Does Reading a Lot Make You Read Faster

Download Commodity

Download Article

Whether you're striking the textbooks in philosophy course or reading the morning time paper, reading can experience deadening. Train yourself to speed read to get through these tasks much faster. Reading faster does lead to less understanding, but with practice you tin overcome some of this effect.

1. 1

   Stop talking to yourself. Well-nigh every reader "subvocalizes," or moves their throat as they imagine speaking the words.^[1] This may help the reader recall concepts, but it's also a major barrier to speed.^[2] Here are a few means to proceed this addiction to a minimum:

   • Chew mucilage or hum while you read. This occupies muscles used to subvocalize.
   • If you motion your lips as you read, hold a finger confronting them.

2. 2

   Cover words you've already read. When reading, your optics often move dorsum to earlier words. Virtually of the time, these are brusque movements that probably don't improve understanding.^[3] Utilize an index bill of fare to cover words right after you read them, preparation yourself not to overuse this habit.

   • These "regressions" also happen when you've failed to empathize something. If your eyes spring several words or lines back, that's a sign that you lot may need to slow down.

   Advertisement

3. 3

   Sympathise heart movements. While reading, your eyes move jerkily, stopping on some words and skipping others. You can merely read while your eyes are stopped. If y'all learn to make fewer movements per line, you'll read a lot faster. Simply exist careful – research reveals limits to how much English readers tin can encounter at in one case:^[iv]

   • Yous can read eight messages to the right of your heart position, just only four to the left. This is roughly two or three words at a time.
   • You notice messages 9–fifteen spaces to the correct, only tin can't read them conspicuously.
   • Normal readers don't process words on other lines. Training yourself to skip lines and still empathize them would be very difficult.

4. four

   Railroad train your eyes to make fewer movements. Your encephalon normally decides where to move your eyes based on how long or familiar the next words look.^[v] You can read faster if you train your optics to move to specific places on the page instead. Attempt this practice:

   • Place an alphabetize card over a line of text.
   • Write an Ten on the carte, over the first word.
   • Write another Ten on the same line. Place it three words farther for skilful understanding, 5 words for easy texts, or seven words to skim the main points.
   • Write more than Xs at the same spacing, until you lot reach the end of the line.
   • Read chop-chop as you move the alphabetize card downward, trying to only focus your optics just below each X.

5. v

   Prepare a pace faster than yous can understand. Many programs claim to increase your reading speed by training your reflexes first, and then practicing until your brain can catch up. This has not been thoroughly studied. It certainly increases the speed you move through the text, but you may understand niggling or nothing. Try this if you want to aim for farthermost speed reading, and yous might understand more than after a few days of practice. Here's how:

   • Move a pencil along the text. Time this and then you lot tin say "one one thousand" at a calm stride and finish just equally you reach the end of a line.
   • Spend two minutes trying to read at the pace of the pencil. Even if you tin can't understand annihilation, stay focused on the text and keep your eyes moving for the entire two minutes.
   • Rest for a minute, then get even faster. Spend three minutes trying to read at the pace of a pen that moves beyond two lines every time you say "1 one thousand".

6. 

   half-dozen

   Endeavour RSVP software. If y'all can't reach your goals with the techniques to a higher place, effort RSVP, or Reading Rapid Serial Visual Presentation. In this approach, the phone app or computer software flashes text a unmarried word at a fourth dimension. This lets you cull whatsoever reading speed you like. Heighten it too high, though, and y'all won't be able to remember a large percentage of the words.^[6] This may be useful to get a rapid summary of a news commodity, but not when studying or reading for fun.

   Advertizing

1. i

   Know when to skim. Skimming can be used to proceeds a shallow understanding of a text. Information technology can be used to browse a newspaper for interesting material, or to get the of import concepts out of a textbook in preparation for a test. It's not a good replacement for thorough reading.

2. 2

   Read titles and section headings. Begin past just reading the affiliate titles and any subheadings at the commencement of large sections. Read the headlines of each newspaper article, or the table of contents in a magazine.^[7]

3. 3

   Read the beginning and cease of a section. Textbooks usually comprise introductions and summaries of each chapter. For other texts, only read the first and last paragraph of a chapter or article.

   • You can read chop-chop if you're familiar with the field of study, but don't try to speed read as fast as possible. You're saving fourth dimension by skipping most of the department, simply you practice need to empathise what you're reading.

4. 4

   Circle important words throughout the text. If you withal wish to learn more, brush your eyes speedily across the folio rather than reading normally. Now that you lot know the gist of the section, y'all tin can choice out key words that mark important areas. Stop and circumvolve the following words:^[8]

   • Words that are repeated several times
   • The main ideas – often including words from the title or section header
   • Proper nouns
   • Italics, assuming text, or underline
   • Words you lot don't recognize

5. 5

   Examine pictures and diagrams. These ofttimes nowadays a lot of information without much reading required. Take a minute or two to make certain y'all fully understand each diagram.

6. 6

   Read the outset sentence of each paragraph, if dislocated. If yous've lost track of the subject, read the start of each paragraph. The beginning one or 2 sentences will teach you the main points.^[9]

7. vii

   Study using your annotations. Become back and look over the words you've circled. Can you "read" these and get a general sense of what the text is well-nigh? If you get dislocated at a certain give-and-take, try reading a few sentences around that give-and-take to remind yourself of the topic. Circumvolve additional words every bit you lot exercise this.

