How fast can you read?

[Altron_ZERO]

I read pretty slow compared to other people who read books, though I read alot, I don't read as many books as I would like because I read so slow. My friend is sorta teaching me how to read faster, I used to read one word at a time and would read at the speed people talk. But now I'm working on looking at a whole line instead of reading each word. Anyone else got any tips I could use?

I have a friend who reads inhumanly fast. Usually he would read about 1 or 2 books a day at school. He can easily finish a nice 500 page paper back in about 2 hours, and hes read so many books that you can pretty much ask him about any sci-fi or fantasy book and he can say I've read that or I've looked at it.

[Odin_Osgard]

Instead of reading the whole line which can get confusing just look at the first and last letter of each word.
This sounds confusing but thats what i do.
You look at a word and the word after and just get used to this.

Also skimming (which sounds like cheating) works dont read every line skip through paragraphs and just pull out key facts.

I usually read really long books (500 to 1000 pages) or ones that are really complicated slow books (Plato's Republic, The Divine Comedy, the Bible)

P.S. the last one is mainly to prove christian's wrong
P.P.S. I am not a bible-thumper

[Killometer]

I've found that when I'm really into a book I burn through it at about 90 pages an hour-yeah, I'm nerdy enough to have figured that out before. If it's something that I've read a lot I can get through it even faster-I got Jurassic Park down to less than 2 hours. Of course if it's something I hate (textbooks jump to mind) I can take weeks to read a single page. :p

[Killometer]

P.S.S.

That should be P.P.S. (post post scriptum, not post scriptum scriptum) :p

[Odin_Osgard]

P.S.S.

That should be P.P.S. (post post scriptum, not post scriptum scriptum) :p

My bad. Thanks man

[scorpiusx]

I've found that when I'm really into a book I burn through it at about 90 pages an hour-yeah, I'm nerdy enough to have figured that out before. If it's something that I've read a lot I can get through it even faster-I got Jurassic Park down to less than 2 hours. Of course if it's something I hate (textbooks jump to mind) I can take weeks to read a single page. :p

Of course, that particular book is so entertaining that it'll give you papercuts when you're flipping the pages so fast, anyway. :wink:

-scorp

[GromBloodboy]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!

[Simpsons Scaper]

Actually, I could read the first 2 fine....

[arp12]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!
I got that same email about a week ago from my grandpa. If you could read it you were supposed to forward it with the subject "YES!YES!". (I can raed it, but I d'nidt wnat to froawrd it to aynnoe esle. Tpniyg lkie tihs is vrey amsuing tughoh.)

[Odin_Osgard]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!

Thats actually where i got the whole read only the first and last letter.
Yay i am one of the 55 people.

[Altron_ZERO]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!

Wow, that was surprisingly easy to read, now I will definitly try this when I am reading, Thanks!!:D

[Melwing17]

I've read similar mixed-up letters before, and they always amaze me. (It's very easy for me to read, it doesn't slow me down at all)

In response to the original thread topic: Fast enough. If I actually sit down to read an average novel, it's usually gone in about 2-3 hours. I rarely just sit down and read one thing for that long anymore, though. Usually my book stays in the bathroom. Heh.

[Heroscape Elffy]

At last check in school, I was up to 115-120 words/minute. So I suppose I'm somewhat fast-ish.

I too am one of those 55.

[Elstree]

I'm a painfully slow reader. Reading regular paperback fiction I can manage 30 to 45 pages an hour, depending on the font size and line spacing (60/hr if it's really large and widely spaced). Part of it is a compulsive perfectionism that requires that I read every single word. I've talked to friends who can read through a 300+ page novel in just a few hours, and most of them admit that they skim through parts. One said she skips past the "boring description" until the dialog or action resumes. To me that seems like cheating somehow. If I did that I'd feel like I hadn't really read the book.

Academic stuff is worse. For that, I only manage about 18 to 20 pages an hour--real understanding takes longer than just following a story. If there's any kind of math involved, I can only manage about 6 pages an hour--that's ten minutes per page. Equations take a lot of time for me to dissect, mull over, and understand.

[Anthasu1]

I blew through a 500 page book in 2 days.

I am also one of the fifty-five.

