Automatic reading versus the other kind (warning: long and boring!)

[imron]

The time calculation for words not immediately known was just a guess to illustrate the example (the other calculations for actual reading speed didn't really require any effort), but despite being a guess, I think it's still valid because I know what it feels like when I hit these words, and it's always a big slowdown jolt compared to my normal reading speed. The sudden differences in time to process these words is just one thing associated with the change of thinking from automatic to requiring effort rather than the sole reason for not liking the experience. Enjoying a book and wanting it to last longer is something completely different because you're likely to be reading at a relatively constant speed - slowly or not - depending on how much you want to savour the experience, rather than the start-stop-start-stop experience that you get when reading something with unknown words.

Also, just to clarify, I don't necessarily recommend failing a card that doesn't get instant recognition - just that if you don't get instant recognition, you should spend time on the card to solidly imprint it in your memory before passing it and continuing on. This way cards you don't know instantly can still stretch out to longer intervals, but at the same time you're also working on building up that instant reflex. In any case, for me, flashcards are just a tool to get the cards in short-term memory, with the real long-term learning coming from reading, seeing and using the word in context.

[Guest realmayo]

Hehe, that's exactly what I suggested: the big slowdown jolt start-stop-start-stop experience is unpleasant not (just) because of the time thing, but because of the brain-pain thing.

I see what you mean about the flashcards, that sounds a lot more feasible. I wonder if there's a loose analogy with lifting weights in order to make yourself stronger (don't know much about this though): you want to be strong enough to lift up a heavy box or open a jar of pickled onions, and you want to be able to do that quickly and easily, but to get that strength in the first place involves slow and stready lifting which intentionally strains & stresses the muscles (okay that's a bit tenuous...).