One of my lockers where I cage my books and laptop. Reading closely and savoring each word still has its place, but adding a little velocity to your learning game through speed reading or pre-reading is a way to shake things up. Do you have any books on your shelf that you think you should read but haven’t. A quick read might give you the lay of the land to read it or get the best part out. Feel free to eat the best part of the tuna!

Summer, for me, is grinding to a halt as I prepare to teach.   I will still be posting but maybe not at my summer rate.  Please check old posts, add comments, and contribute to the conversation.  For today, I thought I would scour through 情報が１０倍になるNLP速読術 BY Naoya Matsushima.  (soy sauce translation: Get Ten Times More Information Through the NLP Speed Reading Method) for ideas that I like and that maybe you would find useful.

This is my filing cabinet of books and reference material at the Writers Room. I have books in all stages of reading completion in various safe houses all over New York.  I would get a lot out of quick skimming the ones I have barely touched. Just getting the lay of the land and reading key sections would be better than letting the books yellow all by their lonesomes.

For those of you studying Japanese, you get the added bonus of some sample sentences to throw into your arsenal.  (Watch out, though, these are my translations so check with a native speakers.  Please feel free to tweak and comment.  Buy or borrow the book and speed read it if you are interested.)  Other readers, have fun, and let us know if you have any feedback on Matsushima’s suggestions.

  • Change your mental programming about your learning abilities. (in the next chapter) 学習効率葉「脳のプログラム」次第で変わる
  • You can always speed read, regardless of where you are and how much time you feel you have.  場所や時間を気にせず、速読ができる！
  • Cancel the ‘Negative Mode’ that gets in the way of you learning rate!  学習効率を悪くする『ネガティブ−モード」を解除する
  • Happy feelings change your studying results.  『楽しいという」が学習結果を変える。
  • Your heart (mind) and body are closely connected.  心と体は密接につながている。(Be nice to both of them.  Just sayin’)
  • Do deep breathing exercises to increase your results.  効果的な呼吸法を身につける。
  • Set a clear goal for why you are reading a book.  本を読む目的を明確にする
  • Feel free to take the best, meaty part of the tuna.  (Feel free to take the best of what you read).  マグロはトロだけ食えばいい
  • Throw out the information you don’t need. 「いらない情報」を徹底して捨てる
  • Just changing your image about your learning environment can increase your results.   学習環境のイメージを変えるだけ成果が上がる　(he also suggests this is a great idea for your workplace…)
  • Feel free to arrange all the reading methods like you want.

If you are in school or not this fall, have a great “semester.”   Enjoy your samurai mind and stay in charge.  Charge!