Good day, good people! So the other part to this puzzle, which I think adds so much significance to the process of this entire project is that I'll conduct each competency "in flow"...meaning my spirit will be my guiding light to what discipline I'll be delving into each week. This weeks competency is Speed Reading. My thinking is that this will be an essential commodity in acquiring the skills I seek in the time allotted.
I began this weeks learning with taking an assessment of my current reading speed, which can be done at a number of sites; however, I chose http://www.speed-reading-test.com/Default.aspx to do mine. I chose to read an excerpt from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. My pre-test results were 355 words per minute (w.p.m) respectfully, so now I have an accurate baseline in which to begin this weeks journey.
What exactly is speed reading? More than just attempting to read faster or learning an entirely different way of reading altogether, I am quickly discovering that the process of becoming proficient in speed reading lies in learning a collection of reading techniques which attempt to increase rates of reading without greatly reducing comprehension or retention. Speed reading is characterized by a very fine balance of speed and comprehension, recognizing that different types of reading call for different speed and comprehension rates, and that those rates may be improved with practice.
The reality is that speed reading is not difficult to learn at all. It is nothing more than accepting that fact most adults embrace the same reading techniques they learned in grade school. The process of unlearning faulty and counterproductive ways of reading and replacing them with more productive means of reading is the fundamental principle behind becoming competent in speed reading.
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