You know that little voice in the back of your head that’s telling you it’s impossible to read all 847 pages your teacher assigned you last week?

你知道那個，在你腦後碎念著你不可能念完 847 頁上週老師指派作業的聲音嗎？

It’s right.

它說的沒錯！

To counter that with some good news, though: that’s ok!

但相對的也有一些好消息：看不完也沒關係！

Today we’re going to be diving deep into how you can make the most out of the time you spend on reading assignments,

今天我們將深入討論如何將閱讀作業的時間花的最有價值

both by learning how to boost your reading speed and how to remember more of what you read.

包括如何加快你的閱讀速度，和如何才能在讀完後記得更多

[Theme Music]

[主題音樂]

First, I want to jump right in and ask the same question that you probably ask yourself every time you look at a syllabus:

首先，我想開門見山地問個你應該常常在看課程大綱時會問你自己的問題

“Do I actually need to do all this reading?”

「我真的要把這些全讀完嗎？」

While some of your teachers might object, the answer is no, and that’s because your time isn’t limitless.

儘管你有些老師會反對，但答案是不用，而原因是，你的時間並非無限

In a perfect world, you’d be able to pour over every detail of every book in the world and become smarter than Jimmy Neutron.

在一個理想的世界裡，你將能灌入世上所有書本的知識內容細節然後變得比天才小子傑米還聰明

But in this world, you’ve got other things competing for space in your schedule, like homework, extracurriculars, and marathoning Jimmy Neutron.

但在我們的世界，你的行事曆上有很多其它的事要做，像是作業、課外活動，以及追天才小子傑米的劇

There are other reasons, as well – like, sometimes you’ll see a lot of overlap between what’s in the book and what you’ll hear in lectures.

還有些其它原因，像是偶爾你會發現書本內容和課堂上教得有重覆

So, how do you know what reading to actually do?

所以你要怎麼知道該讀什麼？

Cal Newport’s book How to Become a Straight-A Student provides a pretty good framework for answering that question.

卡爾·紐波特得著作 How to Become a Straight-A Student 提供了一個很好的觀念架構來回答這個問題

He divides assigned readings into two groups; assignments from the class’s favored source, which is usually the main textbook, and supplemental readings.

他將被指定的閱讀作業分成兩種：課程相關的支持資料，通常是指主要的課本；另外則是補充教材

You should generally do all the readings from each favored source, but you can afford to be a bit more selective when it comes to the supplemental readings.

一般來說，你應該要把課程相關的支持資料念完，但是補充教材的部分，你應該可以有些選擇性

Cal provides a hierarchy for prioritizing them, where readings that make an argument take precedence over descriptions of events or people,

卡爾提供了一個優先次序分級，可以先閱讀有見解的內容，把一些事件或人物描述的內容放第二

which in turn are more important than anything that provides context – like press clippings or speeches.

最後再來讀一些沒那麼重要又包含很多背景前後關係資訊的內容 – 像是新聞剪輯和演講

What I’ll add to that, though, is that every class is different.

我要補充的是，每一門課都是不同的

Sometimes you’ll find that everything in the textbook is mirrored in the lecture slides,

有時候你會發現所以課本內容都和課堂上的簡報一樣

and other times you’ll still need to look through the reading assignments, but skimming for important main concepts and vocab terms will suffice.

而其它時候你還是需要瀏覽指定閱讀內容，但只需快速掃過，找重要觀念和詞彙來看就夠了

And, of course, some classes will require you to barricade yourself in your room with 6 week’s rations and those freaky eye things from A Clockwork Orange to hold your eyes open.

而且，當然啦，有些課會需要你把自己關在房間裡念個六週，還需要靠《發條橘子》裡面的恐怖機器幫你把眼睛撐開

But by carefully paying attention and gauging each one, you’ll be able to make smart decisions about what to read, skim, or skip.

但是經由仔細專注地閱讀和推敲，你將能睿智地決定要精讀什麼、掃過什麼、跳過什麼

Now, aside from doing some triage on your reading assignments, the other main way to get through them faster is to learn how to read more quickly.

