Where did the speed reading techniques come from?
Detailed research on speed reading precepts has been carried out for more than 100 years. Thus, speed reading is not a modern-times invention. History reveals that there were quite a lot of people who have obtained stunning results in this area.
- Napoleon Bonaparte was able to read at the speed of 2000 words per minute
- Honore de Balzac (4000 words a minute)
- Theodore Roosevelt, being particularly inclined to breaking records, happened to read three novels in an hour once and was able to present their contents in detail afterwards
- John F. Kennedy was very well acquainted with current press news thanks to speed reading (he was able to read 2000 words per minute)
- Bill Gates has never taken a speed reading test, however, he is famous for his reading-on-yacht weekends. He fills his traveling bag with books and then devours one after another
Perhaps you think these are extraordinary people… Exceptional minds… But try to think why they have become great and famous. How did they achieve this?
The speed reading techniques have been studied by countless armies and universities, NASA has done its research into them too. You can learn these techniques!
SIMPLE INSTALLATION
The Able-mind SPEED READING has its own installer that installs all the indispensable libraries and adds necessary shortcuts to start menu.
MULTI-USER MODE
The Able-mind SPEED READING has been designed so that many people are able to use it on one computer. Each user creates their own account which will contain information on their learning progress, marks in the books one is reading in the PRESENTER module, revision dates and settings. Each account can be secured with a password. It is also, if need be, possible to export or import your account.
LESSON MODE
The course of speed reading has been divided into 14 lessons in the Able-mind SPEED READING. The first part of each of them contains a voluminous theoretical introduction, next, there is a set of exercises that pertain to a particular lesson issue. Each lesson ends with a speed reading and text understanding test. Test results, as well as the results from the most important exercises are marked on the diagram in the statistics module.
SPEED READING AND TEXT UNDERSTANDING TESTS
The tests consist in reading a displayed text as quickly as possible. The texts are based on the most interesting articles taken from Focus magazine, which makes reading very pleasant. Having read a text, you will be asked to answer a few test questions which will help you determine the level of your text understanding. In addition, you will learn a lot of psychological and healthcare data, as well as learn to sleep and plan better.
THE PRESENTER
THE PRESENTER is one of the most important modules in the Able-mind SPEED READING package. It enables you to read chosen texts conveniently – books, webpage articles or any texts that are copied into the clipboard. The program enables you to set the rate at which a text is displayed, determine the breadth of a text line that you are able to perceive at a single eye stoppage, you can change type size as well. The program was created in order to make the reading process faultless – provided all the speed reading principles are followed. You can use marks with every book you read – all important fragments may be highlighted, ideas you come up with while reading can be put down, or you can just mark the fragment where you stopped reading.
THEMATIC TRAINING
Regardless each lesson – the Able-mind SPEED READING package contains modules that are supposed to develop particular abilities. These are “Memory training”, “Eye exercises”, “Field of vision exercises” and “Training that helps you keep the acquired abilities.” Each training module contains a set of meticulously chosen exercises that will allow you to train abilities that are most difficult for users. “Training that helps you keep the acquired abilities” will help you keep you up at your best after the course has finished.
EXERCISE CHOICE MODE
Each exercise is also separable from the lessons and thematic trainings. The user is in full control of the settings and of the level of difficulty of each exercise which enables learning most difficult elements in-depth.
STATISTICS
Statistics are a very important element of the Able-mind SPEED READING. They enable you to keep an eye on your progress, watch particular tests results, evaluate your memory efficiency and breadth of your field of vision as well as visual perceptiveness results. All the results that are saved are presented in the form of a clear diagram.
METRONOME
Metronome helps you keep up a steady pace of reading, it enables you to develop an appropriate rhythm of shifting your eyes along a text, it is also very useful in the process of getting rid of phonetization. The device may also prove helpful in learning to play instruments, doing exercises, etc.
FREE UPDATES
We honestly believe that the software we create is free from errors – we do everything that is in our power in order to achieve it. In spite of that, we equipped the Able-mind SPEED READING package with the option of easy updates. As soon as a new version of the program is created (when all errors are corrected), you will be notified about it with an appropriate message after launching the program. Updates do not influence information that is stored on personal accounts – there is no need to worry about losing your data.
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
We created the Able-mind SPEED READING on the basis of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) by Microsoft. The operating systems required are: Windows XP SP2, Windows 2003 or Windows Vista. Microsoft Framework 3.0 installation is required (the program’s installer does it). Minimum hardware requirements: 128 MB RAM, 500 MHz, 60 MB HDD, monitor 1024x768, 64 MB RAM video card.