   Advertisement

1. 1

   Time your reading speed. Track your progress by timing yourself daily, or each time you try these exercises. Trying to beat your best speed can provide great motivation. Here's how to time your reading in words per minute (wpm):^[ten]

   • Count the number of words on a page, or count the number in one line and multiply by the number of lines on the folio.
   • Prepare a timer for ten minutes and run across how much you can read in that time.
   • Multiply the number of pages you read past the number of words per page. Divide by 10 to get your words per minute.
   • You tin can use an online "speed reading test," merely you will probably read at a different pace on a screen than on a printed page.^[xi]

2. ii

   Ready yourself goals. Your reading speed should amend if you repeat one or more of these exercises daily. Many people tin double their reading speed afterwards several weeks. Prepare yourself milestones to motivate yourself to proceed practicing:

   • 200–250 words per minute is the expected reading speed for someone age 12 or older.
   • 300 wpm is the reading speed of the boilerplate college student.
   • At 450 wpm, y'all're reading as fast as a college student skimming for the main points. Ideally, you can exercise this with almost total comprehension.
   • At 600–700 wpm, you're reading as fast equally a college student scanning to find a word. Virtually people can learn to read at this speed with about 75% of their normal comprehension.^[12]
   • At 1,000 wpm and above, you lot're reaching the level of competitive speed readers. This commonly requires extreme techniques that skip over well-nigh of the text. Most people tin't remember much at this speed.

   Advertisement

Add New Question

• Question

  How do I train my eyes to make fewer movements when I read?

  

  Read from farther away. Then you won't need to brand that many movements, and you can also accept in sentences and fifty-fifty paragraphs at a time.

• Question

  Can I train my brain to read more than than 17,000 wpm?

  

  Probably not. Claiming to be able to read that fast is extremely rare. In the picture show, "Pelting Man," the title character could read up to 20,000 words a minute. His left eye read the left page, right eye read the right folio, but that is something very rare. It is not associated with neurotypical people.

• Question

  What can cause someone to no longer be able to improve their reading ability?

  

  When a person has little or no desire or patience, the willingness to read and ameliorate their reading wanes. If you want to ameliorate, you can.

• Question

  Tin can I larn to speed read to improve my online reading and comprehension?

  

  Yes, information technology works all the same. However, remembering and agreement each word you lot read should be top priority as a reader. Make sure that y'all're reading at your pace, and practicing information technology deliberately will assistance you.

• Question

  Can I larn speed reading if English language is my second linguistic communication?

  

  Near likely, aye. I can read 376 wpm and English language is my 2nd language every bit well.

• Question

  Will improving my usage and knowledge of the language in which I want to read aid with my reading speed?

  

  In my opinion it will. The more familiar y'all are with the linguistic communication, the faster you can read and empathize the content; however, information technology'southward non only most the language - y'all can encompass the material faster if you are familiar with the subject of the text also.

• Question

  Will playing music in the groundwork help me speed read?

  

  Playing groundwork music will not help in this scenario. Music with lyrics will distract your encephalon and make information technology work harder. Your encephalon volition automatically endeavour to divide the words that you lot are reading from those that you are listening to. The same can be said for instrumental music, where the brain will be working to separate the melodies from the words y'all're reading. It has been scientifically proven that white racket aids in speeding upwardly the functioning of the brain.

• Question

  How can I improve my ability to empathize what I read?

  

  Just go along in mind the important phrases, then clarify them. You will most probable brand a summary.

• Question

  Could the fact that I vesture glasses cause me to exist a ho-hum reader?

  

  No, as long as you can see, your eyesight won't affect your reading speed.

• Question

  I want to read 300 words per minute. What can I do to achieve my goal?

  

  If you apace browse 50 words per second, 300 words a minute will exist no problem. The central is to focus one-half on agreement and the other is to read whole lines at a time.

Show more answers

Enquire a Question

200 characters left

Include your electronic mail address to go a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertizement

• Have a break every 30–threescore minutes. This volition go along you lot focused and reduce eye strain.

• Exercise in a quiet, well-lit surroundings. Utilise earplugs if necessary.

• Analysing and changing your reading can become difficult considering y'all start focusing on your reading techniques rather than understanding the text. Make sure yous're not reading too fast and you properly understand what you take read.

• Read important texts when you're alert and well-rested. Some people function well in the morning time, while others think meliorate in the afternoon.

• Holding the page farther away will probably not speed upwardly reading. Most people automatically suit to the distance that allows maximum speed.

• If you tin can't improve your reading speed, take your vision checked.

• "Zig zag" exercises that try to get your eye to move left-to-right-to-left probably don't work. About people who train this fashion all the same move their optics left-to-right, line past line.^[13]

Advertisement

• Beware of expensive speed reading products. Many of them offer similar advice and exercises, or exercises non backed up by research.

• Later a betoken, reading faster will always have a trade-off in less comprehension or worse memory of the text.

Advertisement

Things You'll Need

• Reading material
• Earplugs (if in a noisy surface area)
• Stopwatch
• Index card

Near This Commodity

Article Summary 10

If you want to learn speed reading, railroad train yourself not to motion your pharynx or your lips equally y'all read, since this can deadening yous down. Yous can also utilise an index card to cover words yous've already read then y'all don't proceed reading the same thing over and over. To start speed reading even faster, try reading the text more than quickly than y'all tin can actually understand them, which may somewhen train your encephalon to process the words more quickly. Read on to larn tips for efficiently skimming through large portions of text!

Did this summary help you?

Thank you to all authors for creating a page that has been read two,594,073 times.

Did this article assistance you?

Does Reading a Lot Make You Read Faster

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Learn-Speed-Reading

Share this post