Would you like to know how to read faster? In Infoeducation we will give you the keys that will help you improve your reading. Being a super reader is not as difficult as you might think. You just need the techniques and put them into practice daily. Over time, you will notice an improvement in your reading and you will be able to read thousands of books in days. This is a skill that will be very helpful to you during your studies.
Why can’t we read fast?
One of the best known super readers was Theodore Roosevelt, the president of the United States. I could read up to 3 books a night. Another prominent person was the famous writer Agatha Christie, who read about 200 books each year.
Not being able to read fast shouldn’t put you off. Many people stop trying to improve this aspect because they do not know how to read faster and get frustrated when they try and do not succeed. It is said that on average the human can read up to 200 words every minute. However, this number can be reduced due to various factors.
If the book is in another language, you will probably read a little slower than normal. The same happens if the words in the text are too technical or scientific and we have no prior knowledge of them.
What are the most effective learning methods?
Slow reading can also happen because the text does not attract our attention or we do not like the book. The latter is one of the most common reasons.
On the other hand, the eye is known to be much slower than the brain. Visual perception does not have the speed of thought, so the person ends up paying attention to something else. One of the explanations for this is that the eyes, unlike the mind, do not read continuously but rather stop at a word, sentence, or paragraph.
In the end, the person has to, sometimes without realizing it, reread that block again. As you will give yourself this only makes the reading more tedious, slow and in the end, we leave the book to concentrate on something else. This also prevents us from being able to understand the text.
Keep in mind that reading aloud or softly slows down analysis, which in turn ends up being one of the reasons why many don’t know how to read faster. As in the previous case, we ended up rereading the text to understand it.
Reading comprehension is associated with the ability to read faster. Understanding entire sentences continuously and not slowly helps to improve reading speed.
What you should know is that perseverance will be one of your greatest allies. The techniques that we will give you below will not only improve your reading ability, you will also improve your analytical skills and synthesize information.
6 keys that will help you know how to read faster
1. Find out how long it takes to read
The first thing you should do to learn how to read faster is to find out how long it takes you to read per minute. With this, you will discover if you need more or less practice. The reading levels are 100 to 200 for slow readers, 200 to 300 for average readers, and 300 and above for super readers.
The first thing you should do is select a 280-word text. You can grab any text on the internet and copy it into a Word document. Once this is done, use the timer on your phone to time the time it takes to read those words.
When you have the exact time recorded, you must divide it by the number of words read, that is, 280. You multiply this result by 60; that is a minute, and finally, you will know exactly whether or not you are a slow reader.
2. Find out what your bad reading habits are
Now that you know how long it takes, the next step you will learn how to read faster is knowing your own bad habits. By knowing which failures, you can better apply the techniques because you already know what your mistakes are.
To do this you just have to become aware of your expressions and actions while doing a reading. At first, you will not be able to notice it since it is something to do unconsciously; however, the more you read you will notice if you vocalize or subvocalize, reread the paragraphs, fix your gaze excessively on the words, among others.
3. Avoid reading
Although it sounds counterproductive, reading word for word only slows down our reading and does not help us to know how to read faster. Several specialists affirm that our vision is capable of capturing 3 words following the one we are focusing on. That is, our sight may be fixed on a word, but, at the same time, it captures the 3 that follow and the 3 above.
Super readers are able to capture the whole set, they do not focus on the words but on the set of them. In this way, they quickly grasp the idea of the text, which helps to improve the analysis capacity. You can also do this but you need to practice.
4. Peripheral range of vision
To begin to know how to read faster, you have to grab a text, preferably one whose topic is to your liking, and start reading. When you do this, use your peripheral vision to pick up only the next word. Read at least one page using this technique.
Then, when you get used to it, increase the number of words observed in your peripheral vision . In a short time, you will realize that you will be able to read not only the word that is in your central focus but also the next 3 or 4.
5. Use a pen to find out how to read faster
Another technique with which you can know how to read faster is to use a pen, pencil, or even your finger to guide your gaze on each line of the text. It’s a good way to train your eyes and prevent your central vision from focusing on every word.
With this, you can read one line per second and when you have mastered the technique; double your speed and cut reading time in half per line; that is, half a second.
6. Read daily
It is useless to apply these techniques if you do not practice them daily. If you are not used to reading, take 15 minutes out of your day to read as many pages as you can.
With these techniques, you will discover how to read faster but we would like to know what is your opinion about super readers. Answer us in the comments section and don’t forget to share this article with your family and friends.