現在，除了判斷你的閱讀指派作業是什麼類型外，其餘可以讓你快點解決它們的辦法，就是學習如何看快點

We have to be careful here, though, because this is where the term “speed reading”

在此得小心了，因為你會發現「速讀」這個詞充斥著各處

starts getting thrown around and you get people claiming they can teach you to read 1000 words per minute or more.

很多人總是說他們可以教你怎樣一分鐘讀 1000 個字或甚至更多

Sadly, that just isn’t possible.

遺憾的是，那是不可能的

As much as I’d love to be able to plow through an entire book over my morning coffee,

我也很希望能早上喝個咖啡就啃完一本書

we humans have some hard-wired limits on how far we can push our reading speeds.

我們人類在閱讀速度上有些硬體限制

On to the Thought Bubble!

看一下 Thought Bubble 吧！

Let’s have a look at the eye.

我們來瞧瞧我們的眼睛

Your visual range is made up of three areas, the fovea, parafovea, and periphery.

你的視野範圍可分為三個區域，中央小窩、中央小窩外圍和週邊視野

Of these, only the fovea has a high enough density of cones, the type of photoreceptor cell in your eye that can perceive small details, to make out text on a page.

這之中，只有中央小窩有高密度的角細胞，也就是你眼睛裡的感光細胞，可以接收訊號細節，以形成頁面的文字

Since the fovea is pretty small, your eyes read text by making quick jerky movements called saccades.

由於中央小窩範圍真得很小，你的眼睛在閱讀時是以一種叫跳視的方式在動靜間快速轉換

In between each of these saccades is a small pause called a fixation,

在每個跳視間的小停頓稱作凝視

and this is when the eye intakes the 1-2 words it’s currently focused on and sends them to your prefrontal cortex for processing.

在此時眼睛會將注視中的一兩個文字傳入你的前額葉皮質處理

Both saccades and fixations take time to do, which essentially sets a speed limit on how fast you can visually process text.

不管是跳視還是凝視都需要花時間，而這也必然會造成你閱讀處理文字的速度限制

And that’s just for recognizing the actual letters and words;

而這還只是為了辨識字母和文字而已

there are other factors that contribute to a lower speed limit for how quickly you can read text and comprehend it.

還有其他因素會降低你閱讀理解的速度極限

The main one is your working memory constraints.

最主要的就是你的工作記憶限制

Just like the RAM in a computer, your working memory can only process so much at once.

就像是電腦中的記憶體，你的工作記憶一次只能處理一定的量

Right now, cognitive science quantifies that at about 4-7 bits or “chunks” of information,

目前，認知科學將它量化為 4-7 位元或「塊」的資訊

which we’ll talk about more in the next video on how your memory works.

我們在下一部影片會更詳細地介紹你的記憶是如何運作的

For now, it’s enough to say that you need to give your working memory time to deal with each chunk that comes in before feeding it another one,

現在，可以說你需要給你的工作記憶時間，來將先前輸入的資訊處理完，才能再丟入另一塊

and you do this by pausing frequently while you’re reading.

為此你在閱讀時得經常暫停

Additionally, even skilled readers spend about 15% of their reading on regressions, in which the eye moves backwards to re-read text.

此外即使是經驗老道的閱讀者，也需要花大約 15% 的時間回顧前面的內容，也就是讓眼睛往前重看之前讀過的部分

That time is split between small regressions due to saccades that went too far the first time, and larger ones that are needed for comprehension.

閱讀時間會被這些小小的回顧片段給切分，主因是一開始跳視時就跳得太遠，有比較大塊的內容需要理解

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

謝啦！Thought Bubble

Now, your speed is helped by the fact that you naturally skip words when reading,

現在你知道，你的閱讀速度會因你自然而然的跳過部分文字而提升

and your brain is incredibly good at knowing which ones to skip while still retaining good comprehension.

而你的腦則超乎想像的強大，即使跳過一堆文字還是可以理解閱讀的內容

Studies have shown that while reading, your eyes fixate on about 85% of the content words

研究指出，在閱讀時，你的眼睛凝視大約 85% 的內容文字

– the words that carry the actual ideas – and only about 35% of the function words,

– 有實際意義的文字 – 而只凝視大約 35% 的功能文字

which are the “glue” words like “the, and, if,” etc.

