How to Read a Book Fast and Efficiently

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Learning how to read fast, or speed read, can be a useful skill if yous are trying to get through a reading list chop-chop or go through a long text. Before you tin can speed up your reading abilities, you lot will need to determine your average reading speed and practice several methods to better your reading speed.

1. ane

   Understand the boilerplate reading speeds for adults. An boilerplate college pupil can read between 200 and 300 words per minute (wpm) if they are reading fiction and non-technical materials. A stiff reader can read 500-700 wpm and an excellent reader tin read chiliad wpm. This ways the boilerplate reader may be 5 times slower than a expert reader and x times slower than an excellent reader. Improving your reading speed if y'all are an average or fifty-fifty a good reader means yous will need to try several techniques for speeding up your reading rate and exist willing to exercise improving your reading rate for a consistent period of time.^[1] Though your reading speed may fluctuate based on the type of text used and your level of familiarity with the reading material, in general:

   • A poor reader has a wpm rate of 100-110 words.
   • An average reader has a wpm rate of 200-240 wpm.
   • A skillful reader has a wpm rate of 300-400 wpm.
   • An excellent reader has a wpm rate of 700-1000 wpm.
   • Go along in mind ESL readers may struggle to maintain more than 200-300 wpm when reading a text that is non in their native tongue. Many educators argue that ESL readers should endeavour to maintain a slower reading rate to ensure they can encompass the text.

2. 2

   Exist enlightened of the human relationship between your reading speed and your reading comprehension charge per unit. Existence a faster reader does not necessarily mean you will be able to encompass the finer details or points in the text. In fact, your ability to encompass a text may subtract equally your reading speed increases. Less-normally known words or longer words have longer to read and comprehend. Speeding through the text may cause you to skip over primal words and your understanding of the text may offset to fade. ^[2]

   • Many linguistic experts debate that it's important to improve your vocabulary and broaden your exposure to many different types of texts, in add-on to improving your reading speed. This will ensure your reading comprehension rate stays at the aforementioned level or improves along with your reading speed.

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3. three

   Test your reading speed. Determine your reading speed using a practise text and a timer. Utilize a text that is at to the lowest degree five to ten pages long on standard viii" x 11" newspaper.^{[3] [4]}

   • Count the number of words in five lines of the practice text. Carve up this number of words by five and you will have the boilerplate number of words per line in the text. For example: 70 words/5 lines = xiv words per line.
   • Count the number of text lines on five pages of the text and separate this number by 5 to determine the average number of lines per page. Then, multiply the boilerplate number of lines per page by the average number of words per line and you will become the average number of words per page. For example: 195 lines/5 pages = 39 lines per folio. 39 lines per page 10 14 words per line = 546 words per page.
   • Once you have the average words per line and words per page, time yourself reading the text for ane minute. Try to read as fast equally possible, but also brand sure yous understand the idea or bespeak in each sentence.
   • After 1 minute, stop reading and count how many lines you lot read in ane minute. Multiply the number of lines you read by the average words per line to determine your words per minute charge per unit. For example: You managed to read 26 lines in one minute. 26 x 14 words per line = 364 words per minute. Your wpm rate is 364 words per minute, which means you are considered a good reader.

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1. i

   Practice a rate build up practise. This exercise will help you larn how to read material and procedure it more than quickly. The purpose of this activity is to reread "former" cloth quickly and to glide on to the new material until you can read and comprehend it faster. Y'all will need a exercise text that is at least ane-2 pages long and a timer.

   • Set up the timer for 60 seconds and try to read as much of the text equally possible. Stop the timer at 60 seconds.
   • Start the timer at 60 seconds again and read once again from the get-go of the text. Try to read more fabric during this sixty-second period than you did in the first reading flow.
   • Repeat this exercise a third and a fourth fourth dimension. Endeavour to read more of the text during each exercise until you lot read more of the text during the fourth time.

