Become a SuperLearner: Learn Speed Reading & Advanced Memorization

by Jonathan A. Levi, Anna Goldentouch (Contributor), Lev Goldentouch (Contributor)

What Would You Do If You Could Learn 3 Times Faster?

In our rapidly changing and information-driven society, the ability to learn quickly is the single most important skill. Whether you're a student, a professional, or simply pursuing a new hobby, you are forced to grapple with an every-increasing amount of information and knowledge. We've all experienced the frustration of an ever-growing reading list, struggling to learn a new language, or forgetting things you worked so hard to learn.

This Book Will Teach You 3 Major Skills:

* Speed reading with high (80%+) comprehension and understanding
* Memory techniques for storing and recalling vast amounts of information quickly and accurately
* Developing the cognitive infrastructure to support this flood of new information long-term

You'll even learn how to apply these skills many aspects of your every day life, from remembering phone numbers to acquiring new skills or even speaking new languages.

Genres: Self Help, Psychology, Nonfiction, Education, Productivity, Personal Development

220 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2015

Reviews

[Frank Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When one ignores the first ~20% of the book (where one is basically told how great and useful the course is... but also what the course is not) and a bit of the hype, then it really is a useful collection of tips, examples and techniques to simplify and accelerate learning new information. Chapters are short and to the point.
The speed-reading part might not even be the most important bit (although it is the biggest).
I also like that Jonathan makes it clear that this is no miracle drug; but that actual work (practice) is required to make it work. Just by reading this book nothing improves... Well; just using markers to memorize stuff is dead-easy (and even fun) - but remarkably effective!

PS: I also "took" the udemy course - which is practically the same content as the book, but probably more accessible to some people. Notably the undemy course is still actively improved (in the last 3 months 2 chapter were added; due to user feedback)!

[Eat.Sleep.Lift.Read. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rehash of information that is readily available on the webs.

So, move along, nothing to see here.

(If you have no idea how to learn or read 'quickly' then you might get a chub from this book)

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, if you will use it and practice it consistently, will guarantee to improve your reading speed and learning comprehension. I've read a number of speed reading books (3 to be exact) and I've also bought their Udemy course and in my opinion this book is great for those who find watching the lectures a little boring like for me since the internet in my country is slower as compared in the US. The book, like the course also contains exercises you need to do in order to improve, so you will not just be browsing through this book but you will continually refer to it. The book, based on the copy that I have, has links in it so you might want to also have the kindle version.

[Jerome · Rating 4 out of 5]

The techniques provided are not so simple and am still going through the exercises, trying to put things in practice.

Bit early to provide a full review but from my first gut, with a constant practice of techniques such as Mind map, Memory palace, Saccades, Visionary impulse, Overcoming Subvocalization, Mental& Creative markers, Chunking&Linking, Card reading - one can at least improve their speed by 30% and retain more comprehension. (from my experience so far)

[Colby Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a ton of courses on speed reading, and just as many on memorization techniques.
What is different about this course?

Well, Jonathon does an amazing job of COMBINING the two...and explaining why you can't JUST learn to speed read. In order to comprehend and retain material, you need to combine memory techniques in order to successfully become a "SuperLearner"

I started this course a few months back, and I've been sloooowly practicing the skills. I recently picked it back up and completed the rest and read through the book material as well.

In order to get the full benefit, you have to really take the practice of creating mental markers seriously. It is very helpful! Also, the speed reading and portions about pre-reading make a huge difference.

Overall, it's a great course...but coming back to it after learning more about the subject was even more useful in order to fill in some gaps.

[Mike Pluta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It's ok, but all very basic.

[Vaijinath Biradar · Rating 4 out of 5]

My key takeaways:

1. Smell, taste and sight were first senses to develop.
2. We were able to locate ourselves better through spatial markers.
3.Adults question why we learn, as there is need for checking the information useability and application.
4. To speed read, reduce subvocalization.
5.pick chunk of words to avoid multiple fixations.
6. Make use of bizzare visuals to create permanent photographic memories.
7. Eye-learning is much more powerful than mind -learning .
8. To teach is to learn twice.
9. Use Spaced Repeatiton system to create permanent memory.
10. SQ3R- survey, question, read, recall and review also helps in becoming a superlearner

[Bjoern Rochel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good content in there, but the book is basically just a transcript of the Udemy course (which I also took and prefer)

[Chris Esposo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad content, but poor format. The book introduces several techniques designed to augment reading speed, comprehension, and memory. These include the memory palace techniques, where you encode some facts into a mental object "housed" in a room where a spatial location is mapped to a context of information. In theory this increases the likelihood of knowledge retention and retrieval.

Like arithmetic, all of the introduced techniques need to be practised heavily to become functionally useful. The speed reading section seems familiar and probably works, but definitely not for reading technical material, or any other information-dense text.

The book is basically a checklist of things you can try, and a template of a workout plan, but if you are motivated enough to find and assemble that yourself, not worth the purchase.

[Tim Dierckxsens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title says it all

I love learning yet it can get frustrating. Too many passions, too many books, too many courses and not enough time.
This course taught by Jonathan Levi was a godsend. I boosted my reading speed from 179 wpm to 510 wpm but most importantly I learnt great techniques to store important insights into my long term memory. I recommend this course to anyone who aspires to dive into accelerated learning and comprehension.

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I first encountered super learning, according to the way Levi described it, I thought it may be a secret society, training people with learning and memorisation methods unknown to the mankind.

But soon I realised they're just packaging other people's knowledge in one place and showing it in a way that you may say how I was living without it?

Scientists to the rescue.

[Sergey Shishkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers quite useful techniques and is well structured. I expected it however to be more self-contained. This is rather a syllabus for the training program with short abstract-like chapters and a bunch of external links and exercises.

[Ezz Eddin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected much learning about how I can speed my reading, but just two or three examples for speed reading is not enough. Though, I knew there are speed reading tests online and that's the benefit I got from this book. The rest is easy to be known.

[Hamam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the proposed tricks were indeed interesting.

[VI Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is very useful for may job

[Chandan Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is only a summery or revision if you have read books in this genre.
A bunch of information
But no explanation of how, why properly I would say

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a well written book but not a lot of new information

[Arsene Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deși e în engleză e o lectură ușoară, dar tehnicile prezente trebuie exersate ca atare, pentru a se vedea îmbunătățiri în stilul de citire și reținere pe termen lung a informațiilor.

[Taylor Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise. I read it in one sitting. I'm going to rereview it after I try some of it's ideas more in depth

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think, if you do the assigned readings and watch the assigned videos, you'll benefit from this book.

[Faiza lifecoach · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this book, he offers poor tools and all is about practicing, which we all know, no need to read a book for it

[Javier Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would need further training to exploit the book to its fullest

[David Tomihiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Standing on the shoulders of giants

While there is some good information to be found here, very little is original. The author creates a "course" with a syllabus that links around the web (from TED Talks to Wikipedia) and instructs you to check the online syllabus for homework at the end of every chapter.

While a certain amount of borrowing is to be understood, there is zero synthesis offered. Instead, all you get is a roadmap that visits real thinking written in a style more often found in a high school classroom than a traditionally published book.

It might be worth the read if you've never looked into speed reading or learning theory, but if you have rudimentary research skills and an internet connection, you'd be better served investigating the subjects yourself.

[Firdaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever took the course, this may appear as supplementary.