Foong, check your local library system for anything by Paul Scheele.
My local library system has "Double Your Reading Speed in 10 Minutes" and "Rapid Reading made E-Z." I've tested the tape, and it did double my normal reading speed. The information is slightly redundant if you have the PhotoReading Self Study Course, but because of the pure amount of information presented, the tape does cover something easily missed - how to read a line of text as if you were a laser scanning bar-codes. Rapid Reading made E-Z is very close to the PhotoReading 3rd Edition book.
If you can find anything by Paul Scheele in your local library, check it out and see how well it works for you.
One peice of advice - develop a strong personality. I noticed IMMEDIATELY after the word "hi" you started to explain your question in terms of a hostile outside opinion vs. your own undecided curiosity. The reason a strong personality is important is that certain books can mess with your head. The conscious mind has the JOB of being skeptical, and using the preconcious processors to handle a book, taking it all in at once at the rate of a page per second, does have some drawbacks. Syntopic reading can balance this out, though, by blasting arguments and counterarguments into your head.
When you overload the brain with confusion, the "voice of reason" becomes more powerful, more beleivable. If you PhotoRead only one book on a subject, the mind might take the main idea of the book as true simply to avoid the confusion of having to deal with the massive amounts of facts presented. Reading multiple books keeps the "voice of reason" from any one book from overwealming your critical faculties. You're left with no shot-cut, so you must make the effort to UNDERSTAND, rather than just BELIEVE.
Good to have you on the forums. I wish you success in your PhotoReading.
