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Study Like a Genius!

Brain-based study skills that you can use to maximize your untapped potential.


By The CollegePlus! Team

The United States government pours billions of dollars into education every year. And what’s the return on its investment? More than 70% of college students have minimal literacy skills. Pretty sad story.

This is why CollegePlus! challenges its students to develop critical thinking skills in today’s information-centered society so that they can graduate in two years or less. So how do they do it?

Here’s the secret: every CollegePlus! student accelerates their degree by mastering techniques in speed reading and dynamic memory at the outset of their degree. But you don’t have to be a CollegePlus! student to take advantage of these skills. Take a look at some pointers you can implement now!

Speed Reading

This is a fact: readers don’t read every letter in a word. Try this exercise out for size:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Just as the eyes learn to move from reading one letter at a time (phonetic reading) to eventually reading multiple letters and then a whole word (sight reading) at a time, so the eyes are capable of moving from reading one word at a time to multiple words, to a whole line, a whole paragraph and for the really experienced, a whole page, all in the space of a second.

Absurd, you say? Did you know that the average college student reads at three hundred words per minute. Yet the scientists tell us that our minds are used to processing information at 9,000 words per minute. Is there any wonder why our minds become bored and distracted when reading? It’s because our eyes are reading too slowly.

Skimming text is the foundation of all speed reading. The next time you pick up a book, try running your eyes over the text for a chapter or so. Don’t worry about comprehending every word you read—just try to notice the key words that comprise the chapter. After you're done skimming the chapter, read it again at your normal reading comprehension rate. You’ll be surprised how much information you remember even though you only skimmed it the first time through.

Did you know that your eyes have the tendency to slow down on the things they recognize and speed up over the things they don’t? In other words, when your eyes come to a word your mind doesn’t recognize, your mind says “I never knew that word before. Why learn it now?” and just jumps right over the word. Placing your hand over the page and using it as a guide to set a consistent speed is essential for best comprehension of information.

You can also prepare yourself for what you’ll see in the book by taking a look at the table of contents, glossary, and index before you begin reading. This will make the text seem less foreign to you when you get into the book’s content.

Dynamic Memory

Have you ever found yourself forgetting the name of a good friend? The problem isn’t that you lost the information from your brain. The problem is that your brain didn’t think that it was important enough to go and find it. The information was there all along.

Memory techniques are designed to heighten the brain’s imagination or ability to visualize the information that needs to be remembered. Some of these methods seem kind of silly but they work! There are a plethora of memory techniques but I want to highlight three that you can implement immediately: mindmapping, verbal techniques, and mnemonic devices.

Mindmapping involves drawing or mapping out the important information in a visual diagram. For some visual examples of mindmaps, you can see one on plants, Paul’s speeches in the book of Acts, or a directory of mindmaps on just about anything. In fact, you can download free mindmapping software from CollegePlus!

Verbal techniques can include telling someone about what you’ve learned or even setting the information to a song or tune that will help you remember a list of historical events, people, or places.

Mnemonic devices can be used in a variety of ways centering around the creative use of language. For instance, creating a silly sentence can help you remember a much longer strand of information. Look at the phrase below to help remember a list of authors in the Stuart Period of English Literature:

“Bacon is done, John! Herbie, Ruth cooked it in a millisecond with a bun!”

Sound crazy? Actually, there is a method to the madness. Translated, the sentence stands for the authors Francis Bacon, John Donne, George Herbert, Samuel Rutherford, John Milton, and John Bunyan, all writers that a student might need to remember when preparing for, say, the English Literature CLEP.

There are three essential keys to memory (File, Picture and Glue). Use this mnemonic as a guide: F.P.G.

Or try this one that uses the imagination: V.I.A.

When you go to remember something in the future, focus on creating a mental picture that you can remember. Make the picture bigger than life and exciting.

These ideas just scratch the surface of what our brains can do as God created them. Find out more information on speed reading and dynamic memory and join the ranks of CollegePlus! students who are making the most of their college studies.

CollegePlus! graduate Lydia Rule recently graduated from Thomas Edison State College with a BA in English. Currently, she is working on her fifth novel as well as other writings.

Woody Robertson and Shawn Cohen also contributed to this article. Woody is the CollegePlus! VP of Sales and Marketing and Shawn edits Acceleration.

Don't stop here...

Get more tips on dynamic study skills from a free audio download by CollegePlus! Director Ryan Yamane

Study Skills for Real Life: CollegePlus! grad Amy Kent completes her accelerated bachelor's degree to pursue God's purpose for her life.

A Picture Perfect College Education: CollegePlus! student balances studies, business and Passion as she blazes through her degree.

Accelerate Your Degree and Your Life: Apply to CollegePlus! Today!



1 comment so far - Leave a comment below

hallo speed reading is good but for those who not yet know those language like english.example me am elisante from arusha Tanzania and am study on those government schools,am real know english but i know little bit.so how can you advice us for people like me?

— elisante Monday, December 20, 2010 8:20 PM CST

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