All of us know how to read. Or else, we won’t be here on MS. However, how many of us can read really fast so that we don’t have to rate a review very useful without reading it? One day I posted a fairly long review on MS and after five seconds I got a VU rating! Hum…probably he is a very fast reader.
The majority think that if they can read 150 words a minute, they are fairly good readers. Some read very fast, and though they can understand everything while they are reading, they cannot recollect a good part of it once they finish reading. Some read very slowly, stopping at words and can recollect much material to their satisfaction.
The world record in fast reading is 25, 000 words per minute. That’s quite astronomical since Howard Stephen Berg can read 75-80 pages a minute. I don’t think we should compete with him. But we must have some speed so that we don’t have to rate the reviews irreverently because we read very slowly. Most of the reviews that appear on MS have 150 – 1350 words(MS implemented lower and upper limits). Well, that’s 1 – 9 minutes for average reading. Very time consuming indeed!
How to solve this problem?
1) Stop moving your head while you’re reading. Many do this inadvertently. It’s a big mistake. You’re losing your precious energy.
2) Stop moving your lips while you’re reading. Young children and old people do this and it is forgiven in their case. But those who breathe between those parameters should not do this. I can hear a faint sigh of relief from you, guys. Good. Some move either their finger or the cursor(depending on the medium) below the words. A very bad practice. Only proofreaders need that much accuracy and sluggishness.
3) Stop moving your eyes back on the words you’ve already read and rereading them. It is a conscious effort for better comprehension. Now I heard a blasphemous curse from some of you. I don’t mind! If you have this weakness, stop it and try to pace your eyes steadily forward.
4) Stop listening to your own silent voice while you’re reading. This is the repercussion of what we have learnt from our school days when we are prompted to read aloud. Although those days are over we still listen involuntarily to our voice because we are reading silently to ourselves! Stop this and start to recognize and understand words as soon as you see them. With practice you can do this.
5) Catch more words with your eyes. Initially, we are focusing our eyes on one word at a time. If you’re still doing it, it’s a crime. Focus your eyes on more than one word and try to grab the meaning. It is the best way for better comprehension. Now look at one whole line and grasp it completely without any physical movement. Well, you’ve got it though you’re a bit slow. Practise it! How do you know if you’ve already achieved this? Well, if you can read a line per second, you’re there.
6) Your head takes in what your heart feels important. Now you can read a line a second. I’m very sorry to say that still you’re not fast. Try reading two lines together. Stare at them and ask your brain to register the meaning somewhere in its intricate network. If you tell your mind this casually, it won’t listen to you. Tell that you’re very earnest. It will abide by your earnestness and do the needful. This is very important. Otherwise, after reading you will find that you can recollect only a small part of it. At this speed you can read two pages a minute. That’s enough for a good reader.
Once you’re a good reader, you can read what I’ve written above within a minute. And you can rate the reviews sincerely because you’ve read them. And you’re not losing time.
If you’re ambitious, practise reading by increasing the number of lines that you can read together. If you can read five lines together you’re excellent.
PS. You don’t have to race if you’re reading for pleasure.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my review. Thank you.