Reading faster?

Question

I'm a pretty avid reader, and i do it a lot, but i cant help but notice how slow i read. what can i do to become a quicker reader? anything will help

Answer 1

Depends on what you are reading for. If you are reading for pleasure, don't rush it! In fact, I wish I was better at taking my time so I could get the detail! But if you are reading for information (school, work, newspaper) I sometimes save time by reading the first and last sentence of the paragraph but skip the stuff in the middle. Good luck!

Answer 2

First, what are you trying to read? Techniques differ depending on whether you are reading for information or pleasure.

When reading for information, use the tools provided with the text to figure out where the info you want will be--look at tables of contents, indexes, chapter summary/overviews, headings and sub-headings within the text, first and last paragraphs of chapters etc. to narrow down where the information you need is going to be.

This is also helpful when reading a textbook for school, because all those "flags' help announce what exactly you will get out of each segment you read. Same thing if the textbook has end of chapter questions--read those first so you know what information will be sought by the end of the chapter.

Now reading for pleasure is a whole different approach. There when you want to read faster you want to concentrate on just taking in the information more quickly and smoothly without necessarily skimming or reading ahead the way you might in a text.

Two of the biggest things that people do that slow them down while reading is "reading out loud to themselves" -- maybe you don't actually move your lips but you are saying every word inside your head. This slows you down and you don't need to do it, as you are processing the info in three steps (eyes-"vocalizing"-ears-brain) instead of one step (eyes to brain).

The other thing people do is jerk their eyes back and forth reading word by word and then rereading a bit before moving forward. So you want to train your eye to take in phrases and sentences rather than word by word, just as you naturally developed the habit of seeing whole words rather than individual letters as you learned to read.

Most speed reading techniques concentrate on these two skills.

Here's a good page with a speedreading overview:

http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/speed1.html

That page has an overview of good reading skills. Follow the link at the bottom of that page for a page that shows a variety of techniques you can use that help you to develop smoother faster reading comprehension.

Answer 3

u cant really train yourself to become a faster reader. im a pretty good reader, but not as good as one of my friends. she can read a probably 200 page book in a day!!! now thats fast!!! but like i said, u cant just learn!!! hope this helps!!!

Answer 4

If you visit your local community college, or if you're currently in college, they should offer speed reading classes that will gradually increase your reading skills.