Best Reader 

After ten days of fascinating competitions with the computer-based Best Reader training system, you will be able to read several times faster than all your friends!

Dear reader!

Did you know that most people read slowly only because of habit?
A child who is just beginning to learn to read examines each letter, reads each syllable, pronounces each word, follows along a line with his finger, skips back and forth, and ultimately becomes a slow reader for the rest of his life.
If you want to learn to read quickly, the computer-based Best Reader system can help you.
Best Reader is an adaptive system: in the beginning it imperceptibly studies the user, adapts to him, and then begins to lead him, gradually relieving him of the "harmful habits" of slow reading.
The course of training is designed for one to two hours of daily work with the system for 10 to 15 days. Be patient, and you will develop excellent results.

What prevents us from reading quickly?

To master the method of fast-speed reading, it is very important to realize the reasons for slow traditional reading and to understand its nature. The speed of reading for the majority of people who use a traditional method of reading does not exceed 500 to 750 characters per minute.

There are five basic reasons for slow reading:

1. Narrow field of sight.

2. Back-skipping.

3. Absence of attention.

4. Articulation.

5. Culture of reading.

Narrow field of sight

Field of sight is the part of the text (quantity of characters) precisely perceived by the eyes in one moment of sight. In traditional reading, when a few letters, or at best, two to three words are perceived, the field of sight is not wide enough. Therefore, the eyes make many excessive jumps and stops.

When you have a wider field of vision, more letters and words are simultaneously perceived at every stop of the eye. This results in fewer stops on a page, and therefore the rate of reading increases.

A man whose field of vision covers a whole line of text at once allows his eyes to glide over the page from top to bottom with practically no horizontal movements across the page.

The unproductive transition of the eyes from the end of each completed line to the beginning of the next one greatly reduces reading speed. The many lines on a page inevitably result in numerous unnecessary transitions, i.e. repeated idle movements of the eyes. Not only is there a waste of time, but our energy is also wasted this way. The method of speed reading that this new program teaches will cause the movement of the eyes to be more economical and will cause the eyes to move vertically along the center of the page from the top to the bottom.

Back-skipping

In slow reading, there are involuntary back-skipping movements of the eyes and repeated reading of the same text. Usually a person reading the text has to make from 10 to 15 back-skipping motions for every 100 words. Without realizing it, some people read every section of text twice - both easy, and difficult, - just to make sure they have comprehended the text.

It is clear that repeated review of each portion of text noticeably reduces the speed of reading.

Absence of attention

The reading speed of the majority of people is much lower than what they could have without reducing their comprehension. The attention of a slow reader is frequently switched to extraneous thoughts and subjects and the interest in the text is reduced. Therefore, large fragments sometimes are read mechanically and the meaning of what was read does not reach consciousness. Such reader, noticing, that he is thinking of extraneous things, is compelled to re-read a fragment anew.

Articulation

Movements of the lips and tongue while reading to oneself are stopped only externally. In reality, they are constantly in latent (i.e. invisible) movement. The intensity of these micromovements first of all depends on the level of development of reading skills and the complexity of the text. The less developed ones reading skills are and the more difficult the text is, the more noticeable the articulation and internal speech.
A habit of pronouncing words is common among the majority of readers. This habit is formed in childhood while learning to read. First, a child pronounces a word letter by letter, then by syllables and, at last, reads aloud a whole word. As a result of this, a strong reflex connection develops between visible and pronounced words. Ultimately, and a stable consistent habit of pronouncing the text is formed.
Text is read not only with the eyes, but also with the "ears and lips". Since information is transferred into the brain and processed there with the participation of the voice-acoustic channel, the transfer rate is many times slower than visual transfer alone.

Culture of reading

When we take a book, often we can not define at once how much we truly need or want it. Whether the book is worthy of reading in its entirety, or whether it is even necessary to buy it, is unresolved.

Try to do following:

	Focus on the name of the book (or article);
	Attentively read the name of the author: maybe it is familiar to you and you have already read some of his writings or you have heard of him;
	Look over the table of contents, the bibliography (if there is one), and the summary of the book or article.

