Reading - do you read fast, slow, average?

Post Reply New Topic

I answered as "very fast", but I'm unclear - how fast is "fast"?

I just timed myself, briefly, reading non-fiction. About a minute a page. 8/9 words per second.

I'm pretty sure when I've tested myself in the past, with fiction, 10 wps is a figure I recall.

If I "speed-read" I can go far beyond that, but I don't enjoy it. I can get the sense off a page in about 10 seconds (40 wps), but that's no fun and I'll maybe miss a lot.

Very fast.

I read slowly and write slowly. I can remember several teachers who would speedily erase the board when they saw I was rushing and struggling to finish taking notes from it. That was mean. It still happens, even in college. With the advent of cheap digital cameras, maybe I'll start photographing the board before the jerks can speedily erase it! I often have people literally huff and puff while waiting for me to write something, even though I'm not super-slow, just slower than them. It's amazing the amount of effort some people put into being impatient!

I guess i read pretty quickly. Ive picked up this "how to read for maximum efficiency" book and in it they make it a very big point(pretty much what the book its about) to read quickly. Your not supposed to sound out the words in your head, this only slows your potential understanding down. In this book they teach you how to look over many words at a time and take in the idea of whats being said, as this is much more easily understood in the mind. Once you get used to reading like this, the mind by itself, yes its easy and you can do it to, will begin to reflect on the ideas that its understanding and allow you to even understand the material much better than wheny ou read it slow to try to make more sense of it. I highly recommend the book, its genuinely trying to make your reading more efficient and advanced, not just skimming over stuff so you can finish it really quick. Ive also noticed that most of these how to read faster books advocate the same concepts, so im guessing its something that really does work.

I read fast.


-SpaceCase

It really depends. With the Harry Potter books, which I loved, I read them very quickly. With anything lighter reading, I can read very fast, but when it comes to more factual material, I tend to read slower and go back over bits to be sure I have absorbed them fully. I have a very bad short term memory these days due to my thyroid issues, so that makes reading a less pleasurable activity for me. I am better learning through watching documentaries or listening...in fact, listening to spoken words has always been my best way of learning or watching.

I do as well; I can finish a 1000 page book in about an hour and a half...with 98% rentention of subject matter read.

I read very fast, but I don't often take it in.

http://www.readinggenius.com/speed_read ... .php?igid=

Intermediate test I scored 234 words per minute. Though I lost focus many times.

Super Challenge 218

Last edited by TheMachine1 on 09 Mar 2007, 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm a slow reader, afraid to miss essential parts. However, I can read really fast. I once read a hundred pages in half an hour, and very good caught up with the story-line. But reading slow is far more enjoyable.

I'm a fast reader. I can zip through what I read. Amazes me how fast people read slow.

413 words per minute.

366 words per minute. Didn't remember a thing. Might have been faster though because I pressed the button again before I realised where the results were displayed.

Last edited by Noetic on 09 Mar 2007, 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Intermediate 602 - but all the brainwashing irritated me.

Super Challenge -147,200. Solid brainwash? Couldn't waste my time on it. I'd much rather knee bounce for 5 minutes.

Yeah doing some web searches on this subject it says most people sub-vocalize the words in their mind at 200-400 WPM tends to be the speed that most people talk at to.

The wikipedia artical http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading has some other points
speed readers tend to have 50% comprehenion where as the rates are much higher for
the 200-350 wpm readers.



And subvocialation aid comprehension rates.

The last Harry Potter book only took me 4 hours to read.

I'd think I was hyperlexic, were I not female.