RPGfreak Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Have anyone tried it? Ive scored 253 wpm(words per minute) which is just above average, yet college stundents read at 600wpm, and i imagine the real big shots will score higher. This basically means that those people optimize thier reading time 100% better than i do, which is a big advantage if you ask me. Question is - how does speed reading affect comprehension? Is this a really good way to boost my reading - or just glorified skimming? Please answer. Oh, and im new, so hey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 My limited understanding on speedreading is that it allows you to read much more rapidly whilst maintaining comprehension. Its something that I think requires a lot of practice and for me it takes away a lot of the enjoyment of reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would have to agree. It makes sense to speed read if you are reading a text with the purpose of learning of for an exam, But when reading for pleasure, I really don't see the point. I want to take my time over the individual sentences and paragraphs so I can wring maximum meaning and enjoyment out of them. In short, I want to get lost within the text i'm reading. Perhaps speed-readers can do all that, in which case, fair play, but for me it would be like having a gourmet meal placed in front of me that had taken hours to cook and used expensive and top quality ingredients....and then wolfing it all down in 1 minute flat! Still, it has to be said, RPGFreak - you have a skill I couldn't come close to matching. 253 WPM sounds pretty impressive from where I'm sitting! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nailed Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Apparently Im reading at 413 WPM.. but this I know will vary on the topic. If Im not really interested,my speed is qucker as i skim read. But I have also tested my comprehension and im scoring 80.. not bad really.. Lou x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPGfreak Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 I cant but be certain that in a book forum some of the members must have experienced with speed reading. My main reading intrests are academics like history, anthropology, psychology and pop science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I can speed read, but tend to only do that online because I have such limited time to check all my messages and stuff - I clock in at around 600 - 650 wpm when I get up to speed. Books, though, I tend to take my time with because I like to enjoy them. Even when I have a stack of books for review, I like to get into them and let things unfold otherwise I can't do them justice in the reviewing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I'm not a particularly quick reader, but I find that I generally remember the plots of books a lot better than my friends who read faster and consequently read a lot more books than I do. Whether this is because slower reading leads to better retention or because the sheer weight of books being read is blurring stories together I don't know. I have a couple of colleagues at work who speed read stuff and I've found they quite often get the wrong end of the stick or misunderstand things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xRobbox Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I set aside an average of a hour, sometimes two, on going through a few chapters and absorbing the material aswell as story the writer is trying to put across. Likewise I 'selective speed read' on the web but only due to the limited time I have on it and the vast expanse of information out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverletfear Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Well, I have always been a big reader, and I taught myself how to speed read accidentally when I was younger. I actually never realized I was obnoxiously fast until quite recently. When I am reading things I enjoy I am much more likely to speed read than when I am reading for school. I enjoy it more reading fast because I get so into the story and excited so I read fast and faster. On average, I read at about 1350 words/minute. This is when I am NOT trying to read super fast. The reason is that as I get into it I get up to more quicker pace. When I am this quicker pace I read at about 2400 words/minute. Again, this is NOT when I am skimming and with high comprehension. However, if I am actively trying to speed read, and yes, comprehension is lower, then I read at about 3600 words/minute. I know when I was in fourth grade I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in about two hours... When I was in second grade my mom got angry at me for finishing my Magic Tree House books in about 10-15 minutes each.... (I finished one on our ride home from the bookstore, she was not amused haha) and that I used to complete the Baby Sitters Club books she bought for me in 3rd grade in less than an hour each.... I would estimate that this means that by second grade, I was reading at 800 words/minute... fourth grade I was at around 1000... and I suppose it has not gone up that much for average reading since then... I read Maroo of the Winter Caves twice in my 6th grade English class in the 45 minutes my teacher gave us to read the first two chapters (granted the second was a bit of a skim) and then had time to get lunch detention for "lying" "cheating" and "reading ahead".... really she told us to read ahead if we finished and I was enjoying the book.... anyways.... It is not the same as skimming... consider skimming to be a whole