Reading can be exhausting, whether it's a philosophy book or the morning paper. Train yourself to increase your reading speed so that it takes less time to finish reading. Reading faster does limit your understanding of the reading. However, with a little practice, this kind of effect will be overcome.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Learn to Read Speed
Step 1. Stop reading to yourself
Almost everyone “reads silently” or moves their throats as if they are saying the words they are reading. This method does help readers remember concepts, but it becomes a major barrier to speed reading. Here are some ways to suppress this habit as much as possible:
- Chew gum or hum while reading. This will divert the muscles used when reading silently.
- If your lips move while reading, immediately place your finger on them.
Step 2. Close the words that have been read
When we read, our eyes tend to go back to the previous word. These brief eye movements often do not affect our understanding of the text. Use index cards to cover words right after you read them, but try to keep this habit from becoming ingrained.
"Reading backwards" is also done when you fail to catch an idea. If your eyes jump back a few words or lines, you need to read more slowly
Step 3. Understand eye movements
As you read, your eyes will keep moving and sometimes stop at a few words or skip them. You can only read when your eyes stop. If you are able to limit eye movement to every single line, your reading speed will increase. However, be careful, research shows the limits of the eye's reach at a glance:
- You can read eight letters on the right eye, but only 4 letters on the left. Or, in short, 2 or 3 words at a time.
- You can catch letters 9-15 spaces to the right of your eye, but have a hard time reading them clearly.
- In general, the reader does not pay attention to the words in the other lines. It can be very difficult to practice skipping lines, while understanding their content.
Step 4. Train the eyes to limit movement
The brain usually decides the direction of eye movement based on how long or how familiar you are with the next words. You can read faster if your eyes are trained to move through certain parts of a page. Please try the following exercises:
- Place an index card over a line of text.
- Write a cross X on the card, just above the first word.
- Put a cross on the same line. Place the cross over the next three words for easy understanding, five words for easy text, or seven words for skimming key points.
- Put more crosses to the end of the line.
- Quick read after index card is unloaded. Try to keep your eyes focused on the words under the cross.
Step 5. Set a reading speed above your normal level of reading comprehension
Many programs claim to increase reading speed by first training your reflexes, then practicing them until your brain is able to adjust. The methods offered have not been fully researched. Yes, your reading speed of text does increase, but it may be without understanding the text. You can give it a try if you're craving an incredible reading speed, and "maybe" will understand more after a few days of practice. Here's how you can follow::
- Go through the text with a pencil or pen at a rate of one second per line. Say "one-one" in a calm voice as you move the pencil and time it so that you reach the end of the line as you finish saying the word.
- Try to read as fast as the pencil moves in two minutes. Even if you can't understand anything, stay focused on the text and keep your eyes moving for those two minutes.
- Take a break for a minute, then read faster. For 3 minutes read as fast as a pencil moves down “two” lines in a second.
Step 6. Try the RSVP software
If the above techniques haven't helped you achieve your goals, try RSVP (Reading Rapid Serial Visual Presentation). In this way, the phone app or computer software will highlight one word at a time. Thus, your reading speed will adjust. Keep increasing the speed even if you won't remember most of the words in the text. This method is very useful if you want to know the summary of news articles, but do not use it if your purpose of reading is to learn or to find entertainment.
Part 2 of 3: Overview
Step 1. Know when to skim
Skimming can be done to get a surface understanding of the text. This way of reading can be used when looking through newspapers for interesting news or to find important concepts from textbooks in preparation for tests. Of course, this method can not be juxtaposed with careful reading.
Step 2. Read the title and subsection headings
Start by combing through chapter and subchapter titles before reading through the entire section. For newspapers, first read the title of each article. As for magazines, see the table of contents first.
Step 3. Read the beginning and the end
In textbooks, there are usually introductions and summaries in each chapter. For other types of text, just read the first and last paragraphs of the chapter or article.
Speed reading is very possible if you are familiar with the material. However, don't try to read as fast as lightning. Of course, skipping most of the text will save you time, but you also really need to understand the content of the text
Step 4. Circle the important words in the text
If you still want to capture more information, instead of reading as usual, just sweep your gaze across the page. After capturing the gist of your reading, you can pick up key words that highlight important passages. Stop and circle the following words:
- Words repeated several times
- Main idea-often includes words from the title or subtitle
- proper noun
- Words that are italicized, bolded or underlined
- Words you don't know
Step 5. Check the drawings and diagrams
Often you can get information from it without having to read a lot. Take 1-2 minutes until you fully understand each diagram.