也就是一些「膠水」詞像是「 the 、and、if 」之類的

But even with the speed boost that comes from this intelligent word skipping, research has shown that skilled, college-level readers can expect to read from anywhere between 200-400 words per minute.

但即使有這個聰明的選擇性跳過技巧，研究指出熟練的大學學歷等級閱讀者可預期能每分鐘讀 200 到 400 字

For the vast majority of us, anything beyond 400 is getting into skimming territory, where your comprehension starts dropping real quick.

對我們大部分的人來說，每分鐘超過 400 字的閱讀就僅僅是粗略瀏覽，理解力會降低得非常快

“But what about speed reading techniques?” you might ask.

「那速讀技巧又是怎麼回事？」你可能會想問

The people that run those speed reading seminars and claim they can read at 2,000 words per minute say that there are techniques out there for breaking past that normal speed range.

那些舉辦速讀研討會的人聲稱他們可以每分鐘讀 2000 個字，也說有技巧可以打破以前的閱讀速度範圍

Like increasing the amount of text you process during each fixation, flashing words in one spot rapidly,

像是增加每次凝視時輸入的文字量、快速傳輸每一眼看到的文字

and eliminating “subvocalization” – that voice that reads “aloud” in your head when you read silently.

還有消除「默念」 – 也就是那個在閱讀時「大聲」在你腦中裡朗誦的聲音

Sadly, each of these techniques has been tested scientifically and shown to be ineffective.

遺憾的是，以上這些方法都已經科學實驗後證實無效

For one, increasing the size of each fixation through “training” would be pretty tough,

理由一是，要用「訓練」增加每次凝視的範圍大小是非常困難的

since you would literally have grow more cones in your eyes.

因為這代表你的眼睛得要長出更多的角 (角細胞)

And if you figure out how to do that, I recommend not telling anyone unless they say they’re from the X-men.

如果你真的想出這種訓練法，我建議你不要告訴任何人，除非他們來自 X 戰警

Additionally, this idea still wouldn’t do anything about your working memory constraints,

此外，這個辦法對你工作記憶的限制也沒有幫助

which is the main problem that also plagues Rapid Serial Visual Processing, or RSVP, a technique that involves flashing words rapidly in one spot.

這也是快速序列視覺處理或稱 RSVP 的主要問題，一種可以一眼快速傳輸文字的技巧

The idea here is to eliminate the need for saccades, but it breaks down because it doesn’t allow the brain to intelligently skip function words or to do any regressions.

這個想法是希望能消除跳視的需求，但沒有成功，因為這樣沒有辦法讓大腦做選擇性跳過功能性文字或是做回顧

This has the dual effect of overtaxing your working memory and not allowing you to go back over a line you didn’t understand the first time.

這麼做會產生兩個後果，一是對工作記憶要求過高，二是不允許回去閱讀你第一次看不懂的句子

And finally, eliminating subvocalization is a misguided idea because that inner voice is actually quite important.

而最後，消除默念則是個誤導的概念，因為那在心中默念的聲音其實非常重要

As the researcher Elizabeth Schotter noted:

就如同研究者 Elizabeth Schotter 所談到的：

“Attempts to eliminate inner speech have been shown to result in impairments in comprehension when texts are reasonably difficult

「嘗試消除默念已顯示會有理解困難文句缺陷

and require readers to make inferences.”

也需要讀者做過度的推論。」

At this point it might seem like I’m the bad guy, and that your only hope is to get on Amazon and buy those Clockwork Orange eye things, but there is hope.

現在搞得好像我是壞人一樣，還讓你覺得唯一的希望只能上亞馬遜買那些《發條橘子》裡強迫張眼儀器，但其實還是有救的

Like any other skill, you can become better at reading.

就像其它技巧一樣，你可以讀得更好

The main way to do this is to simply practice.

主要的辦法就僅僅只是練習

Read often, read widely, and make sure the material is suitably difficult.

經常閱讀、廣泛閱讀，還有確保閱讀的內容難度適當

Those dense chapters in your psychology textbook aren’t going to get any easier if you practice on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – though that is a great book.

如果你只是練習讀《一條魚，兩條魚，紅色的魚，藍色的魚》－即使那是本好書 － 也不會讓你讀那些知識高知識濃度的心理學課本章節變簡單

Another problem that might bring down your reading speed is daydreaming.