different type of reading.... when I speed read I read paragraphs instead of words.... Id be happy to answer any questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsgood Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hello, NeverLetFear! Welcome to the forum. You might want to drop by the newbies thread and introduce yourself when you have a moment. About your reading speed, do you have a eidetic (photographic) memory by any chance? Or ever been tested to see if you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverletfear Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 No I do not, and so I do not recall everything with perfect comprehension. However, I can read and enjoy a story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsgood Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Well either way, my hat is off to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverletfear Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Haha, well thank you. However, I do not think it is really anything more than a skill. The reason why I get faster after a bit of reading is because right when i start it takes me a moment just to get my eyes moving correctly. Instead of reading a sentence word for word I just take in a group of sentences. i just had the advantage of reading A TON when I was little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allard Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Well, I have always been a big reader, and I taught myself how to speed read accidentally when I was younger. I actually never realized I was obnoxiously fast until quite recently. When I am reading things I enjoy I am much more likely to speed read than when I am reading for school. I enjoy it more reading fast because I get so into the story and excited so I read fast and faster. On average, I read at about 1350 words/minute. This is when I am NOT trying to read super fast. The reason is that as I get into it I get up to more quicker pace. When I am this quicker pace I read at about 2400 words/minute. Again, this is NOT when I am skimming and with high comprehension. However, if I am actively trying to speed read, and yes, comprehension is lower, then I read at about 3600 words/minute. I know when I was in fourth grade I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in about two hours... When I was in second grade my mom got angry at me for finishing my Magic Tree House books in about 10-15 minutes each.... (I finished one on our ride home from the bookstore, she was not amused haha) and that I used to complete the Baby Sitters Club books she bought for me in 3rd grade in less than an hour each.... I would estimate that this means that by second grade, I was reading at 800 words/minute... fourth grade I was at around 1000... and I suppose it has not gone up that much for average reading since then... I read Maroo of the Winter Caves twice in my 6th grade English class in the 45 minutes my teacher gave us to read the first two chapters (granted the second was a bit of a skim) and then had time to get lunch detention for "lying" "cheating" and "reading ahead".... really she told us to read ahead if we finished and I was enjoying the book.... anyways.... It is not the same as skimming... consider skimming to be a whole different type of reading.... when I speed read I read paragraphs instead of words.... Id be happy to answer any questions! you know what i feel the same and i've been told you can never read poetry that way and sometimes i think maybe they're right the way i read is only good for thriller and stuff. but then i've started back reading last summer you know the book hunger games and we went to see the movie and i just knew exactly what was going on and that proves i remember what i'm reading and my ultra speed reading attitude is not vain. you know it's a bit like when i start looking at the top of the page i don't just see the first line i see the four five lines below the first line and my eyes kinda notice the verbs and names and jumps on conclusions. one told me it has to do with this thing called 'photographic memory' like my mind kinda takes unconscious pics of the whole page that's impossible ikonw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverletfear Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 you know what i feel the same and i've been told you can never read poetry that way and sometimes i think maybe they're right the way i read is only good for thriller and stuff. but then i've started back reading last summer you know the book hunger games and we went to see the movie and i just knew exactly what was going on and that proves i remember what i'm reading and my ultra speed reading attitude is not vain. you know it's a bit like when i start looking at the top of the page i don't just see the first line i see the four five lines below the first line and my eyes kinda notice the verbs and names and jumps on conclusions. one told me it has to do with this thing called 'photographic memory' like my mind kinda takes unconscious pics of the whole page that's impossible ikonw I like you description, this is how I read too. Honestly, i think I start out a little slow, but then as I get, I do not know, in the swing of things? Well, then I get quicker, get my eyes looking properly or something, and just kind of absorb the text. On a side note, I am completely incapable of spelling. Perhaps because I have never really looked at the words? Perhaps I taught myself accidentally to speed read to young? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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