jeffers wrote:I don't think any of these reading methods are better or worse, rather I think the greatest benefit would come from a combination of the methods. However, the real issue is whether you enjoy what you are doing, because in this context the only bad method is the method that makes you quit.
I think that this is ultimately what makes or breaks any method. I'd also note that our enjoyment of a particular method can depend on our level of progress.
I'd add another type of reading to the list. I think of it as targeted reading. (It needs a better name.) It's limiting intensive reading to a particular topic while extensive reading. If I find that there is a particular grammatical aspect to the language that is consistently slowing down my extensive reading rate and comprehension, I'll target that problem for a time until I reduce its impact on my reading. The first time I did this, I was doing extensive reading of ancient Greek in a parallel text Septuagint (for quick look up of vocabulary). I kept stumbling over verb endings (as to person) because I hadn't had them internalized. I decided to fix it once and for all, so I stopped at every verb and made sure I knew exactly what person it was before going on. With a few days, the problem was significantly reduced. I found that a handful of endings cover the majority of occurrences. Once those were automatic, I was only mentally stumbling over rarer forms which I could quickly resolve by a quick glance at the English text.
As I did this for other things, I found it worked best when I focused on a particular isolated aspect that was giving me noticeable problems. If I tried to do too much, I didn't gain the benefit. For example, looking at every Greek noun as to case does little except slow me down a lot. However, looking only at irregular nouns (and often picking up case from the associated definite article) caused me to start internalizing the general "feel" of the various cases for various families of irregulars. I find that the first reading session where I work on a new target is somewhat mentally disruptive because I often have to use reference materials at first. However, it quickly turns into a momentary disruption that doesn't mess with my extensive reading flow. I tend to just naturally stop noticing those things as they become automatic. I've found that this approach of reducing the biggest stumbling blocks to reading flow and comprehension seems to be a fairly efficient way of improving reading skills for the time invested.