

Thus, by following these simple steps, you can easily form a preliminary opinion about almost any book. This skill will help you literally in 5-10 minutes choose really worthwhile materials and cut off unnecessary ballast, which will save you whole years of life.

Analytical reading

It should be noted that not every book is worthy of being read in this way. This type of reading should only be used when you really want to get the most out of your reading. If you do not know how to use the analytical method of reading, no book - even the most useful and necessary - will be able to give you everything that the author intended in it. Let's look at how to get the most out of what we read.

Find out a little more about the author and his other works

Simply making inquiries about the identity of the author can greatly clarify the motives and characteristics of his work. Agree that the book is about ways to achieve financial success will be much more credible if it was written by a practicing entrepreneur, rather than by a bankrupt loser. Or, for example, a novel about war will be read completely differently if the author’s biography contains corresponding episodes.

Spend a few minutes doing some inspection reading.

Before diving into the depths of the text, take some time for the brief preview described in the previous section. Do not miss the opportunity to gain information from the analysis of the title, content, preface, and so on.

Return to difficult moments

Read the entire book to the end, but try not to drag out the process too much. Adler calls this “surface reading,” that is, one during which you become familiar with the content of the book without going into too much detail. This means that if you encounter a difficult or unclear passage, do not try to figure it out immediately, but simply make a note and continue reading. When you finish the book, you need to return to your bookmarks and pay maximum attention to all controversial and incomprehensible points. Attract additional sources, re-read some places again, but as a result you should not have any dark places in the material you are studying.

Prepare a short resume

After finishing the book (and analytical reading is just that, work), write a short report reflecting your main impressions and knowledge gained. It's best if you write it in the form of answers to the following simple questions. Ideally, you do this in writing.

1. What is this book about? Sometimes we become so immersed in the intricacies of the plot or insignificant details that by the end of the story we completely forget about the author’s main idea. Just state the main meaning of the work in a few sentences.
2. What happened and why? Create a very brief outline of the book. For fiction, this can be the chain of events of the main plot, for popular science - the main theses and proof of the author's concept.
3. Are the events, facts and opinions described in the book interesting, true, and instructive? What is your attitude towards what you read? Do you agree with the author's opinion or do you think it is wrong?
4. What conclusions did you draw from what you read for yourself? Books are powerful tool to change yourself and your attitude towards the world. If you approach this issue to the maximum, then we can say that if the book you read gave you absolutely nothing, then you simply wasted your time. So try to capture in this answer everything that you were able to extract from this book for your development.

Yes, such a meticulous approach to reading does not contribute to the rapid absorption of literature and may probably seem too tedious. But you can definitely be sure that every book in your life will leave its mark and you will get the most from every hour spent with a book in your hands.

But anyone who has mastered the skill of speed reading well enough will tell you with confidence -

What speed reading is a complex skill.

Speed ​​reading is not just quickly putting letters into words and words into sentences. And this is not reading diagonally. This skill implies that a person has several skills:

1. Has a wide angle of view.
2. Doesn't speak the text.
3. Able to concentrate.
4. Possesses imaginative thinking.
5. Reads only forward, without backtracking.
6. Reinforces what has been read.

Here is the point: the information given below will be useful to you only if you think that you need it - to read fiction quickly. If you have the attitude “if only it were possible to read fiction quickly, I would love to learn,” then these tips are for you. But, if you think that “what an utter heresy to read fiction quickly!” - as Ford said, “you’re right.”

You can walk and have fun, or you can drive a sports car and also have fun. And you can do it equally well. It’s just that walking is a little more familiar, but to “drive” you need to practice.

So, a comprehensive speed reading skill. What you can do to read even more good books:

1. Increase the angle of view

If you have a wide perspective, you can read both self-education books and novels faster.

Some people have one word in their field of vision, others two. Less often - 3-4. But there are those who read in sentences and paragraphs. Yes, just like that - I looked at the paragraph and realized what was written. And moreover, he presented it in all its glory and remembered it in detail. Because the visual angle is large and lateral peripheral vision is developed. This can be trained. In I described how to do this using Schulte tables.

2. Learn to read without pronouncing

The playing time of the audiobook “Smilla and Her Sense of Snow” is 27 hours. Thus, if you spell everything out, you need to spend 27 hours to read this detective story. I read it in 4.

If you want to save dozens of hours, learn to read without internal pronunciation.

The reading process for an ordinary person goes like this:

Saw - Spoke - Heard - Understood

And so - for a person who has speed reading skills:

I saw - I understood

It happens that I stop and pronounce some word that seems unusual, new, interesting. But reading every word like this is not a rational waste of time. And in order to feel all the charm of language, immerse yourself in beautiful pictures and receive aesthetic pleasure, you don’t have to read a book to yourself. You can understand it immediately. And at any time you can return to normal reading with pronunciation.