Step 6. Read the first sentence of each paragraph if you are confused
If you have trouble following the flow of the discussion, read the beginning of each paragraph. You will know the main points of the first sentence or two.
Step 7. Study your annotations
Look again at the words you circled. Can you “read” it as well as understand the outline of the text? If you're still confused about a particular word, try reading a few sentences around the word to remember the topic at hand. You can also circle a few more words.
Part 3 of 3: Measuring Reading Speed
Step 1. Measure your reading speed
Check your progress by timing it every day. Try to beat your best speed. That would be the best motivation. Here's how to measure the speed at which you read words per minute (kpm).:
- Count the number of words on a page, or count the number of words in a line and then multiply by the number of lines on the page.
- Take ten minutes and see how many words you can read in that time.
- Multiply the number of pages you read by the number of words per page. Then, divide by 10 to get the number of words per minute.
- You can also use a reading speed test that can be found online. However, your reading speed of text on computer screens and printed books may differ.
Step 2. Set goals for yourself
Your reading speed will increase if you are diligent in repeating one to two exercises every day. Many people are able to double their reading speed after a few weeks of practice. Set markers to keep you motivated to train:
- Children aged around 12 years and over should have a reading speed of 200-250 words per minute (kpm).
- The average student has a reading speed of 300 kpm.
- If your reading speed is 450 kpm, you are reading as fast as a student skimming the main points. You should be able to do this while understanding almost the entire text.
- If your reading speed is 600-700 kpm, you are reading as fast as a student scanning for a word. Most people can practice to reach reading speed at this level with a reading comprehension of 75%.
- If your read speed is 1000kpm, it means you have achieved an excellent read rate. To achieve this speed, it usually takes extraordinary technique to skip most of the text. Most people have trouble remembering the content of text at this speed.
Tips
- Take a break after reading for 30-60 minutes. This will keep you focused and reduce eye strain.
- You'll have a hard time analyzing and changing readings because you're starting to focus on reading techniques instead of understanding the content. Try not to read too fast so you can understand the content of the reading.
- Practice in a quiet place with good lighting. If necessary, use earplugs.
- If your reading speed doesn't improve, get your eyesight checked.
- Read important texts when you are fit and have enough rest. Some people can work best in the morning, while others in the afternoon..
- Reading away from your eyes may not increase your reading speed. Most people will adjust their viewing distance to make it easier when they want to read quickly.
- The practice of reading zig zags by moving your eyes back and forth to the right and left does not bring much results. most people who practice this way still read from left to right, and from line to line.
Warning
- In the end, reading faster always results in poor comprehension or poor memory of the reading.
- Be wary of expensive products that offer speed reading assistance. Most products offer the same advice and practice, or methods that are not supported by research.
Items You Need
- Reading material
- Earplugs (if your environment is noisy)
- Stop clock or ''stopwatch''
- Index card
Sources and Citation
- https://www.mindtools.com/speedrd.html
- https://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1989.65.2.487?journalCode=pr0
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022537180906283
- https://www.spreeder.com/blog/how-to-read-faster-by-eliminating-subvocalization/
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Timothy_Slattery/publication/228625379_Eye_movements_as_reflections_of_comprehension_processes_in_reading/links/0912f51128fc53c7c7000000.pdf
- https://people.umass.edu/astaub/StaubRayner2007_proof.pdf
- https://people.umass.edu/astaub/StaubRayner2007_proof.pdf
- https://www.gradschools.com/article-detail/speed-reading-1564
- https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1145&context=marcel_just_cmu
- https://www.mindtools.com/rdstratg.html
- https://www.aacc.edu/tutoring/file/skimming.pdf
- https://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/16/how-to-read-faster-bill-cosby/
- https://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/07/30/speed-reading-and-accelerated-learning/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18802819
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/i40000840
- https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1145&context=marcel_just_cmu
- https://www.learningtechniques.com/speedreadingtips.html
- https://www.aaopt.org/relationships-between-print-size-preferred-viewing-distance-and-reading-speed
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https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1145&context=marcel_just_cmu
