100 Yardlings Take Course To Increase Reading Speed

Over 100 Freshmen appeared at the first meeting of the Remedial Reading Course yesterday and heard how they will speed up their reading over 200 words per minute during the next six weeks simply by watching motion pictures and reading from a manual compiled by S. Vincent Wilking, Bigelow Fellow and teacher of the course.

Fifteen new sets of films made over the summer will force slow readers, either too lazy or too afraid to improve, gradually to increase their reading speed, while the manual improves their comprehension proportionately.

Only Two Beyond Hope

The results of last year's program show remarkable success. Out of 13 students only two failed to improve at all and only seven failed to speed up more than 40 words a minute. The average gain was from 225 to 335 words per minute, according to a report released yesterday by Stanley Salmen, member of the Board of Freshman Advisors and head of the Remedial Reading Course.

When the results of this fall's reading tests compulsory for all Freshmen were compiled, over one-fifth of the Yardlings had made such a poor showing that improvement was virtually certain if they took the voluntary Remedial course. Letters were sent to 200 requesting them to attend the meeting yesterday afternoon.

Eight-Minute Movies

At the first lecture the scope and causes of reading difficulties will be discussed; thereafter the Harvard Reading Films will be shown for eight minutes during every class, followed by a short quiz to determine how much the student has learned from the showing. Work in the manual, which teaches selection of important ideas, skimming, and quick comprehension, concludes the period.

The 15 films are divided into three sets of increasing difficulty and are on sale from the Harvard Film Service for $110. Prospective customers are preparatory schools, high schools, and other colleges.

At the meeting yesterday the class of 100 was divided into two sections, which will meet three times a week during the next six weeks. Since Mr. Wilking expects many students to drop the course, he does not think that the sections will be too large. $10 is the course fee for those who can afford it.