By Kerstin Lundgren
online@newsroom.byu.edu
Students lessen their study time and learn more with speed reading.
Abbey Hanks, a student in a speed-reading class from Las Vegas, Nev., majoring in philosophy, said the class changed her life.
She said she decided to take the class for help in school, but that she can apply the lessons to all types of learning.
Dillon Inuoye, a BYU professor who teaches speed reading, said it is a beneficial skill but one that requires work.
'Dr. Inuoye taught me how to be an active learner,' Hanks said.
Inuoye said speed reading is a beneficial skill, but one that requires work.
'I can read a book a day, and students can learn to do the same,' Inuoye said. 'I am a natural speed reader and some people catch on faster, but anyone can learn with practice.'
Inuoye requires his students to practice at least an hour a day.
Dr. Evelyn Wood, author of Reading Skills, and expert in dynamic reading said speed reading does not involve reading word-by-word but understanding what word phrases stand for and then thinking about them.
'Readers remember each thought instead of each word and notice the patterns in reading,' Wood said.
According to Wood, readers acquire many bad habits that slow them down, and the first one is reading with your lips.
Hank said she agrees with Wood's description.
'When you look at a picture, you comprehend it all at once, that's how speed reading is,' Hank said.
Hank explained that when you speed read, you use your fingers to keep your eyes moving, you train your mind to comprehend and you stop subvocalizing.
Whitney Carlton, majoring in English teaching from St. George, Utah, said she thinks only some literature lends itself well to speed reading.
'Interpreting poetry is a complex process,' Carlton said. 'It involves rereading and interpretation. So much would be missed if readers were speeding through it.'
Inuoye said speed reading is a step-by-step process. He tries to change the perceptions that speed reading is not deep reading.
The required reading for Inuoye's class include 'Men of Mathematics,' 'Psychology a Study of Science' and 'The Ecology of Human Disease.'
Inuoye's speed-reading class applied reading to understanding the universe, the physical, the spiritual and the biological realms. Weekly professionals came to share their most influential books, and those books filled out most of the class syllabus.
The class, which began in Winter 2000 with only 40 students, is on campus again this semester and attracted a much larger crowd. The class will continue as long as the student interest does, Inuoye said.
The difference from this speed reading class and others is the teacher, Hanks said.
'He had more expectations for us and saw our potential, he expects us to learn to read 5000 words per minute,' Hanks said.
Inuoye said he likes teaching this course because of its importance.
'We have to read, it is the only way to progress,' Inuoye said.