We're going to start our journey by improving our memory. This lecture will explain why that's so important.

Fortunately, this isn't boring stuff at all. This is a general theory of how to improve learning, not just for reading, but also for meeting new people, learning new skills, and more. While we work our way through the course, you'll be able to apply these skills in your every day life, and that by itself is an important aspect of learning.

This lecture is extremely crucial. It explains the inner workings of the brain (in layman's terms), and helps us understand how we can "hack" the system our brain uses to record information. No prior knowledge is required, and the supplementary information below is optional, just in case you are curious to learn more!

In this lecture, we do an important exercise to demonstrate how effective your brain is at recognizing a huge amount of information very quickly through imagery.

In the supplementary materials, you'll find another TED Talk about memory, from another memory athlete - this one is the US national champion... But he started out as a normal guy, just ONE YEAR before. He explains how he (and other memory champions) use vivid imagery to remember long lectures, decks of cards, and so on. We also mention this TED talk and link to it in Lecture 27, so you can watch it either now or later.

There are different types of images, of course, and different types will be more effective for different types of people. In this lecture, we will conduct an experiment which determines if you choose a stereotypical image, a personal image, fictional image, or a graphical image. From there, we know which images to imagine, and which ones will be most effective for you.

This entire lecture is an exercise to practice the use of markers, and demonstrate how effective they are.

When you speed read, you will need to take regular pauses. This is because we are optimizing the process, kind of like division or "batching like tasks." This lecture will explain that process, helping you understand the flow of information from your working memory to your short term memory, and then to your long term memory.

Check out the supplementary materials, where Peter Doolittle talks about how "working memory" works. He touches on a lot of the key concepts we are learning in this course - imagery, drawing on existing memories, finding uses for the information, and more. Peter also gives a fun exercise, which 50% of people FAIL. By the end of this section, you will be able to score 100% on that exercise with very little effort.

In this marker we go into great detail about the qualities of good markers, as well as how to create them. It's a very important lecture for your success, so please pay close attention!

See the supplementary materials for the homework assignment.

In this lecture, we will be reading a Wikipedia article on the Garden City Movement, and describing markers as we go along. This will help you understand which words are marker-worthy (and why), as well as the level of detail expected for each marker.

In this all-new lecture, we will cover how to link markers together for optimal retention. Please excuse the inconsistency in scenery - we are constantly improving and adding to the course!

In this lecture we give you guidance for trying out your new skills in everyday life, which you should consider as important homework!

In this lecture, we're going to learn a bit about pre-reading. It may seem counterintuitive since speed is our goal here, but for any text where it's important to remember detail and structure, we strongly recommend "pre-reading" the text. This is especially important for dense materials or mixed reading with lots of pictures, such as textbooks.

In this lecture, we're going to examine the work of Malcolm Knowles, the foremost authority on adult learning, to understand some of the requirements for adults to obtain new knowledge. Integrating these elements is going to be an integral part of our pre-reading strategy, as we'll see that creating and promoting curiosity and applicability of the knowledge is a crucial success factor.

In this lecture, you're assigned a homework assignment of incorporating interest and curiosity into your daily reading. Please note that while interest & curiosity have a place in all forms of reading, if you're reading extremely dense materials, you may need multiple pre-readings to generate this interest & curiosity (to be covered later). At the very least, please remember to pre-read and practice using your lighter readings of the day, such as newspapers, pleasure reading, or emails.

"Subvocalization" is the enemy of speed and comprehension. In this lecture, we're going to learn what that means, and why it's true. Then, we're going to begin to understand how speed-readers overcome subvocalization, with an introduction to the mechanics of separated information processing.

In this lecture, we learn about "saccades," or rapid jumps of the eye. This is a central tenet of speed reading, and so we begin to practice them and train our eyes to perform them effectively.

