A student learning center in China has made a controversial claim saying that it has come up with a ‘quantum speed reading’ method that enables students to read and memorize about 100,000 words within five minutes.
Imagine reading hundreds of pages of text simply going through them for a couple of minutes, sometimes doing this while blindfolded? This is what the Beijing Xinzhitong Qiguang Education Technology in Yancheng, Jiangsu province is promising to teach students via a method that is being touted as quantum speed reading. The controversial reading technique has already gone viral after a video showing youngsters scanning books went viral online.
Officials at Beijing Xinzhitong Qiguang Education Technology have denied having any information about quantum speed reading when approached by journalists. However, as per Weibo and promotional posters, the learning center did target students that were aged between 10 and 16. It promised to make them capable of reading 100,000 words in minutes while also being capable of reciting what they have read following a 72-hour class.
In the promotional material, the education center describes that by flipping through hundreds of pages at a quick pace, images begin to form in the mind of the readers that help them understand what they were reading. The technique is said to have been developed by Yumiko Tobitani, who is a Japanese educator who has also written a book on quantum speed reading.
Yumiko Tobitani said during a video presentation, ‘When you flip the pages of the book, images start to appear that helps you understand its contents. Another wonderful thing is that even if the text is written in French, German, or English, it would be translated to your own language and connects to images so that you understand the book immediately.’
Chinese media has also found out that there are a number of other private learning centers that offer quantum speed reading courses, with some priced at $38,000. However, experts and scientists have said these are just a scam since there is no scientific basis for this particular technique. And yet despite its absurdity, experts believe that many parents will fall for such claims. Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Beijing, said, ‘They think if their children take such courses, they will have advantages over others, but this kind of unscientific training method only harms their children’s development.’
