Most of us learned how to read in school, and we didn't learn fast. There are two types of learning, traditional and accelerated described below from "Unleashing Your Brilliance" by Brian Walsh, PhD. How did you learn?

First is the TRADITIONAL style.

Rational Left Brain

Mainly auditory

Teacher takes responsibility for outcomes

Material is presented at slow speed

Teacher centered

Uses conscious analytical approach

Not suitable for many learners who have other than auditory and visual learning styles

The second is ACCELERATED

Whole Brain

All sensory modalities involved

Student takes responsibility for outcomes

Material presented at normal, natural speed

Student centered

Engages subconscious processing

All learning styles are stimulated; learning becomes fast, effective and enjoyable

-------------------------------------------

I managed to succeed in school with traditional learning. I did not do so well at home. (My right-handed mother tried to teach me, a leftie, how to sew.) As a result I liked school and eventually became a teacher.

However, I realized not everyone liked school, so I became a left-handed English teacher. I couldn't write on a black-board and I didn't want to bore anybody by lecturing so I had to invent other ways. Luckily, I am not teaching now because I would be fired. I preferred what is now called the accelerated method.

The key to learning anything fast is your immediate goal. When learning is student centered, it's accelerated. When you, the student, take responsibility for the outcome, you learn fast.

Currently schools must test students at all grade levels to make sure they have mastered some arbitrary left-brained proficiency for their age. If enough students do not pass, the school flunks. Usually enough do pass. Those who don't are "held back" a grade. Or threatened. Test anxiety, test preparation and test taking, take away from learning anything.

What is the immediate goal for passing a test? Relief. That does not have the same reward as the excitement of discovery when you look through a microscope, when you write from guided fantasy, when you understand how algebra works and why, when you create a new melody and then put words to it, when your pen drawings become beautiful when they burn.

I want to learn how to make a decent website. That's my immediate goal. So I'm learning HTML even as I complain and say I'd rather learn Portuguese. No one is testing me. It's a lucky thing. I'd fail ampersand use in a nanosecond.

If you think want to learn anything fast, put your whole mind into it and really want to learn fast. That's all it takes. You may want to learn first how to put your whole mind in if all you ever used up to now is your left brain.

Do get Brain Walsh's book "Unleashing Your Brilliance". You will learn how to break through beliefs that block you, how your brain operates, how to enhance your reading skills, improve your retention, and understand your own unique make-up.