還有另一個問題會導致你閱讀速度降低，就是作白日夢

When I’m reading, I’ll sometimes get lost thinking about a specific sentence and end up staring into space, which wastes a ton of time and makes the other people around me wonder if I’m dead.

當我在閱讀時，我有時候會陷入沉思特定的一句話，結果就開始發呆了，不但浪費了一堆時間還讓旁邊的人懷疑我是不是掛了

If you have this problem as well, you can set a time goal for the chapter;

如果你也有這個問題，你可以幫自己閱讀的章節設個時間目標

when I do this, I don’t always finish on time, but it does help me stay focused.

而當我這麼做，雖然不能每次都按時完成，但確實能幫助我維持專注

Finally, when you’re reading books that don’t require you to comprehend every word, you can speed things up with the pseudo-skimming technique.

最後當你讀一些你不需要理解每個字的書時，你可以用一偽略讀技巧來加速

Skim the text while keeping an eye out for main ideas, vocabulary terms, and anything else important.

快速地掃過文句但還是要留意主旨、字彙用語還有任何其他重要的部分

When you notice one, slow down and read the entire paragraph that encompasses it.

當你察覺到這些部分，就放慢速度把所在的這整個章節讀完

A good way to spot these is to pay special attention to the first and last sentence of each paragraph, as well as any bolding, italics, or other formatting.

有個好方法可以找出這些重點，就是特別留意每個章節的第一句和最後一句，以及任何的粗體、斜體或是其他的文字格式

Looking out for those little bits of formatting will also help you to remember what you read, which is what we’re going to shift our focus to now.

留意那些特殊格式也可以幫助你記得你讀了些什麼，也就是我們現在要接下來要談的主題

One of the most common ways that students attempt to remember what they read is through highlighting – which, to be fair, is useful if done right.

為了記得讀過的內容，學生們最常使用的方法之一就是就是畫銀光筆，坦白說，如果用法正確這是個很有效方法

The problem is that it’s really easy to highlight too much since everything seems important when you’re first reading it.

但問題是你很容易就畫得太多，因為第一次閱讀時常常覺得什麼都很重要

And this works against you because it’s easy to believe that you “know” the things you’ve highlighted.

而這麼做也常會阻礙你理解，因為你很容易會覺得那些畫銀光筆的地方你都已經「懂了」

When you look back through your book later on, you’ll see them, think, “Oh yeah, I remember highlighting that!” and you might decide that you’ve memorized it.

當你過一會兒再重看一次，你會看過去會覺得：「喔耶，我有記得把這裡畫重點！」然後就認為你已經記起來了

But there are two ways to remember something: You can recall it, or you can recognize it.

但記憶有兩種：你可以記得及回憶起內容，或是你僅只能辨識說你認得

The danger with highlighting is that it becomes very easy to mistake recognition –

畫銀光筆的危險之處，在於很容易會讓以為你的認得 – 被動的需要一個提示 –

which requires a cue – with true recall, which involves pulling the memory from the depths of your brain’s archives all on your own.

就是記得，即你自己可以主動把記憶從你的腦袋深處的檔案室取出來

The more you highlight, the greater this danger becomes.

你畫的螢光筆越多，就容易陷入這種危機

So if you do decide to highlight your book, be very selective about what gets highlighted.

所以如過你決定要用銀光筆，就要仔細選擇劃記的地方

A better idea might be to adopt what Cal Newport calls the Morse Code Method.

比較好的方法是使用 Cal Newport 所說的摩斯密碼法

Here’s how he explains it:

他是這麼解釋的：

First, if you come across a sentence that seems to be laying out a big, interesting idea, draw a quick dot next to it in the margin of the book.

首先，如果你看到一句話似乎包含重要或有趣的觀念，就在那句的邊邊空白處快速點個點

Secondly, if you come across an example or explanation that supports the previous big idea, draw a quick dash next to it in the margin.

接著，如果你看到一個例子或解釋是支持剛剛看到的那個觀念，就在邊邊快速畫一橫線

This lets you avoid slowing down while reading, which enables you to smoothly move through and comprehend the whole text before going back to review.

