speed reading

I have been wondering how I managed to get into graduate school. I don't feel particularly smart, anymore, compared to my peers. But I just took a bunch of online reading speed tests (yes, I was procrastinating!). That is the reason I have gotten as far as I have. I have never met anyone who reads faster than me. I chalk it up to a passion for Babysitter's Club books at age 7 :) I'd check out ten books from the library and read them all in a day or two.

Yes, hard work, interest, passion, sticking to a goal, help from others, etc all helped. But I have no idea what I would do if I couldn't read as fast as I can. The downside is that it has made me impatient in a lot of ways. I don't like listening to stories or lectures because I know I can read the same in a tiny fraction of the time. And that's if I read the whole thing. My usual MO is to skim, and then go back and extract the info I need. I skip what seems boring or not useful. I'm grateful, I depend on this skill, it's a gift I didn't earn, and it keeps me sane in grad school (I would have no time to take care of myself if I were a slow reader). But I'm becoming acutely aware that I've relied on it in ways that make me lazy and impatient as well. Time to work on those areas. It is amazing to *see* something I've taken for granted.

My one thought is, can I get to be this fast in another language? I doubt it, and it makes me not want to read in any other language (impatience!). My first year of Japanese they had speed reading tests as part of the grade. You would read out loud, as fast as you could. I *killed* at those tests, and it was completely unfair. And my comprehension was 0. I comprehend English when I read, but in another language, it's speed or meaning, not both. I cannot remember learning to read English (I do remember learning to spell), so I'm not sure how to learn to read another language well. I just loved reading more than anything else and remember everything I read vividly. I might be below average in other methods of learning.