May 14, 2012
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Reading Speed
Source: Staples eReader Department
As a former college professor (and for that matter, former high-scoring college student), I suppose it makes sense. I did, however, have to put my reading glasses on to see the text as quickly as I used to.
Now, will they have a Comprehension or Analysis test next? That’s the one I’d like see–how much the average reader can grasp nuances, detect tone (such as sarcasm), understand humor, and project implications.
Comments (5)
WOW! Impressive. I am a slow reader. And not much of a reader to be honest. I like short stuff, like magazines, etc. That’s just my personality. Some people can sit and read for hours. However, as I get older, I am trying to change that.
But you said something that I have been thinking about lately. “how much the average reader can grasp nuances, detect tone (such as sarcasm), understand humor, and project implications.” Me and a friend were discussing this very same thing and our young adult children. The discussion was on how its so much harder to understand them today in how they text, Facebook, etc. So many times I have gotten an email from my son, or a text, and I can detect no tones, or “feeling” if you want to call it that. I, and many others my age or older, when I write, or text, or blog, or communicate, I try to relay my feelings in my writing. Thus I use a lot of exclamation points, etc! But todays young adult, when they communicate, it just, well, kinda dead. Its hard to read seriousness in to it, or if they are trying to be funny, or even sarcastic.
Or is it just me?
Oh yeah…..the reading glasses. I think I have now put a pair in very room of the house. And I’m only 44!
528. I did just wake up, though.
The test clocked me at 1032 wpm. But the time it takes to click “Finished” seriously screws with the timing, and it really takes a solid minute of reading to get a reliable timing.
If at all possible, it’s best to know the questions *before* you start reading. That way you can read intelligently, paying attention to the relevant bits and not lingering over the rest. Intelligent, strategic skimming and scanning are very good skills in any discipline that requires much reading. Even with literature and poetry- on the first read of *course* you want to savor each delicious word. But when you’re going back through the text to pick out favorite bits, speed-reading skills will help you find them more quickly.
When you’re working on reading speed, you want to develop both speed and comprehension. It’s helpful, in practice, to occasionally ‘push’ your eyes along the text as rapidly as possible. The eye muscles actually need exercise. Comprehension usually drops during these exercises, but if you do ‘push’ exercises periodically while reading, your normal reading speed increases. For most texts, if you rate your reading comprehension as four on a one-to-five scale, you’re reading at a good pace. Practice reading as fast as your eye muscles can handle, and you’ll find the ‘good pace’ speed climbs steadily. It’s not impossible to approach 2,000 wpm with quite good comprehension. A valuable skill for any graduate student…
…can you tell that I’ve taught speed-reading for a living?…
Comprehension test, combined with a speed test:
Read for five minutes. Then, time yourself reading for one minute.
Next, say out loud (out loud is important) everything you can remember about what you just read over the last six minutes.
Rate your comprehension on a scale of one to five. (five= “I am now reciting it back word-for-word,” one=”um, I think it was about a guy or something? It was probably written in English?”)
Count the number of characters (including spaces) in a full line of text in the book you are reading. Divide that number by seven. This is the average number of words per line of text in your book.
Multiply that number by the number of lines of text you read during the one-minute timing. (Count partial lines as full lines- the math took account of that.) This is the number of words you read during that timing. That’s your reading speed.
If your comprehension was a five, you are reading too slow. Push yourself faster.
If your comprehension was one or two, you are reading too fast. Slow down.
If your comprehension was three or four, you are reading at a good speed. Keep reading at this pace. If you would like to increase your reading speed, push yourself a *little* bit faster, and occasionally do one-minute exercises where you push your eyes as fast as they can physically move.
And I thought I was a fast reader….