這可以避免你慢下來，也能幫你在往回複習前就流暢地閱讀及理解全文

Once you do, the dots and dashes will allow you to take smarter notes on what you’ve read.

一旦你這麼做，那些點和橫線可以讓你在做這些你讀過內容的筆記時更聰明

Speaking of notes, it’s finally time to talk about active reading.

說到筆記，總算可以來談談主動閱讀了

This is the process of truly engaging with the text instead of passively just running your eyes over it, which will help you retain a lot more of what you read.

在這個步驟可以來寫些文句而不是被動的用眼睛看而已，寫出來可以讓你記得更多你讀過的內容

Lots of study books and teachers explain active reading in terms of a system called SQ3R,

一大堆學習技巧書和老師用一個叫 SQ3R 的系統來解釋主動閱讀

which stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review.

SQ3R 指的是審視、提問、閱讀、背誦和複習

Surveying is essentially pre-reading.

審視是指必要的前置閱讀

Before you start an assignment, skim over the whole thing quickly.

在你開始評讀前，快速的掃過整本書

Look over the beginning overview, the headings, and any review questions at the end of the chapter.

把前面的概要、標題和任何章節後的複習題目都掃過一次

Doing this primes your brain in advance, which will help the most important information stick out later.

這麼做可以讓你的腦袋預先做好準備，以幫助理解之後冒出的重要內容

You can actually see how well priming works right now.

你可以實際試試，以了解預備有多重要

Close your eyes for a few seconds and concentrate on a specific color.

把你的眼睛閉上幾秒，然後專心想一個特定的顏色

When you open them, you’ll easily notice that color in the environment around you.

當你再次張眼時，你將很容易能察覺在你周邊環境裡的那個顏色

Surveying does the same thing with text.

審視對文句有著類似的作用

Questioning simply involves writing out some questions that come to mind before starting the reading.

提問就僅僅是在閱讀前的寫下一些你腦中冒出的問題

I actually do this quite often before researching my video topics, as it helps to – again

我實際上在研究我的影片主題之前常常這麼做 – 再一次

– prime my brain to pick out the important bits and not spend too much time off in the weeds.

– 讓我的腦袋預作準備去提取重要的知識片段，不要花太多時間在瑣碎的雜訊上

Reading...well, that’s reading.

閱讀....就是閱讀

That leads into reciting, which is a catch-all word for either taking notes or summarizing what you’ve read.

接著來到背誦，這是個籠統的字，可以是把讀過的部分做筆記或總結

Now, if you had infinite time, you could do both, but since you probably don’t,

現在，要是你有無限的時間，你可以兩種都做，但你應該不是

I’ll note that summaries will be more useful for big concepts you need to understand intimately,

我會說做總結對你需要完全理解的大觀念比較有用

and more detailed notes will be better for fact-heavy readings.

而記錄各種細節的筆記對一些富含許多事例的閱讀比較適合

We’ll cover effective review strategies in a future video.

我們在之後的影片會談談有效的複習策略

For now, I’ll wrap up by mentioning that I don’t think you need to follow SQ3R perfectly in order to get the benefits of active reading.

而現在，我要來做個總結，你不需要為了獲得主動閱讀的好處而完全按照 SQ3R 來做

In fact, I don’t recommend many rigid, acronym-based systems at all.

事實上，我完全不建議太多僵化的縮寫名稱技巧

Except for, maybe, SCAR: Stop Complaining And Read.

也許除了 SCAR：停止抱怨然後讀就對了

Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.

謝謝觀賞，我們下次見

Crash Course Study Skills is filmed in the Dr. Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio in Missoula, MT, and it's made with the help of all of these nice people.

學習技巧速成班是由 Cheryl C 博士和蒙大拿州的 Kinney 速成班工作室以及這幾位大好人的協助所拍攝而成

If you'd like to keep Crash Course free for everyone, forever, you can support the series at Patreon, a crowdfunding platform that allows you to support the content that you love.

如果你願意幫助速成班系列影片永久免費提供大家學習，你可以到 Patreon 平台上贊助，它是是一個募資平台，讓你可以支持你喜歡的內容

Thanks so much for your support.

非常感謝你的支持