If you decide to continue getting to know the book:

	Read the Introduction;
	Look once again at the table of contents and open the book to pages that you find interesting;
	Read the conclusion.

If you have already chosen the book and have begun reading:

	Take notes of the facts discovered in the text;
	Estimate whether the material is new and contemporary, classic and timeless, or whether it has practical value for you.

Experiments conducted by psychologists who have studied the technological problems of reading have shown that these recommendations enable a person to reduce the time spent reading a book. These recommendations can also almost double the comprehension and mastery of the text.

System of exercises

Although the Best Reader program of training is intended to cover a 10 to 15 day period of time, it is recommended that you repeat the exercises from time to time in order to maintain the level of efficiency initially attained.
The program of exercises includes the performance of exercises with the computer trainer and the reading of additional literature. The time spent performing exercises on the computer and the time spent reading the additional literature must be divided fifty-fifty. The aggregate amount of time spent studying must take one to two hours.

All computer exercises are divided into two groups:

1. Exercises for development of the field of sight;

2. Exercises for development of speed-reading skills.

The balance of time between these two types of exercises must take into account the user's need to development both of these skills.

Warnings:

1. At the beginning of this program of study, the eyes will quickly get tired and the exercises will seem to be tiresome. By the second lesson, these sensations will go away. Be patient and you'll achieve excellent results.

2. Don't skip lessons! This can reduce your previous efforts to zero.

Reading the text

A column of gray text is displayed in the document window. The width of the column can be changed with the "Format Line". By moving the pointer over the text, you can choose a place where you want to begin reading. After clicking the "Play" button, a black frame begins to move over the text. The width of the area allocated for reading depends on the width established in the "Width of reading field" box. The speed that the allocated area moves over the text depends on the speed established in the "Speed Regulator" box. The program will play the text in its entirety according the speed and width set at the beginning of the process.

For the successful development of speed-reading skills, read the text while fixing your sight on the center of the allocated area.

Features of the exercise in the usual reading mode

For exercising the user can load the text from any file with extensions *.txt and *.rtf.

Features of the exercise in the test mode

At the end of the exercise, the document window gets cleared and a form with test questions is displayed on the screen. After answering questions, the user gets the results of the test.

Testing the width of the field of sight

To start the exercise, click the "Play" button. After starting the exercise, a pair of two-digit numbers will appear in the field of vision test line. The numbers will continually vary. The speed of change will depend on the speed established in the "Speed Regulator" box. The width of a test line depends on the width established in the "Width of reading area" box or by directly changing the position of the borders of the line.

For successful development of the field of sight, it is necessary to look at the marker in the center of the "Test Line " while observing changes in the line with your peripheral sight. 
After the exercise is finished, the changes in the line will stop. Then a form with test questions appears on the screen where the user must reproduce the last pair of numbers. After inputting four figures, the user can see the result of the test. If the answer is wrong, it is necessary either to reduce the width of the reading area or to reduce the speed. According the results, the user will receive recommendations that appear in the status bar.
This exercise will enable the user not only to estimate the level of speed-reading skills and the width of peripheral sight but also to adjust the parameters of other exercises. Furthermore, testing the width of the field of vision is a good exercise for strengthening peripheral sight.

Reading the tables

A table of numbers is displayed on the screen. The computer competes with you in speed-reading a set of numbers in the table. The numbers that the computer has counted will be enclosed by asterisk "*" symbols. Your task is to outpace the computer.

For successful development of the field of sight, it is necessary to look at the center of the table, and to read the numbers using peripheral sight.

Features of exercise in a test mode

A form with test questions is displayed on the screen and the user must reproduce numbers that are enclosed by "Xs". After inputting the numbers, the program tells the result of the test to the user.

Reading the additional literature

Before the beginning exercises for the development speed-reading skills, select the additional literature. It can be various newspapers and magazines. When selecting the literature, take into account a variety of widths of columns. The total volume should not be less than 325 pages with each page containing 2500 symbols per page (this is the size of a typical page in a book).
For each lesson, select literature with a column that is as close as possible to the width of your field of vision. Try to use the new skills that you have acquired while reading the literature.
This will help you to reinforce the results of the computer training.