Copyright © 1990 by American Learning Corporation All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Frank, Stanley D. Remember everything you read: the Evelyn Wood seven-day speed reading and learning program/Stanley D. Frank. p. cm. eISBN: 978-0-30782044-0 1. Study, Method of. 2. Rapid reading. I. Title. LB1049.F65 1990 371.3′028′2—dc20 89-20494 v3.1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’m especially grateful to the following people: Evelyn Wood, who pushed through the knowledge frontier and in the process helped millions of people recognize their own achievement potential. Dan Warner, for his personal commitment to the Evelyn Wood method over the past two decades, and for his contributions to the many vignettes throughout the book. William Proctor, who has spent countless hours assisting the author with field interviews and manuscript development. Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Mental Soaring: The Secret to Success 2. The First Step Toward Mental Soaring: “Subsonic” Reading 3. Mapping Out Your Academic Flight Plan 4. The Takeoff for Rocket-Powered Reading and Learning 5. How to Fly with Your Hands 6. Preparing Your Own “Mental Computer Printout” 7. The Secret of Merging with Your Instructor’s Mind 8. Supersonic Writing 9. How Fast Can You Go? 10. The Thrill of the Final Test Flight: Using Your New Skills to Ace the Exam 11. Shooting For the Stars Introduction Ordinary reading skills won’t do in today’s world because there is too much information and too little time to assimilate it. If you read at the average speed of 250 words per minute, you’re at a major disadvantage trying to take in the facts and concepts you need to perform well in school or on the job. For that matter, you’re at a severe disadvantage even at speeds of 400–600 words per minute—a rate that’s in the top range for the most experienced students and adults. So what is the solution to this dilemma? After years of experience as an educator and publishing executive, I’ve become convinced that the techniques we’ve developed at Evelyn Wood are by far the best response to the information explosion. Furthermore, our approach provides the fastest, most effective path to superior academic achievement. For the first time in a book for the general public, I’m unveiling all the secrets that have made the completely revised Evelyn Wood dynamic learning program so effective and popular. As a result of this candor, we hope to introduce millions of additional people to the exciting possibilities of Mental Soaring, as I call the dynamic learning experience. Our goal for the nation’s students is bold, to say the least: We want record numbers to achieve “supersonic” reading skills and honors-level academic performance. Yet I’m convinced that this goal can be realized if you practice the principles set forth in these pages. High school and college students and their parents will initially evince the most interest in this book. On the other hand, even fifth-graders have been very successful in employing our reading and learning techniques. As for adults, men and women of all ages and in every occupation can benefit, especially from the discussions on speed reading, improving comprehension and scientific note-taking. And of course, there are millions of adults who have taken the original Evelyn Wood courses over the years and who may want to brush up on old skills or perhaps learn new ones. Now, as you prepare for the exciting adventure of Mental Soaring, I want to encourage you to leave behind all your preconceptions about reading, learning, studying and academic achievement. There are no ceilings to what you can accomplish so long as you’re ready and willing to let the natural power of your mind move you toward a new realm of intellectual reality. Stanley D. Frank, Ed.D. 1 Mental Soaring: The Secret to Success What does it take to be a superior student? The most important secret to being a contender for the top of the class has always been effective reading—and that means reading that involves: 1. high-speed assimilation and comprehension of all sorts of subject matter; and 2. the ability to recall that subject matter later during testing. The superior student, then, is one who first of all can read assigned books and handouts quickly and understand thoroughly what has been read. Second, he is able to collect the material he’s read into well- organized personal notes and then draw on his memory of these notes when confronted with examination questions. In addition to having outstanding reading abilities, the topflight student knows how to listen in class—knows how to absorb key concepts during oral presentations and how to take notes on lectures. Finally, he can recall what he has heard and use it effectively at test time. In some ways, all this may sound quite simple. But let’s be honest: We know that only a few students really know how to make this formula work. Yet when understood and applied, these skills are the foundation for what I call Mental Soaring—a phenomenon that goes so far beyond traditional studying that the best student seems to be flying through academic material at the highest levels of comprehension. These are the basic skills—the secrets, if you will—that have been mastered by the elite students who get into the best schools. Furthermore, they are the skills typically used by the small percentage who perform with flying colors after they’ve been admitted to various colleges and universities. So where does this leave the not-so-stellar student? Is it inevitable that these special skills and secrets must remain in the academic arsenal of only a small coterie of geniuses or near-geniuses? Absolutely not! These techniques can enhance the learning potential of any student. The only problem up to now has been that no one has bothered to tell the average or mediocre student what the top academic performers already know: that good students aren’t born—they’re made. To correct the misconception that academic ability is in-born, those of us in charge of the reading and learning programs at Evelyn Wood and the Britannica Learning Centers have decided that the time has arrived to reveal these fundamental secrets to academic success. Using the methods described in this book, many students have tripled their reading speeds and increased their comprehension in our Center programs. A First for the General Public For the first time in any book or publication for the general public, I’m presenting all of the essential techniques involved in the Evelyn Wood reading and learning system. This information is designed to be used by anyone with at least fourth-grade reading skills. Among other things, you will learn: • How to raise reading speed by at least 50 percent in less than an hour of study and practice, using certain key techniques. • How to at least double reading speed, with increased comprehension, after one week. • How to reach the stratosphere of speed reading—the 1,200–3,000- word-per-minute range—and perhaps go beyond. • How to improve concentration and attention span. • How to enhance analytical abilities, overall learning capacity, and memory. • Practical programs to raise performance levels—and grades—in all subjects, including the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences and mathematics. • Techniques to improve test-taking abilities. • Proven approaches for taking the most effective notes during lectures; and • Tips and strategies for increasing efficiency and achieving success in doing research and writing term papers. What Does This Mean for You? Now, let’s take this discussion down to the most practical level: How can you acquire these all-important abilities? I’ve said that these important skills can be learned; they aren’t simply inherent intellectual capacities that good students are born with. Let me illustrate by getting you involved at the outset in a hands-on exercise that will prove it’s possible to improve your reading speed dramatically and almost instantaneously. This exercise is designed to identify your present reading speed—an important piece of information if you hope to learn how to improve your reading and study rates. After you’ve completed the exercise, you may want to let your youngster try it in order to determine his or her speed. Here’s how it works: Using a watch with a second hand, note the precise minute and second now shown on your watch. (You need to record this time on a piece of paper right now so that you don’t forget.) Next, begin reading the remainder of this chapter now at your normal rate. BEGIN READING NOW. Keep your watch, pencil and pad close at hand, and continue reading until the direction to stop later in this text. At Britannica Learning Centers—where the Evelyn Wood reading and