[Nooblar]

I bet I could eat through a decent-sized novel in a few hours, but I usually want to imagine the story as it goes along, which takes time to fill in mental pictures, or think through the points an author is making.

Part of how I approach reading, however, is by avoiding treating words as words. Each one is an idea, so I have trained my mind to link the words on a page not with a definition, but to ideas and concepts that can be strung together to create a flowing path.

But I'm told that's just me.

[Altron_ZERO]

I bet I could eat through a decent-sized novel in a few hours, but I usually want to imagine the story as it goes along, which takes time to fill in mental pictures, or think through the points an author is making.

Part of how I approach reading, however, is by avoiding treating words as words. Each one is an idea, so I have trained my mind to link the words on a page not with a definition, but to ideas and concepts that can be strung together to create a flowing path.

But I'm told that's just me.

Thats how my friend reads, he can just look at whole page and then get a picture of the whole thing. It's really quite amazing.

[braveheart101]

I'm a painfully slow reader. Reading regular paperback fiction I can manage 30 to 45 pages an hour, depending on the font size and line spacing (60/hr if it's really large and widely spaced). Part of it is a compulsive perfectionism that requires that I read every single word. I've talked to friends who can read through a 300+ page novel in just a few hours, and most of them admit that they skim through parts. One said she skips past the "boring description" until the dialog or action resumes. To me that seems like cheating somehow. If I did that I'd feel like I hadn't really read the book.

Academic stuff is worse. For that, I only manage about 18 to 20 pages an hour--real understanding takes longer than just following a story. If there's any kind of math involved, I can only manage about 6 pages an hour--that's ten minutes per page. Equations take a lot of time for me to dissect, mull over, and understand.

Word on the math bit:D

I read the deathly hallows in 2 days (700 pages).

[Einar Gen.]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!
Understood it dreadfully easily...

Would you consider one LOTR book in 2/3 days fast reading?

[ElvenEnvy]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!

My feirdns and I taht mdae up the 55 uesd tihs to witre netos in socohl afetr we fonud out msot of our trechaes wree not in the 55.


I'm a medium speed reader, but if I'm in to what I am reading I can read faster. I'm very jealous of my cousin who can read a Terry Goodkind book In 10 days.

[Oh Yeah! I'm Here]

I had a friend back in eighth grade. Could read at least 3 books a day, and always was reading a book during lunch. She read whenever she could. It was insane.

[Killometer]

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
Actually, I could read the first 2 fine....
I can raed it
Yay i am one of the 55 people
that was surprisingly easy to read
It's very easy for me to read, it doesn't slow me down at all
I too am one of those 55
I am also one of the fifty-five.
Understood it dreadfully easily...
My feirdns and I taht mdae up the 55 uesd tihs to witre netos in socohl

I could read it easily, too.

100% of people that weighed in on the scrambled writing could read it (11 for 11), so this means either

HSers.com has an unusual populaton set.
People that can't read it aren't responding.
The statistic is wrong.I'm kind of leaning towards mostly #3, myself, with a little bit of #2 added in.

And of course #1 is true no matter what we're talking about. :p

[Odin_Osgard]

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
Actually, I could read the first 2 fine....
I can raed it
Yay i am one of the 55 people
that was surprisingly easy to read
It's very easy for me to read, it doesn't slow me down at all
I too am one of those 55
I am also one of the fifty-five.
Understood it dreadfully easily...
My feirdns and I taht mdae up the 55 uesd tihs to witre netos in socohl

I could read it easily, too.


100% of people that weighed in on the scrambled writing could read it (11 for 11), so this means either
HSers.com has an unusual populaton set.
People that can't read it aren't responding.
The statistic is wrong.I'm kind of leaning towards mostly #3, myself, with a little bit of #2 added in.

And of course #1 is true no matter what we're talking about. :p

Until we get 100 people to read this and only 55 suceeding i am special and so are the rest of us. Bow down to the might of the 55.
Your statistic could be flawed.

Prias Staan lrod bleow!

[Killometer]

Until we get 100 people to read this and only 55 suceeding i am special and so are the rest of us. Bow down to the might of the 55.
Your statistic could be flawed.


I know that I don't have a scientifically verfiable experiement here, I'm just pointing out the anecdotal evidence here against the originally presented theory (which I do believe is internet hogwash).

