Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer My PR test/Experiment

Today I put the PhotoReading Whole Mind System to a test. This Test put me on par with beginning PhotoReaders who have poor comprehension of the written material and/or slow readers.

The Experiment
To test PhotoReading on material where my comprehension is low 20% or less by using the regular reading method. I wanted to spend only 2 hours activating this book at this time.

The Book Signale des Koerpers by Vera Birkenbihl 264 pages including index. It is a book on body language that consists of mostly text with a few graphics.

Background
My background in reading this language I am whole and solely educated in Australia. English is the language. I studied German during 2 years of high school. Years 9 and 10 I did not complete year 10 studies due to the fact that my school failed to enrol me for the course till midyear of year 9. I studied via correspondence the lessons consisted of about 6 pages of exercises per week and included the study of culture and geography.

I have only read 3 books targeted toward the 12 to year old age group other than using the 2 exercise books that were provided by the school. Neither the school nor my parents could afford additional books. Since leaving school 24 years ago I have only occasionally read the German language in small blocks. My most challenging reading selection during that time was the 12 Lucky Luke books that were translated to the German language. My attempt to read books aimed at the adult market failed. It took me over 2 hours to get though about 40 pages and I had little or no understanding of the text so I haven't bothered since.

My Handicap
I had not PhotoRead a German dictionary. The only dictionaries I have are translation ones. This I decided was not suitable since I do not translate as I intended to read and think in solely in the German language.

I have never successfully completed a book targeted at the adult/thinking market and this book contains a lot of constructed words. That I could recognise when spoken easily enough however I have never seen them in their written form.

Since many of the words are unfamiliar to me in their written form I need to sub vocalise them as I read them to understand what I am reading during activation. I had no idea what to expect during the superread and dip page.

I was now faced with some problems common to beginning PhotoReaders.

1. I was worried about how successful I was going to be with this project. When I first ordered the book I was excited but when the book finally arrived (2 months later) my initial enthusiasm had more or less gone. I suffered from procrastination for wanting to attempt to activate the book after having PhotoRead it almost 1 week ago.

2.I was apprehensive about the superread and dip stage. I really was at a lost how I am going to know when to dip. There were 7 to 8 different fonts used and differing sizes of text there is some sort of code in that I am at a lost to explain.

3. My comprehension is low even with regular reading...

Well all these thoughts I had sat the book at the table and was ready to procrastinate a while longer It was such a nice day today... blue sky warm

While sitting at the table looking at the book my procrastinating part of the mind final screamed and said ok just do it.

The Result
Activation - time 2 hours.
Comprehension - 70% (I had a questionnaire within the book were I surprised myself scoring 70%)
Mind mapping max 30 minutes
Breaks totalled 20 minutes
Total time say 3 hours 70% comprehension

Compared to regular reading gaining about 20% comprehension would have taken me 13.5 hours

Method of Activation Applied
1st 20 minutes
Unable to form suitable questions from my trigger words so I SR and dipped whenever I thought I found something of interest. I noticed that overall most of the information was eluding me but saw this as a way of becoming familiar with the book and perhaps finding questions.

Surprisingly enough I had something to start putting onto a mind map immediately and I noticed straight away that my mind map had been modified... I was using lines to connect idea and making bulleted point lists. This seemed to be the most logical way for me to record my information.

2nd 20-minute session
I turned the subheads into questions and did this as a on the go basis... some of the subheads were answered immediately in that I understood what it was about and bypassed that. Some of it was starting to make sense. Since I was taking it subhead by subhead it turned out that I was now activating the book chapter by chapter.

I added some more to the mind map using a different coloured pen and took a 5-minute break.

3rd session
Same method as before and it proved to be a good move to be activating the book chapter by chapter at this point. The material detailing what I learnt in the previous 20 minutes and was able to clear up some of my uncertainties.

Added more to mind map and took 15-minute break.

4th 20 minutes
While going though one part of this book I came across some information that made absolutely no sense. I made a note of it on my mind map and kept going. At the end of 20 minutes I made notes on the mind map.

5th 20 minute
I didn't stop for a break since I felt that I was on a roll. Went back over the part I didn't understand the last session and checked it again in less than 1 minute I had made sense of it. Continued with SR and dipping, by now my mind map is getting a bit cramped.

6th 20 minutes last one
Since I had to start a new page for mind mapping I was glad I did. I decided to call it quits I had come to the end of the book anyway.

So folks this is what happens when you layer it.

If you want to ask me any questions about this experiment - ask away. I got 2 more books by this author that I want to PR and comprehend.

Happy PhotoReading don't let the procrastination bug bite

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited August 05, 2002).]

Nice!!!
Thanks for sharing this

AlexK

I'm a newbie at PR but been involved in learning and teaching electronics/computers etc. for 30 years.

As a test for learning PR I've been attempting to learn Italian, primarily by PR of various Berlitz Books for the written content.

I can already speak Malay and Welsh and started Mandarin some years ago but gave up du to lack of time to devote to it.

I picked Italian for the course because I am interested in learning but have never started so that PR would provide all of my knowledge. Having trouble initially with turning the pages at a page per second I reread my Maly books by PR and found that the Malay flooded back. Similarly my totally fogotten Chinese has returned although not as quickly.

I am not finding that activation of the totally new Italian is being successful.

Since you appear to be attempting the same sort of language experiment successfully I have the following questions regarding technique

1. How are you forming questions since in a language course I figure that I need to know ALL of the limited vocabulary provided by Berlitz.