There are simple exercises for learning to read without articulation:

1. While reading the text, do not pronounce the words, but count their number. Read one page this way. Retell what you managed to remember.
2. As you read, count to yourself from nine to one. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, nine, … . Counting continuously, read one page. Retell what you managed to remember.

3. Concentrate on the text

The time we think we spend reading is often spent on the following thought processes:

• reading;
• reproducing the plot in the head;
• analysis of what is read;
• fantasizing (thinking out, inventing);
• replaying past life events;
• planning.

Anyone who has mastered the skill of speed reading is entirely focused on the first three points and does it simultaneously. At the moment of reading, a person plays the plot in his head and analyzes it. Simultaneously. It's entirely in the book. Note - not in your thoughts, but in the book.

The “Point of Concentration” exercise will help you develop this skill.

Focus point

The point of concentration is at the back of the head where it is convex.

Close your eyes. Make sure to breathe deeply. Exhale a little slower than you inhale. Exhalation is a relaxation reflex. Once you feel relaxed while observing your breathing, place your fingertips on that same spot on the back of your head. Be aware of touch. With each inhalation, concentrate very intensely on this touch to the back of your head. As you exhale, concentrate on letting your shoulders drop.

Imagine picking up an imaginary golf ball. You run your fingers along its wavy surface. Estimate the weight of this imaginary golf ball in your hand. Now mentally place it on the back of your head. To do this, move your hand to this point again. Imagine that you remove your hand again, and the ball seems to magically remain in that place. As you inhale, concentrate intensely on that golf ball, and as you exhale, concentrate intensely on letting your shoulders drop. Open your eyes and start reading.

Around here is the point of concentration.

4. Develop imaginative thinking

Speed ​​reading is not only speed, but also the depth of absorbed text. For those who read quickly, images also arise quickly. And most importantly, these images are very clear and vivid even for abstract concepts.

After completing speed reading courses, many note that reading is like watching an interesting film with all the characters, events, and scenes that are described.

Try this next time you read a book:

1. Clearly understand the meaning of the word, its meaning.
2. Mentally select an image for each word.
3. Make the sounds louder and the picture brighter. Let it be an exciting 3D action, not letters on a page.
4. Be aware of what emotions, sensations and feelings correspond to each word.

Each time you will start your imaginative thinking easier and faster.

5. Read only forward, no backtracking

Returning to what has already been read can be for two reasons. Or you fly into the clouds and start thinking about something completely different from what is written in the book. Simply put, you get distracted. Or I wanted to try the idea because I liked it. And this can happen both when reading non-fiction literature and literary texts.

Regarding distractions, see point 3. And regarding the so-called conscious stops and returns, I can say that there is still no need to return to what you have already read. You need to train your brain to grasp everything from the first reading. At first this may seem very unusual. But very quickly the brain will get used to this way of reading. A pointer will help you get rid of backward movements.

Tony Buzan experiment

Imagine an ideal circle half a meter in diameter at a distance of 30-40 centimeters from your eyes directly in front of you. Outline it slowly with your eyes. If someone were watching you, he would say that the trajectory of your eyes is broken and spasmodic. Perhaps you have felt this yourself. If you trace this circle with a pointer, the trajectory will be even and smooth.

Eye movement without a pointer and with a pointer.

Exercise with a pointer

When you follow the text with your hand or a pointer, it increases your attentiveness and reading speed and reduces eye strain. The main thing is to follow the rule - the eyes follow the pointer, and not vice versa. Those. you set the speed with your hand, and your eyes only keep up with the movements of your hand. If you feel like your reading speed is slow, just increase the speed of your hand movement.

6. Consolidate what you read

You can consolidate what you read while reading. This is called mental structuring.

Formulate the main idea after reading the chapter. You need to do this as quickly as possible - both reading and summarizing the main ideas very quickly, so that you eventually start doing it in parallel.

You can draw mind maps in your mind - while reading, we draw a plot map on the internal background. You can try first for individual paragraphs: you read the paragraph and record a small mind map in your mind.

Here's what you can do to retain a completely read book in your memory:

1. Retell the text.
2. Write out quotes.
3. Take 10-20 minutes to learn the written quotes.
4. Sit in silence for 15 minutes, think, reflect on the book.
5. Formulate the main idea and conclusions in 3-5 sentences.
6. Write a mini-essay.

All this will give you an excellent opportunity to analyze the text, express your thoughts, realize your feelings, activate your thinking, develop analytical skills and memory.

The brake is in the head. Human brain I'm used to working quickly. My experience suggests that speed reading is applicable to literary texts. And if you need this skill, you can easily learn it. Do the exercises described in the article and follow the column’s releases to become a super reader and quickly meet gorgeous, beautiful, smart art books ours and past centuries from your wish-read list.