Can you read an entire book in just a few minutes? It may seem unimaginable but the phenomenon of speed reading makes it possible.

It's all in the technique. Normally a person can only read 240 words a minute. However, some schools offer courses in speed-reading or "photo-reading", a technique in which anyone can supposedly increase their reading capacity to abut 25,000 words per minute. In these lessons, participants learn how to make use of the entire brain during the reading process - normally only the left side of the brain is used. A person who masters the technique properly can "photograph" the entire printed page in his or her mind, improving the absorption of information.

To learn speed-reading takes time, and not everyone is successful. You can also increase your reading speed 10 to 40 times without taking a speed-reading course. You will notice a vast improvement if you don't say each word in your mind as you read. This makes your brainwork harder, preventing it from doing other things. You can avoid this in the following way move your middle finger along the lines and follow the finger with your eyes. Some techniques teach you to move your middle finger in a reverse "S" shape, like a fish swimming or a rattlesnake moving across the sands of the desert. It certainly takes practice as we've been trained since we were young to always say the words out loud. Chances are, this was how we were taught how to read.

Other usual tips which you can use to read faster or keep your mind from wondering is using the power of imagination. Before you start reading, imagine yourself flipping through the pages of the book. Imagine yourself taking an avid interest. Then take a quick glance through the book, looking at the contents page, the acknowledgement, chapter titles. Always read the back of the book cover. This will give you some motivation of what you hope to derive from the book. As you glance through the chapter titles, you should begin forming questions in your mind about the subject matter.

Besides using our imagination to read faster and have better concentration and stronger focus, we can also use our imagination to memorise numbers. When it comes to remembering numbers, it is often difficult because numbers are abstract forms. Our minds think in pictures. Not convinced? Think of an Elephant. Does the word ELEPHANT come to mind or does a great big gray beast with a long trunk, long white tusks, floppy ears and a swishing tail come to mind? Numbers can be changed into pictures.

For example imagine the number 1 as a candle, the number 2 as a swan's graceful neck, the number 3 represented by a tree, the number 4 by a flag fluttering in the wind, the number 5 by your outstretch hand, the number 6 represented by a dice, the number 7 a golf-club, the number 8 a pair of eyes and the number 9 is a tadpole. A 7-digit number like 5824137 becomes. Hand+eyes+swan+flag+candle+tree+golf club. You can make a story to link up all the numbers. Imagine using your hands to wipe your eyes because you can't believe your eyes when you see a swan with carrying a flag in it's beak with a burning candle on top of it's head and climbing a tree to take a swing with golf club stuck in the branches.

Memory Olympic participants use more advanced but extremely powerful and fun ways to outdo each other in competitions. Often with a chain of 100 numbers and more. More pragmatic techniques to teach young children as young as 7 how to memorise the multiplication tables. Explore ways to use pictures to help you with memory. And learning. It takes the boredom out of learning and makes you more creative. After all, learning should be fun.

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