2. Can you indicate how you mind map language learning.

I am not particularly intesrested in learning all of the grammar but simply enough so that I could find my way around Milan or Rome without using English in the same way that I can wander around Kuala Lumput or Jakarta using Malay/Indonesian.

Thanks in advance.

My experiment was to see how photoreading could elevate my reading skills of the language that I had learnt to a limited/poor level. So I cannot really advise you how to learn a language from a book.

I do have a question.
Are you listening to any language tapes in relation to your attempt to study Italian? Prior to even opening a book in a foreign language I would want to listen to some of the basic words... without that I cannot see how photoreading books that that teach the language, alone, will help at a conscious level. Unless you've heard some of the words how can you self check the sounds? (In the case of the written word the code cracker seems to be the ability to recognise the sound).

As you noticed, the Malay flooded back relatively easily and I see that you've actually used it in the past. Using that model it seems having a memory of having heard the language makes it easier to use photoreading to build on the language.

If you want to use the photoreading model for learning a language I would suggest you get a basic word tape for the language, enter the accelerative learning state and listen to that tape a couple of times fully focused on the learning process (not be driving a care or doing other stuff for the first couple of times). From what you are saying it seems you are attempting to learn the language solely from a book.

As I pointed out I needed to subvocalise many of the words in order to recognise them consciously. (that is I needed to hear them in my mind). Most language relies on hearing. It appears from my experiment that the inner mind can interpret the written words into sounds once you are familiar with the basics. The conscious mind appears to be the slowpoke in these matters.

It would be interesting if anyone else on the forum could add their experience of language learning with or without photoreading, self taught or school taught. What worked and what didn't. Perhaps we could come up with a better model for learning a foreign language.

Alex

AlexK

Thanks for the fast response. I have a Berlitz language CD that corresponds to part of the reading material. I have listened to that in a dedicated way and by playing in the background in the car.

I have also tried it by playing repeatedly during sleep and following on the way that paraliminals work I tried playing it very quietly into my left ear just so that I would become familiar with the sound of the language.

I have no trouble discerning the individual words but if I listen to an Italian radio or television station I do not perceive any activation occuring.

I have PRd the Collins English/Italian and Italian/English dictionary sections (many many times) but find no recognition when I super read or attempt the same with more advanced Berlitz vocabulary books.

Any language learning hints from anyone would be gratefully received.

David

Have you got the memory supercharger tape? Try playing that immediately after PRing the books for a couple of days and check yourself a few days later. Take a relaxed approach to learning, it seems to me that you are becoming frustrated... that also means you're moving closer to a breakthrough if you stay with it in a relaxed manner.

Alex

AlexK

I have the Memory Supercharger tape but found that after about the tenth use that I was distinctly understanding the message in each ear simultaneously.

I believe the idea of paraliminals is to confuse the conscious mind with the two messages so that the OTC mind hears the important information therefore since I can conciously hear the messages I am probably not getting the desired effect from the tapes any more.

I don't feel frustration, just more determination to have activation click in the way that photo-focus did and super-reading did.

I am going to experiment with different activation methods over the weekend so wish me luck.

David

Memory supercharger still works, even if it no longer seems to confuse you, it just depends on the goals you set before you put it in.

Let us know how your 'different activation' technique worked.

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited August 09, 2002).]

Alex, I am not very sure about layering. how do you know what you want on each layer? will you leave something important when doing the layering? from your posts, i don frequently see rapid read. is that not suitable for you or you prefer other methods? when super read and dip, is it necessary to go from fromt of the book to the end of the book or it is ok to skip into whatever page?

Thanks!

BTW, this thread is nice! y let it die?

Lets post whatever experiment you hav here

quote:

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Originally posted by gymosphere:
Alex, I am not very sure about layering. how do you know what you want on each layer?

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I know what I want from each layer because I am superreading and dipping for answers to the questions I formed. Thats why previewing for trigger words helps and then turning them into questions. I wrote a 4 page article on asking questions. Email me if you want a copy.

quote:

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will you leave something important when doing the layering?

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No because you repeat looking over the text more than once with layering you are more likely to gather more information than with a regular once through reading. Looking over the text again with a new question in mind helps you to see the information afresh each time. This is one of the reasons why I think my overall comprehension of the text improved. (from 20% to 70%) I was zeroing in on information and superread and dipped paragraphs more than once and manged to pull out more information to improve my comprehension than I could manage in a once through reading

quote:

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from your posts, i don frequently see rapid read. is that not suitable for you or you prefer other methods? when super read and dip, is it necessary to go from fromt of the book to the end of the book or it is ok to skip into whatever page?

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Rapid reading is reading the book/text right through from beginning to end. (similar to regular reading only you pace varies from your regular reading speed to superreading over sections). It is usually the last thing you do for a book and is often unnecessary.

You rapid read when you get the feeling that the book has more information that you want out of it but you are not sure what that information is.

You also rapid read when you discover the book has a lot of information that you want out of it and you want to spend more time with it. This usually occurs after one or 2 activation sessions.

You can also apply rapid reading on Novels for pleasure... books that you want to understand in a chapter by chapter manner.

quote:

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BTW, this thread is nice! y let it die?

Lets post whatever experiment you hav here

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Thank you

Anyone is welcomed to post their experiments

Alex

[This message has been edited by AlexK (edited September 15, 2002).]