[Odin_Osgard]

Until we get 100 people to read this and only 55 suceeding i am special and so are the rest of us. Bow down to the might of the 55.
Your statistic could be flawed.


I know that I don't have a scientifically verfiable experiement here, I'm just pointing out the anecdotal evidence here against the originally presented theory (which I do believe is internet hogwash).

No we are special!!!!!!!!!!

[Killometer]

No we are special!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes you are special, Odin_Osgard. [slowly backs away]

:p

[Odin_Osgard]

No we are special!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes you are special, Odin_Osgard. [slowly backs away]

:p

Come back... Guys...
{Goes to corner... begins to shiver and shake... pulls out notepad... makes list... puts notepad away... grabs spear made of sharp sticks and duct tape... rips of shirt... smears war paint on chest and face... runs outside...}

[Anthasu1]

No we are special!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes you are special, Odin_Osgard. [slowly backs away]

:p

Come back... Guys...
{Goes to corner... begins to shiver and shake... pulls out notepad... makes list... puts notepad away... grabs spear made of sharp sticks and duct tape... rips of shirt... smears war paint on chest and face... runs outside...}

Where the hell do we pick up these guys?

[Gypsy]

Next Door....

Have you looked out your front window lately?

:rofl:

[Heroscape Elffy]

Next Door....

Have you looked out your front window lately?

:rofl:
Boarded those up 3 weeks ago...

[Odin_Osgard]

Next Door....

Have you looked out your front window lately?

:rofl:
Boarded those up 3 weeks ago...

Then how will you see me?
[begins to hatch evil scheme]

[Nikmis]

On the average paperback I read about a page a minute, it acutally works pretty good as time keeper. I can place a bookmark 15 pages from where I start and then 15 minutes go check on the cooking or laundry or what ever.

I might try some speed reading tricks on more academic books, but for the sci-fi/fantasy books I like to take my time reading and I can pretty vividly imagine the stuff as I read.

[MegaSilver]

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Got tihs in an eiaml form a feirnd. Vrey Cool!

My feirdns and I taht mdae up the 55 uesd tihs to witre netos in socohl afetr we fonud out msot of our trechaes wree not in the 55.


I'm a medium speed reader, but if I'm in to what I am reading I can read faster. I'm very jealous of my cousin who can read a Terry Goodkind book In 10 days.

I read that pagraarph very easily. In one hour, I can read 60 pages in most books. I'd say that is vrey fsat!;)

MgeaSlievr

[Elstree]

Until we get 100 people to read this and only 55 suceeding i am special and so are the rest of us. Bow down to the might of the 55.
Your statistic could be flawed.


I know that I don't have a scientifically verfiable experiement here, I'm just pointing out the anecdotal evidence here against the originally presented theory (which I do believe is internet hogwash).

Count me among both those who can read the scrambled text and those who doubt the veracity of the 55% statistic.

No entry for this on Snopes, though.

[Killometer]

No entry for this on Snopes, though.

Actually, there is (http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/cambridge.asp).

[braveheart101]

Lol, I can read it too! I'm part of a majority!

[Nooblar]

Where the hell do we pick up these guys?

I told you guys not to open up Ace's shed... :headshake:

[arp12]

Where the hell do we pick up these guys?

I told you guys not to open up Ace's shed... :headshake:
Maybe he is Ace.:shock:

[Elstree]

No entry for this on Snopes, though.

Actually, there is (http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/cambridge.asp).

Good find. I tried a bunch of different search terms and never got a hit for this page.

[Killometer]

No entry for this on Snopes, though.

Actually, there is (http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/cambridge.asp).

Good find. I tried a bunch of different search terms and never got a hit for this page.

I figured that it would be a difficult topic to try to use a Search function to find, so I just clicked on "Language" and found it listed under "Apocrypha". You had a good idea to check it out there.

[tubafication]

I really need to read fast tonight... I have to read In Cold Blood tonight in about 2 and one half hours.

[jeepreaper]

I make 14 of 14 who can read it.
I prefer not to type that way though.

As for speed reading, most paperback novels (that I read) take 1-2 days depending on my free time. My longest reads on record are Dune (lost it for about four years, right in the middle too) and the Bible (I've read bits and pieces, but reading normally I haven't even finished the first chapter of Genesis).