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Rapid Analytical Reading
Now available worldwide via Skype!

Most speed reading methods work for newspapers and magazines, but fall apart when used on the kind of complex language found in literature, textbooks, and standardized test passages. AVE’s Rapid Analytical Reading method uses a combination of hierarchical language processing and word grouping to rapidly dissect even the most complex language.

Next Course: March 8, 2008. 10:30 am to 5:30 pm.
Fee: $350. One-on-one instruction is also available (Fee: $250/hour). For more information or to register, please all 301-320-3634.

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The History of Rapid Analytical Reading

At some point, most educated people get intrigued by the idea of speed reading. We have heard of famous speed readers, like John F. Kennedy, or seen depictions of speed reading in movies and television. And everyone wonders the same thing: is it really possible?

Arvin Vohra, founder of AVE, found himself pondering that same question during his senior year of college. Determined to be thorough, he read every book on speed reading he could find, watched every instructional DVD he had, and learned about various courses and approaches. Eight months later, he was able to read about 4 times faster than before.

Not surprisingly, when he founded AVE in 2002, he offered a course in speed reading. Almost all students increased their reading speed when reading easy texts like newspapers and magazines. But with complex texts, such as SAT passages and textbooks, the results were far worse. About 50% of the students made dramatic improvements in speed. The other half showed little improvement. To an organization dedicated to 100% efficacy, these results were far from acceptable.

The Rapid Analytical Reading Breakthrough

Determined to understand what had gone wrong, Arvin Vohra spend the next two years discovering what made some students able to speed read and others unable to do so. He quickly discovered that it had to do with the ways in which different people process language. Some people process language based on the grammatical structure of the sentence. Others process language based on combining individual word meanings into the most likely sentence meaning. In other words, the first group was seeing at exactly what each sentence meant. The second group was guessing what each sentence probably meant. Group 1 was able to speed read harder texts effectively, and group 2 was not.

Immediately, Arvin Vohra integrated this knowledge into his new reading program, which he called Rapid Analytical Reading. The core of the training program was hierarchical language processing: using the grammatical structure to determine the exact meaning of each sentence, while emphasizing key components of the structure. Through this program, average readers became excellent readers, and excellent readers became outstanding readers. Every student’s comprehension level improved significantly. Even better, reading speed was now improving for all students, even on complex texts.

Rapid Analytical Reading, Version 2

The success of Rapid Analytical Reading spurred Arvin Vohra to further improve the method. He soon realized that with even more difficult texts, such as LSAT and GRE passages, effective and analytical word grouping was essential for rapid reading. The passages in these tests often contain sentences that are several lines long. Students who see these sentences as composed of 50 distinct words will take a long time to analyze the sentence. However, students who see such sentences as composed of 3 clauses and 4 prepositional phrases will be able to rapidly and precisely analyze the sentence. Effective word grouping, and the associated perceptual skills, became the focus of Rapid Analytical Reading version 2.

What to expect if you master the Rapid Analytical Reading Method

Those that develop speed reading approaches are themselves best able to illustrate the applications of that method. For example, some may show their ability to read an athlete’s autobiography in 20 minutes. Others may illustrate their prowess While Arvin Vohra is able to read such simple texts with a great deal of rapidity using standard speed reading techniques, the application of Rapid Analytical Reading is best seen in its application to standardized tests. Arvin Vohra used the Rapid Analytical Reading method on both the GMAT and the GRE. Without rushing, he finished the reading sections of each test with 40-50 minutes to spare. On each test, he earned a perfect score. The speed is noteworthy, but even more importantly, there was absolutely no loss in comprehension. In fact, because of the precision of the Rapid Analytical Reading method, reading comprehension is higher when using the method than when reading “normally.”

What to Expect from a Seminar or Private Tutorial

Whether you enroll in a Rapid Analytical Reading Seminar, get private training in Washington, DC, or use AVE’s Skype-based tutoring services, the training process is similar. First, you will learn to use hierarchical language processing and grammatical word grouping to rapidly and precisely analyze complex sentences. Then you will learn how to integrate these skills with speed-reading techniques.

Because learning Rapid Analytical Reading involves fundamentally changing your reading and language processing, expect to spend a few months of daily practice before you get the hang of it, and another few months to become completely comfortable with it. It is a substantial time investment, but the result – faster and more accurate reading for life – is well worth it.

Next Course: March 8, 2008. 10:30 am to 5:30 pm.
Fee: $350. Lunch will be provided.

Private Tutorials are also available. For more information or to register, please all 301-320-3634.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Will a student be able to speed read by the end of the class?
In most cases, students will be able to use basic speed reading methods by the end of the course. Generally, it will take at least a few months of additional practice to fully master the more challenging advanced methods.

My child has already taken a speed reading class. Will this class be useful?
The answer depends on the type of speed reading class. If your child has learned only to use his hand to guide his eyes from left to right along a line, then both the speed reading and Rapid Analytical Reading portions of the class will be useful. If he is already able to read line by line, moving his eyes straight down the page, then he will probably benefit primarily from the advanced speed reading techniques and the Rapid Analytical Reading techniques discussed in the course.

My child struggles with reading. Is this a good course for him?
Students who struggle with reading will probably find the course overwhelming. They may still benefit somewhat from the course, but much less than strong readers. The content and pacing of the course is designed to challenge even the strongest readers.

Is this course appropriate for college students?
Yes. Speed reading is an unusually difficult skill to master, and this class is appropriate for college as well as high-school students. College students are expected to move at a faster pace than high-school students.

Is this course appropriate for younger students?
With very rare exceptions, this course will be overwhelming for students not yet in high school. Younger students with unusually strong reading and grammar skills may be able to succeed in the class.

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Additional Information for Education Professionals

The visual methods developed allow students to read blocks of words without moving the eyes. Most students are able to read by dividing each line into two halves, and moving their eyes only twice per line, before the end of the course. Some students are able to read a full line without moving the eyes by the end of the course. Advanced visual methods, including those that allow multiline reading, are introduced as part of the course to allow students to continue to develop their reading skills after completion of the course. However, with few exceptions, students are generally unable to fully master these advanced methods before the end of the course.

The analytical methods are designed to rapidly dissect complex sentences. Students use the subjects, verbs, and objects of the clauses of each sentence to form the grammatical framework with which information in the sentence can be most effectively extracted. Students learn both traditional sentence diagramming methods that include all modifiers and a streamlined method that only uses key sentence components.

Basic rules of formal logic are introduced, including definitions of the and, or, xor, and not operators, as are Demorgan's laws. This is done to help students rapidly decode logical arguments, extract meaning from them, and detect flaws. This is particularly appropriate for students who plan to study law or philosophy at a future date, and for students who will be taking the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, or LSAT.

These analytical methods are incorporated with the aforementioned visual methods. Because these visual methods allow students to see an entire sentence relatively quickly, they are able to use analytical methods that rely on perception of the entire sentence. For example, students who see an entire sentence quickly can analyze it in terms of its subject, verb, and direct object, whereas students reading left to right must rely on a slower information acquisition system.

Students wishing to enroll should have strong grammatical skills and reading skills. Latin is helpful, although not necessary. Students struggling with grammar may find the class overwhelming, although they may still find it beneficial. This also applies to students with average or below average reading skills. Students for whom English is a second language are generally able to succeed in the course, although occasional complications may arise.

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