Better Reading Speed

Know your reading speed

Reading speed is an important factor in academic success.   There is so much a student needs to read;  if one's reading speed is too slow, there can be a problem.   

Remember that we can use different reading speeds depending on what we are reading for and depending on the type of text we are reading.   For most academic study however,  you should be aiming for an average reading speed of 200 words per minute (wpm).   This is a challenge for most English as a second language students.   They can be satisfied with a speed 150 wpm.    This speed is with an average comprehension of 70%.   You don't need 100% comprehension.   There are many resources that can help you improve your reading speed, but first you must know what it is.  

Here is a good website to calculate your reading speed.

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Plan your reading

After you find a book or other piece of writing that you want to read,  you should determine the word count.   

For famous texts,  an easy way to do this is to do a Google search.  For example:

“word count  title of book”   (ex.  word count dracula –>  look here for results)  (approximately 160,000 words)

Now, you must know your average reading speed and you can calculate how long it will take to read the book.   For example, if you read at 150 wpm, then in one hour you can read 9000 words (150 wpm  x 60 minutes).   Dracula would then take approximately 18 hours to read.   You could reasonably do this is two weeks by reading 1 hour per day plus a bit.   Not bad, but maybe a bit too long.   Frankenstein is only 75,000 words

Another method is to figure out the number of words per page of the text, then multiply this by the total number of pages.

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Improve your reading speed

 

Tips to improve reading speed:

1. Read in chunks.   Possibly use your hand to guide you.
2. Be focussed.   No distraction or wandering mind.   Don’t backtrack.  Have a good environment.    Read at the best time of day for you.
3. Read at appropriate vocabulary level.
4. Practice reading for pleasure.   Read often.
5. Don’t move your lips.
6. Skim first for main ideas and organization of the text.
7. Use a flexible reading speed.
8. Time yourself.   Plan your reading based on your reading speed.  Have a purpose in reading.
9. Read material you are familiar with (have context).
10.   Find one more strategy.

 

Some handy websites:

Quick exercises to improve your reading speed  (Choose #1 - #5)

70 tips to read faster

Reading Exercises (try the speed reading bits)