2. two

   Exercise a timed repeated reading. This is a longer activity where you lot will read the same short passage over and again until you improve your reading speed. Keep your reading speed in mind equally yous complete this exercise and use it as a criterion. Endeavour to ameliorate your reading speed then information technology becomes faster during every rereading.

   • Begin with a 100-give-and-take paragraph. Ready the timer to two minutes.
   • Try to read the paragraph four times during the two minutes. Aim for a reading speed of at to the lowest degree 200 words per minute.
   • Once you are able to read the paragraph iv times in two minutes, move on to reading a 200-word paragraph viii times in iv minutes.
   • As yous proceed to exercise this reading drill, your reading speed should meliorate.

3. three

   Use a ruler or pen as a mark or tracker on the page. Y'all may slow downwardly when you read due to rereading or regression, where yous skip dorsum over a phrase or term due to an inability to follow the lines of text on the page. To help make your eye placement on the page more than authentic and efficient, you tin can use a pen as a guide.^[5]

   • Hold the pen in your dominant hand, with the cap on. Hold it under your mitt, flat against the page. Set the timer for one infinitesimal.
   • Utilise the pen to underline each line of text as yous read. Keep your middle fixed to a higher place the tip of the pen. The pen will act as a useful marker on the folio and will assist you maintain a consistent reading speed.
   • At the end of i infinitesimal, calculate your wpm based on the number of lines you read. Note if your reading rate improves with the utilize of the pen.

4. 4

   Try non to talk to yourself equally y'all read. Many readers tend to vocalize the text as they read, where they move their lips and read words out loud. You lot may also subvocalize, where you talk to yourself in your head as y'all read silently. Both of these habits tin ho-hum downward your reading charge per unit, as speaking is a relatively slow activity. The average speaking rate is 250 wpm, which is not considered a very fast reading rate.^[6]

   • Limit your reading habits so it involves only your eyes and your brain, rather than bodily speech. Vocalism will tedious your reading down and crusade you to try to exercise 2 things at once, rather than focus on the text.
   • Poesy and plays are texts that are meant to exist performed, so information technology tin can be difficult not to vocalize as you read these texts. In fact, vocalizing while you read these texts can help you understand them better. Yous may discover speaking the dialogue in a play or a line of poetry tin can raise your understanding. However, it will probable slow down your reading charge per unit.

5. 5

   Preview the text before you read it in full. If you lot are aiming to better your reading rate and your reading comprehension rate, you can do a thirty-threescore second preview of the text before you read it in full.^[7]

   • Start past reading the title of the text, such as the affiliate title.
   • Read all the headings and subheadings.
   • Look over whatsoever marked, italicized or bolded text.
   • Look at any pictures or illustrations, equally well as whatsoever charts or graphs.
   • Read the first sentence of every paragraph, particularly the kickoff sentence of the get-go and last paragraphs of the text.
   • After you have previewed the text, ask yourself: What is the principal idea of the text? What is the author's purpose for writing the text? What is the mode of the writing: formal, informal, medical, legal? You should be able to answer these basic questions if you preview the text properly.

6. 6

   Chunk the text into sections. Chunking is when you grouping words in the text into brusque, meaningful phrases that are three to 5 words long. Rather than read every give-and-take, and adventure forgetting the start of a sentence by the fourth dimension you go to the end of the sentence, you can clamper the text into groups of words that will assist you embrace the text quickly and effectively. Many teachers will use chunking in the classroom to help students comprehend large texts. You may exist given a statement of purpose to guide yous as you go through the text and look for specific sections you can chunk together.^[eight]

   • Keep in listen excessive chunking tin can limit or reduce your comprehension of the text. Endeavor to use the statement of purpose given to you by your teacher to guide you as yous chunk the text.