We then spend some time talking about adapting reading material to fit our preferred number of saccades, and making sure font sizes and text formatting are suitable for fast absorption. We learn to use plugins and apps that improve our reading experience (you'll find links to all of them in the supplementary materials)

Finally, we apply our new skill to a fun game, to see what a difference they make in our ability to rapidly recognize new information. (Click the link titled "1470.swf" in the supplementary materials to go directly to the game)

Now that we've learned to read with saccades, we're going to expand our focal range (or eye span) to be more effective. At the speed we're performing saccades, we can make dramatic increases in our overall reading speed simply by minimizing the number of "columns" we need to make on a page.

This lecture also contains a number of exercises for improving your focal span, which can be found in the supplementary materials. For students who have been diligently working on the other games, they can switch up their routine and work on these new games. If you haven't been doing the work, don't jump to these exercises until you see significant improvement in the previous games and exercises.

Continuing with our practice of saccades, this chapter helps us avoid one of the mistakes beginners make - wasted space and inefficiency.

For students who have mastered the "Camera Mind" exercise, this lecture also provides a much more challenging game, which you can use to replace it in your daily training regimen. It's linked below in the supplementary materials.

In this lecture, we discuss one of Anna's best tricks for pushing you along. Though Anna won't be there to physically push the card down the page at an absurd pace (like she does for her in-person students), this trick will still be highly effective. The goal is to break the psychological "safety net" of believing you can always go back and re-read if you lose focus. This technique is very effective!

In this lecture, we apply the methodology of "Progressive Overload" to reading. We outline the progressively more difficult phases of speed, and explain why this approach is superior to others used to teach speed reading. This is by far the most challenging and frustrating portion of the course, but don't lose sight of the big picture!

If you want to try another speed test (besides the ones provided in the course quizzes), we've also shared a resource in the supplementary materials.

In this lecture, we examine a neat "hack" that Anna teaches for overcoming the frustration and overwhelming speed when switching to a new, faster, phase.

In this all-new lecture, we address some of the challenges students face with creating markers at speed.

This lecture is the last in the "main" portion of the course. In it, you're reminded of the need to practice and train all of the exercises you've been given. After a few weeks (or even months, depending on how much time you are able to put in), everything will start "clicking," and then you'll get much more out of the "advanced" topics in sessions 6, 7, and 8. However, if you need to view those lectures to create interest, motivation, or curiosity, you should do so.

In this lecture we learn a bit about mind maps, a powerful note-generation technique that leaves outlines in the dust by harnessing the power of neural networks.

In this lecture, we talk about something called a Memory Temple, which is a very important technique for storing your memories. You should know that every single memory competitor has used these techniques, and they are many thousands of years old. It is worth checking it out and experimenting with it, especially through the supplementary materials.

The supplemental material has a link to Joshua Foer's TED Talk, which we linked to earlier as well. However, because he talks both about visual memory and memory temples, it's linked here in case you didn't take a moment to watch it before.

In this lecture, we discuss how one can apply the "marker" system to numbers, or complex strings of numbers, using some nifty tips and tricks.

In this lecture, we learn about a technique called Chunking, which helps us with storage of anything from phone numbers to marker details.

In this lecture, we briefly discuss the importance of sleep on learning, and explain some of the different habits that active superlearners assume to cope with the increased mental strain they face.

In this lecture, we discuss some of the factors that contribute to successful learning. These include state-based learning, proper lighting, oxygen, and stimulants such as caffeine.

In this lecture, we learn about the drop off periods of new memories, and how to use a popular tool for spaced repetition called Anki.

In this lecture, we learn some best practices for adapting our skills to particularly dense or boring texts!

In this lecture, we talk about the skills needed to learn languages effectively and quickly. We also touch on what it looks like to super learn in a few other languages.

In this lecture, we learn important skills on how to apply what we've learned to remembering faces and names.

In this lecture, we will talk about some tools, tricks, and tips for superlearning from audio or video sources.

In this lecture, we wrap up and say farewell, but not goodbye! As you continue to learn and improve, the course instructors are here to answer your questions.

This is not at all the "end" or a "Congratulations" occasion, but more a "Welcome" to the community of superlearners! Now that you know how to learn much more effectively, it's up to you to continually practice and improve your skills.