I nearly finished the Intermediate Course over a month ago, but life became busy and I didn't complete it. My plan now is to redo the Intermediate Course from the beginning in order to refresh my skills, and then finish out the 10 lessons with a new speed test.
During this past month's hiatus from training, I find that the skills have definitely stayed with me in practical application. My eyes flick through paragraphs rather effortlessly. Detail-oriented material is consumed quickly. And I can skim very rapidly.
Now when I read an article or the like, I start at a slow speed for the first few words to get my mind in gear, and then almost automatically my eyes speed up and I devour the whole paragraph or entire article right away! Very interesting that this has become automatic, and stayed that way.
Below are the brief notes I took the first time around. I'll be back with the conclusion at Lesson 10.
Lesson 5 concentrates on eye muscle strength. I didn't feel completely comfortable yet after I had finished, so I repeated it the next day as suggested in the instructions.
Lesson 6 states that the expectation is to be able to keep up visually, and to be able to comprehend more. My impression is that all these training programs seek to push the reader to the limits of physical ability, and let comprehension catch up in its own time through exposure to the fast-paced delivery. It seems like a good plan!
Lesson 7 re-introduces variable speeds, as occurred in the Beginner Course, but at a faster level.
Lesson 8 integrates skills from various lessons. At this point, comprehension should be catching up, and it is. The pace should still be challenging; if the reader finds he is recognising many words, he should repeat the lesson. Columns highlighter is now just two columns, 812 wpm. Very hard to flick back and forth! But a little easier than with three. It's hard to focus on the middle one when there are three.
Lesson 9 recommends that the reader should be able to keep up with the guide, recollect words, and comprehend more. The reader should be able to recognise larger groups of words at once. I find that columns is a little too fast. I feel the need to repeat from a few lessons back, or the whole Intermediate Course to reinforce.
I'll be back with review of Lesson 10 once I redo the Intermediate course!