7. 7

   Read the text with a goal in mind. Approaching the text with a question or in a questioning mode tin can make you a stronger reader and mayhap a faster reader. Look at the text as if you were searching for something, or trying to reach a goal.^{[nine] [10]}

   • Take the heading or title of a chapter and turn it into a question. For case, if a heading of a section in the text is "The Causes of Global Warming", you can switch it into a question, such as: "What are the causes of global warming?" You will then approach the text with a goal, and will be looking for the fundamental answers to this question in the text. Your reading volition now be goal-oriented, allowing you to perchance read faster and not lose your reading comprehension ability.

8. eight

   Challenge your reading rate by practicing with more hard texts. Once you lot start to ameliorate your reading charge per unit using assigned texts in a course or out of a book that is considered suitable for your reading level, you lot should try to vary the types of texts yous practice with to ameliorate your reading rate. Varying your texts volition also expand your vocabulary and help you avert having to reread or pause over a certain term or give-and-take when you are reading.^[11]

   • Go on in listen legal material and medical material are not meant to be read speedily, so it can be difficult to maintain a high reading rate when you lot practise with these types of texts. Take your fourth dimension with these types of texts and work on improving your reading charge per unit slowly, over time.

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Add New Question

• Question

  It information technology possible to read a 500 page book in 15 days?

  

  Anything is possible! Y'all just need to set bated time to read and make certain you properly comprehend the book. The above commodity should aid you.

• Question

  How can I become better at remembering what I read?

  

  Afterwards every five pages, write downwardly what y'all call back nearly what you read.

• Question

  How can I focus on reading when I could be doing something else, like swimming or playing on my telephone?

  

  Put aside any distractions like your telephone, your games and other stuff. Endeavour reading in a calm area, where any distractions are unlikely. You lot'll besides observe this is easier when the book you're reading is a volume you enjoy.

• Question

  Can I read a 290-page book in 2 days?

  

  It's definitely possible. Brand it a priority.

• Question

  How can I read iv books of 1,000 pages in 25 days for an exam?

  

  Tom De Backer

  Top Answerer

  Read 160 pages each day.

• Question

  How practice I read half of a Harry Potter book in ii days?

  

  You take to put fourth dimension bated to read, and keep going. Retrieve it's non ever about getting it done; enjoy what you read too.

• Question

  How exercise I comment a story more apace?

  

  Yous tin annotate a story quickly if y'all are familiar with the story and utilize the summary of the story as the bridge. Add fewer lines and add the lines that tell the story just.

• Question

  Is it possible to read 200 books in a week?

  

  No, not unless you lot're a savant or accept some freakish speed-reading capacity (and the rare people who are capable of that usually have some severe impairments in other areas). There are just 168 hours in a calendar week, and that'southward not fifty-fifty accounting for sleeping fourth dimension...

• Question

  What if I have to read a book I don't like?

  

  Endeavor to read it with passion, maybe pretend that you like the book or you could make some of your friends or family read this book to you.

• Question

  How do I acquire non to self-vocalize while reading and sympathise what is written the first time without having to go back over it?

  

  Simply practice reading in your head or accept someone aid you by reminding you non to cocky vocalize. Read at your speed at the moment, don't attempt to read faster than you can handle.

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• When you read, act out the book in your mind like a play.

• Terminate vocalizing in your caput or talking while reading. If you want to read super fast, your speed will only get as fast as that vocal goes. To read fast you'll accept to turn off that phonation.

• Read the table of contents first. This step is super important to salvage you time reading the near valuable and important content to you; in one case you realize the of import chapters and topics, you lot tin avoid spending too much time reading the unimportant ones.

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Article Summary 10

To read fast, hold a ruler or pen on the folio and movement it so information technology'due south always under the line you're currently reading, which will assist preclude yous from re-reading a sentence past mistake. As well, make sure you're not mouthing the words or saying them out loud as you read, which can crusade you lot to read significantly slower. Y'all can also train yourself to read faster by timing yourself as you lot read a passage and then trying to read it again in a shorter amount of time. To learn how to do other reading drills that can help you read faster, curl downward!

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