Faster, Faster, Faster

A Quick reading course is being arranged by the Students' Association during the second term. Most students who take this course, conducted by the Wellington Polytechnic, can expect to more than double their reading speed without losing their normal level of comprehension. Retention of the skills learnt in the course is in direct proportion to the amount of time spent in using them—most students, with never-ending book lists of unread volumes, should find no difficulty in consolidating such skills.

The University Council has arranged for a room to be made available and consequently the fees for the series of 10 lectures will be £1 instead of the usual £2 for a similar course at the Polytechnic. Lectures will be held on Thursdays from 11am-12 noon in Room D1 of Hunter Building and will commence on June 10.

How successful are such courses?

C. Poulton in The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 1961, claims that "average reading normally started at between 160 and 280 words per minute, and ended at between 340 and 500 words per minute." Comprehension is not reduced but quite often actually increased. Improved reading skills in one language have been known to carry over into another language.

This course helps students to improve their reading skills for all types of reading, be it easy factual material or more complicated descriptive writing. Thus the course is suitable for students from all faculties.

Registration forms will be available at the Students' Association Office.