[Trending Now] WOW! This Filipina Was Deemed As The World's Fastest Reader! Find Out Here!

We bet you don't know that a Filipina teenager back in the 1960's made an international phenomenal feat as the World's Fastest Reader garnering a record of 3,135 words in 3.5 seconds, a reading rate of more than 50,000 words per minute with an unbelievable 100% comprehension! 

How?

This extraordinary gift of Maria Teresa Calderon, who was 15 at the time, could read half a book or more- if she didn't have to turn the pages, based on a report on her by the Associated Press of the U.S..

Calderon's breakthrough record happened at the Northwestern University's Rapid Reading class under Dr. Florence Schale. Her achievement made its way to major papers in the U.S. and was front-paged in Manila dailies.

With her incredible feat, this young Filipina described as "petite, smiling, warm and unassuming" by many was declared by the Guiness Book of World Records as the "World's Fastest Reader."

This seemingly ground-breaking success wasn't quite a surprise as Calderon came from a family of achievers with her sisters' own field of expertise deemed the eldest as the "Wonder Woman of Wall Street" Lilia Calderon-Clemente that managed funds worth multi-billion dollars in New York and another one of Maria's sister, Dr. Norma Calderon-Panahon was a distinguished psychiatrist. They all took routes that they all left big marks on.

Being a speed-reading whiz, Maria revealed that she mastered a technique called "gestalting"- a German form of psychology  that claims that the response of an organism is a complete and unanalyzable whole rather than the sum of responses to specific elements. This shows how when Calderon reads, she would "gestalt" by filling in the gaps from her stock knowledge. The more familiar the topic was, the faster she can skim. 

Calderon was said to have a simply extensive knowledge that in one test, she managed to still score 37,000 wpm when she was given a book to read. Her records include reading "The Scarlet Letter" in 20 minutes, "The Turn of the Screw" in 25 minutes, and "The Catcher In The Rye" in 40 minutes, with again, a 100% comprehension.

Showcasing her amazing aptitude, Calderon went through various tests done by the University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, the Prude University and the Northwestern University. And then set her new record turning every one's jaw drop with her speed of 80,000 words per minute! Calderon's record still stands up until today's time. 

Meanwhile, the record-holder next to her has a speed-time of 54,825 words per minute with 90% comprehension. 

When all the talks about her managed to lay low, Calderon continued her schooling and earned a degree in Political Science (1974), M.A. in Education (1976), and a Ph.D. in Education (1984), at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

To this date, Dr. Calderon continues to run the Calderon Reading Workshop, Inc., founded in 1969.

Source: TrendingNewsPortal