Reading is one of the basic and universal activities through which information and knowledge is acquired. In today's world where there is a lot of reading material available in the form of newspapers, magazines, books and online stuff, and to make most of it, the higher the reading speed the better, obviously with a good degree of comprehension. The traditional way in which reading has been taught at an early age is less effective than desired and leaves a lot of room for improvement. The reader 'speaks' while reading, thus the reading speed is approximately the speed with which one would have read a particular text aloud in an audible voice.
This happens because of the fact that in early school years, one has to speak and read both at the same time. As the age progresses and silent reading is introduced, the old habit of speaking still continues, not aloud, but in the mind (called sub-vocalisation) — thus slowing down the reading speed and keep it at a level which is lower than we all are capable of.
In order to develop this practice of doing away with 'speaking' in mind while reading, the practice of speed reading is required. And interestingly enough, it does not require an instructor, a book, a workshop or training class — it can be done right there on computer, and that too online and free!
By practising this art of speed reading, one can increase reading speed from average of 200 to 300 words to up to 1000 words per minute. It's much like practising with a typing tutor — the more it is practised, higher the score gets and ultimately it becomes a second nature.
Start off with one of the most feature-rich speed reading sites Spreeder.com that has a good introduction of the subject and takes the user straight to the test. The default test starts with an introduction text flashed one word at a time at a base speed of 300 wpm. The idea here is to suppress the inner voice by gradually increasing speed and increasing the number of words displayed at one time on screen.
Use the Settings button to alter settings such as words per minute, text chunk size, window width and height, font, etc. Advanced settings can be used once comfort level is achieved with higher speeds as it includes slowing down for larger chunks of text, adding a slight pause at the end of sentence or paragraph and skipping words that do not add much value in sentences such as 'an', 'the', etc. Note that increasing the text chunk size is an effective way of speeding up reading as, unlike speaking, one can read more than one word at the same time.
It is only sub-vocalisation or habit of inner 'speaking' that holds the reader back to one-word-at-a-time reading which can be overcome through such practice sessions. Spreeder.com helps here by allowing any text to be pasted and displayed according to saved settings for speed reading practice. And the clutter free environment of this site makes speed reading quite simple.
The next site that assists in speed reading is Readingsoft.com having an added feature — it provides multiple choice questions to gauge comprehension or understanding of the text as well as speed. The third such site is Eyercize.com, with an advanced interface as it allows pasting of text followed by 'Now Read It' button taking the user to the reading page. Here, pressing the Play button start the display of text with selected number of words getting highlighted. On the left, there are scrollbars to control speed of words, number of words to be highlighted, total number of words to be displayed at a time. Line spacing and scrolling can be controlled and statistics are also displayed making it a more functional and interesting speed reading website. So hone your reading skills this summer by learning the art of speed reading!
