There are some things that pretty much all of us on here have in common.
One of those is, that we all read a lot.
Though of course there are more ways of learning something new, reading remains at the top with listening, watching and others.
But for many, reading is quite an (mentally) exhausting activity. Getting more exhausting the dryer the subject.
What if we were able to change the way we read to a more efficient, enjoyable and smoother one?
Tell me, how did you read the last few paragraphs of this post?
Let‘s look at the following sentence. Read it just as you would anything else:
How are you reading these words?
Did the way you read it resemble this, with every ^ showing the word you read and your eye movement while reading:
How are you reading these words?
.. ^….^…..^……..^……….^………^
Yes? But it doesn‘t stop there right? Not only did your eyes look at each word, you also sounded out every one of them in your head right?
Don‘t worry if that is the case. This is basically how most of us learn to read when in school.
We learn to read by saying first the letters and then the words out loud. And while at some point we stop speaking the words out loud while reading, we continue this way of reading inside of our mind.
What this does, though, is to limit how fast you could actually read. And probably your enjoyment and ease of reading.
Why?
The average talking spead is around 200-250 words per minute. Reading the words out loud, even if only in your head, limits your reading speed to around this number.
To put it into context, 250 words is around 1 page of a book.
While 1 page per minute is not that bad, many read even slower than that and may take 2 or 3 minutes per page.
But speed isn‘t the only factor. Reading this way, especially for long periods of time, can also be exhausting.
So, how can we not only read faster but also make the process a more enjoyable one, while at the same time not lose our comprehension of what we read?
By doing 2 things:
Stop to subvocalize and start to read in chunks.
Subvocalization is what I just described: saying the words out loud in your mind while reading.
We do not need to do this to understand the words. You can try it right now. Try to read the rest of this post without sounding the words out in your head. Instead, just look at them.
You still understand what you are reading, right? At first, it‘s kinda strange not hearing the words, to not read them to yourself. And as this has been your way of reading for probably most of your life, it can be difficult to get rid of this habit. So don‘t worry, if you find yourself sounding out a word here and there.
Are you still reading by just looking at the words? Yeah? Great. Kinda cool, isn‘t it? Feels really smooth if you get into the flow of it.
Now let’s take this even further.
Right now you‘re probably still looking at each single word, like this:
I’m a sentence read word for word.
.^..^…….^………..^…….^…..^……^
Since you are no longer sounding out the words, you can actually read multiple words at once, so called chunks of words. Chunks are usually 2 or 3 words read at once and you read them like this:
I‘m a sentence read in chunks of words.
…..^………………………^………………^
Instead of 8 eye fixations we only have 3 for this sentence.
Now try to read the last bit of this post in chunks and see how it feels.
By using both techniques together, reading without subvocalization and in chunks, we can increase our reading speed a lot. Let‘s just assume you now read between 400 words per minute. That‘s almost double of what you read before (assuming you were within the average range).
I‘d say 400-500 words per minute is really fast while not too fast to comprehend what you read. Which brings me to my last question, and one that may have lingered in the back of your mind since you started reading this post:
What about my comprehension?
Instead of me answering this for you, I‘d like you to answer it for yourself.
Are you still reading these words by just looking at them? And since learning about the chunking method, in chunks of words as well?
Yes?
Then tell me: how much of what you‘ve read did you comprehend?
I hope quite a bit. If not all.
Please remember, though, that this is a skill and can take time to really get into. Especially since your old way of reading is something you did for a very long time.
But with some practice I hope this can help you to read more, in less time, with more ease and enjoyment and all the while comprehending everything that you read.
This is the end of the post, you can now stop reading without sounding out the words in your mind, and in chunks. Or you don’t
One of those is, that we all read a lot.
Though of course there are more ways of learning something new, reading remains at the top with listening, watching and others.
But for many, reading is quite an (mentally) exhausting activity. Getting more exhausting the dryer the subject.
What if we were able to change the way we read to a more efficient, enjoyable and smoother one?
Tell me, how did you read the last few paragraphs of this post?
Let‘s look at the following sentence. Read it just as you would anything else:
How are you reading these words?
Did the way you read it resemble this, with every ^ showing the word you read and your eye movement while reading:
How are you reading these words?
.. ^….^…..^……..^……….^………^
Yes? But it doesn‘t stop there right? Not only did your eyes look at each word, you also sounded out every one of them in your head right?
Don‘t worry if that is the case. This is basically how most of us learn to read when in school.
We learn to read by saying first the letters and then the words out loud. And while at some point we stop speaking the words out loud while reading, we continue this way of reading inside of our mind.
What this does, though, is to limit how fast you could actually read. And probably your enjoyment and ease of reading.
Why?
The average talking spead is around 200-250 words per minute. Reading the words out loud, even if only in your head, limits your reading speed to around this number.
To put it into context, 250 words is around 1 page of a book.
While 1 page per minute is not that bad, many read even slower than that and may take 2 or 3 minutes per page.
But speed isn‘t the only factor. Reading this way, especially for long periods of time, can also be exhausting.
So, how can we not only read faster but also make the process a more enjoyable one, while at the same time not lose our comprehension of what we read?
By doing 2 things:
Stop to subvocalize and start to read in chunks.
Subvocalization is what I just described: saying the words out loud in your mind while reading.
We do not need to do this to understand the words. You can try it right now. Try to read the rest of this post without sounding the words out in your head. Instead, just look at them.
You still understand what you are reading, right? At first, it‘s kinda strange not hearing the words, to not read them to yourself. And as this has been your way of reading for probably most of your life, it can be difficult to get rid of this habit. So don‘t worry, if you find yourself sounding out a word here and there.
Are you still reading by just looking at the words? Yeah? Great. Kinda cool, isn‘t it? Feels really smooth if you get into the flow of it.
Now let’s take this even further.
Right now you‘re probably still looking at each single word, like this:
I’m a sentence read word for word.
.^..^…….^………..^…….^…..^……^
Since you are no longer sounding out the words, you can actually read multiple words at once, so called chunks of words. Chunks are usually 2 or 3 words read at once and you read them like this:
I‘m a sentence read in chunks of words.
…..^………………………^………………^
Instead of 8 eye fixations we only have 3 for this sentence.
Now try to read the last bit of this post in chunks and see how it feels.
By using both techniques together, reading without subvocalization and in chunks, we can increase our reading speed a lot. Let‘s just assume you now read between 400 words per minute. That‘s almost double of what you read before (assuming you were within the average range).
I‘d say 400-500 words per minute is really fast while not too fast to comprehend what you read. Which brings me to my last question, and one that may have lingered in the back of your mind since you started reading this post:
What about my comprehension?
Instead of me answering this for you, I‘d like you to answer it for yourself.
Are you still reading these words by just looking at them? And since learning about the chunking method, in chunks of words as well?
Yes?
Then tell me: how much of what you‘ve read did you comprehend?
I hope quite a bit. If not all.
Please remember, though, that this is a skill and can take time to really get into. Especially since your old way of reading is something you did for a very long time.
But with some practice I hope this can help you to read more, in less time, with more ease and enjoyment and all the while comprehending everything that you read.
This is the end of the post, you can now stop reading without sounding out the words in your mind, and in chunks. Or you don’t
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