Do You Know How Many Words Per Minute You Read?
By Pigglies
@Pigglies (9329)
United States
May 6, 2009 12:51am CST
If I'm actually doing the reading, I read about 100 words per minute for a little while (1 minute or so) and then it becomes much less.
So I've been learning audio speed reading for several months now. And I am so proud of myself because I have finally hit 250 words per minute which I am told is in the average reader range. The computer just reads along and I can listen at this pace, so that in effect I am reading that fast because I am comprehending the material at that speed.
I know some people who read at 300 words per minute and above, and I'm hoping to get to at least 300 words per minute on audio eventually. I'm told the fastest most people can ever hope to achieve is 400 words per minute because any faster than that and it is very difficult for the ear to pick up subtle differences of words. But people who sight read can read at this speed.
So I'm curious to see what the distribution is here, how many people read really fast and how many are average? And if we've got other slow readers like myself?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@ElicBxn (63644)
• United States
6 May 09
I can read faster than I normally do, why? because if I'm reading for pleasure I want to prolong that pleasure and so I intentionally slow myself down.
I also put the book down for times so I can think about what I've been reading and prolong the pleasure some more.
@ElicBxn (63644)
• United States
7 May 09
well, some books I really try to put off finishing them because I know the pleasure will be over, others I'm just reading when I have time to read
currently reading S.M. Stirling's In the Courts of the Crimson Kings. Pretty good book, but I really liked his Nantucket books.
@helenjain21 (8)
• United States
7 May 09
I don't know exactly how many words per minute I can read, but I find that if it's something I enjoy reading, like a good novel, then I'm less inclined to want to read quickly and I slow down. If it's something like a school text, then I tend to read faster so that I can get the information I need as quickly as possible.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
7 May 09
Hmm, that is interesting. Most research shows the opposite so far. Most people have a faster reading speed while reading for fun, but they have to slow down to read school material so that they can actually learn the information.
I wonder if a lot of people are like that, they'd rather read boring texts such as school texts faster. Very interesting point, thanks for your response!
@GardenGerty (161010)
• United States
6 May 09
I used to read pretty fast. I do not know how fast, but that was many years ago. I congratulate you on your progress. As I remember, before, you were trying to get some testing to document that you needed assistive technology for class. Is this reader part of the results? Good luck on all of your studies.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
7 May 09
Yes, this is what I get to use now thanks to all the time and money I spent getting documentation. So I'm happy to have this. I get to use it as part of a study where they are seeing how much improvement disabled readers see with this software. So far I've been told I'm near the top, but there are a few people improving even faster than me. But the way you improve is to read more and unfortunately I don't have the time to do any pleasure reading right now. So since I only read for school it is harder to actually work on speed. But still it is so helpful and I am so grateful for it!
Apparently the program costs a few thousand dollars and once I graduate I think I'll start saving up so that I can buy it for myself. It's really nice to have and I figure I'll always need to be able to read.
