Neither the Look-Say method nor the Phonic method, either in isolation or in combination, are adequate for teaching an individual to read in the complete sense of the word. Both these methods are designed to cover the first stage of reading, the stage of recognition, with some attempt at assimilation and intraintegration, but children are given little help on how to comprehend and integrate the material properly, nor on how to ensure it is remembered. The methods currently used in schools do not touch on the problems of speed, retention, recall, selection, rejection, concentration and note taking, and indeed all those skills which can be described as advanced reading techniques.

In short, most of your reading problems have not been dealt with during your initial education. By using appropriate techniques, the limitations of early education can be overcome and reading ability improved by 500% or more. For example, skipping back over words can be eliminated as 90% of back-skipping is unnecessary for understanding. The 10% of words that do need to be reconsidered are probably words which need to be looked up in a dictionary and clearly defined.

GOLDEN RULE: When studying this course, and indeed, whenever reading
passages that you want to understand and make use of, make sure never to pass by a word or concept that you do not understand. If you do pass by a misunderstood word or concept, the rest of the text will probably become incomprehensible, and you will feel distracted and bored. If it’s worth reading at all, then you owe it to yourself to define any word you’re not sure of, or find the misunderstood word(s) in the concept that is unclear and sort that out before going further. If your studies bog down, go back to where you were doing well, clear up your understanding and start off again from that point.

Taken From: The Speed Reading Course