How To Read Fast

By practicing shortcuts and applying a couple of scientific principles, an average reader can improve his/her reading speed by as much as half or even more.

1. Vocalization helps in comprehension but it slows down reading. By doing away with vocalization/subvocalization, you can improve your reading speed.

2. Reading words in chunks is less time consuming than reading the words separately and can therefore contribute to an increase in the pace of reading.

3. When reading, avoid reading a text or word a second time as re-reading would only disturb your flow of mind and eye movement. This practice would help you read faster.

4. Let the kind of book determine your method of reading. For light fiction, you just need to understand the plot so just breeze through the book. In the case of the usual non-fiction, you need to get the facts and neednt worry about insignificant phrases. Slow reading would be desirable for a volume of literary value. This is essential to truly understand and enjoy the books content and style.

5. Urge yourself on to read faster. Initially, this would mean not getting all of the meaning, but you would gradually improve. Check how much time you need to read separately a page of light reading, a page of serious reading, and a page of average reading and try to reduce the durations, whenever practical. You might miss some trivial words in the process but dont let this bother you.

6. Shift your placeholder faster and make an effort to memorize words to determine their meanings. Ensure that the movement of your placeholder is constant, failing which reading faster would be difficult. There are different ways to practice rapid reading, some of which are given below. You can choose the method you prefer.

• Position your hand over the text and as you read, bring it down. By constantly shifting your hand, you would be able to regularize your eye movement.
• An index card may be used to hide the text that is below the position you are reading. This would help you go one line at a time and enhance your level of comprehension.
• The sweep method enables quick movement of your hand below your reading site.
• It is mandatory that the hand function as a single unit to avoid comprehension problems.
• Other methods to improve reading speed include bouncing the hand on the text which is being read, and reading at a steady pace with steady movement.

One you choose a method, motivation will help you attain your desired goals. Correct lighting and an absence of distractions would help you develop speed. So would a cultivation of the practice of reading daily. Though the abovementioned methods are useful, the person would have to be prepared to wait a long time before he sees good improvement in himself/herself. Alternately, there are people who utilize certain tools to get quicker results.