how to read a book fast

The question “How to read a book fast” must have risen in a lot of minds since one always wonders how much more could they read if only they read fast enough. Increasing the speed of reading is a process of controlling a very fine motor movement.

We read on a daily basis, we go through blog posts, news headlines, and so many other things every day. In order to read faster while comprehending each and everything that is written, you need to follow the steps given below:

  1. Table of Contents

    THE AVERAGE READING SPEED FOR ADULTS MUST BE UNDERSTOOD

200 or 300 words can be read by an average college student per minute if they are reading non-technical and fiction materials. 500-700 words per minute can be read by a strong reader and an excellent reader can read 1000 words per minute. This implies, that an average reader is five-time slower than a strong reader and ten times slower than an excellent reader. You will have to try several techniques for speeding up your reading rate if you are an average or even a good reader. You should also be willing to practice improving your reading rate for a considerable period of time and that also, consistently. Based on the type of text used, your reading speed might fluctuate.

2. RECOGNIZING YOUR READING SPEED AND YOUR COMPREHENSION RATE

It does not necessarily mean that since you are a fast reader, you can comprehend the finer points or details of the text. As your reading speed increases, your ability to comprehend or understand a text may decrease considerably. The words which are less common or are longer take a longer time to be read and to be comprehended. You may skip over keywords while you are speeding your way through the text. The understanding of the text might also begin to fade.

It has been argued by many linguistic experts that it is important to improve your vocabulary and broaden your exposure to the different types of texts available. This should be done in addition to improving your reading speed. Doing so will ensure that the rate of your comprehension stays at the same level or improves as your reading speed improves.

3. A RATE BUILD UP EXERCISE SHOULD BE PRACTISED

how to read a book fast

You will learn how to read a boo fast and process it more quickly with the help of this exercise. This exercise will also be helpful in re-reading the older material more quickly and will also help in its faster comprehension. A test that is 1-2 pages long will be used for this exercise.

• A timer of 60 seconds should be set and try reading as much as you can of the available text. When the seconds are over, stop the timer.

• Again, the timer should be set at 60 seconds and start reading the text from the beginning. Try reading more parts of the text this time than you were able to read the previous time.

• This exercise should be repeated for a third and the fourth time. In each round of exercise, try reading more than you did in the previous round.

4. A TIME REPEATED READING SHOULD BE DONE

In this activity, which is slightly longer, you will be required to read the same short passage repeatedly until your reading speed is improved. As you complete this exercise, keep your reading speed in mind and use it as a benchmark. To increase your reading speed with each re-reading, try improving on the reading speed.

• Set the timer to two minutes and begin with a paragraph that is 100 words long.

• During the two minutes, try reading the 100 words long four times. A reading speed of at least 200 words per minute should be your aim.

• When you are able to read the paragraph four times for two minutes, move on to reading a 200 words long paragraph eight times, in two minutes.

• Your reading speed should improve as you continue to do this reading drill.

5. A RULER OR PEN SHOULD BE USED AS A MARKER OR TRACKER ON THE PAGE

reading books

When you read due to re-reading or regression, you may slow down. You can use a pen as a guide to help make your eye placement on the page more efficient and accurate.

• With the cap on, hold the pen in your dominant hand. Hold the pen flat against the page, in your hand. Try setting the timer for a minute.

• As you read, use the pen to underline each line of text. Your eye should be fixed above the tip of the pen. The pen will help you in maintaining a consistent reading speed by acting as a useful marker on the page.

• Calculate your words per minute at the end of one minute on the basis of the number of lines you have read. You should keep an eye if or not your reading rate improves with the use of the pen.

6. DO NOT TALK TO YOURSELF WHILE YOU READ

As they read, many readers tend to vocalize the text where they move their lips and read words out loud. You also might be subvocalizing. Both these habits can slow down your reading speed as you are reading. Speaking is considered a slower activity than reading.

• You should try limiting your reading habits so that the process involves only your brain and your eyes rather than the use of actual speech. Your reading will be slowed down by vocalization and since you are trying to do two things at the same time, rather than focusing on the text entirely.

• Some texts like plays and poetry are meant to be performed so it might prove to be difficult to not vocalize these as you are reading the texts. As a matter of fact, these texts can help in a better understanding of texts if they are vocalized while reading. Speaking a line of poetry or speaking the dialogue of the play can enhance your understanding of it. But it will also slow down your reading rate.

7. A PERIPHERAL VISION SHOULD BE USED

This step is a critical step in knowing how to read a book fast and understand it. Using the peripheral vision means looking at the center of the line and making use of the peripheral vision to read the rest of the line. You can scan the page using this method and by the time you reach the end of the page you will realize that you have understood all that you read but you also did it in record time.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read a book fast in Hindi.

8. TRY WORKING ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF YOUR VOCABULARY

You will slow down your reading time significantly if you stop down in between to look up the meaning of a word in the dictionary. You will know more words if you work on improving your vocabulary. You will able to read faster when you have a greater number of words in your repertoire.
Doing so will answer your question of how to read a book fast in Hindi.

9. THE FIRST THING YOU READ SHOULD BE THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

It is a very common mistake made by the maximum people. They skip the table of contents. The reader finds their roadmap through the book in the table of contents. Knowing the big ideas of each chapter primes the brains of speed readers to take in the information since they are not fixated on absorbing each and every word.

It is very unlikely that you will be heading out on a road trip without consulting a map. When you are driving without reading road signs is as much similar to reading aimlessly. The table of contents can tell you which all chapters are relevant if you take a quick look at the table of contents.

The table of contents does not offer much detail in some cases or the author has used the table of contents in such a way that you are enticed all the more into reading the book. The insight into how the author has structured their work can be provided to you by taking a quick look at the first or the second chapter if the table of contents fails to provide you with clues.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read book fast in Hindi.

10. THE TEXT SHOULD BE PREVIEWED

In order to get the context, we watch the trailer of a film before watching the actual film. In the same way, we also need to preview something before reading so as to get an overview of what we are going to read. Now, previewing a text is to scan it from the beginning till the end. Special attention must be paid to headings, subheadings, anything which is written in bold or has a larger font than the other parts of the text, and anything that is mentioned in bullet points. The introductory and concluding paragraphs must be skimmed through in order to get the bigger picture. Examining any graphs or images, identifying transition sentences, and figuring the structuring of the text by the author is to be tried.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read fast book.

11. YOUR ATTACK SHOULD BE PLANNED

A big difference is made in the efficiency with which you digest the material by approaching a text strategically. You should think about your goals in the beginning. By reading the material, what do you want to learn? The questions you want to be able to answer by the end must be jotted down by you. The goal of the author in writing the material must be determined by you on the basis of your preview. For example, describing the entire history of Ancient Rome might be the goal of the author. Whereas your goal might be to understand the role of Roman women in politics. In such a situation, where your role is limited to the larger goal of the author, you should plan to find only the important sections to you and read them.

Your plan of attack will be varying on the type of material that you are about to read in the same way. You should plan to read certain passages more carefully and slowly in case you are going to read a dense scientific or legal text than you had read a magazine or a novel.
Doing so will answer your question of how to read a book fast and understand it.

12. YOU SHOULD BE MINDFUL

Focus and concentration are required to read quickly with comprehension. Distractions, external noise, and interruptions should be minimized, and you should also be mindful when your thoughts start wandering as you are reading. Gently bring your mind back to the material if you notice that you are fantasizing about your next meal rather than focusing on the text at hand. There are many readers who read a few sentences without focus, passively, and then go back and re-read those sentences to make sure that they understand its essence. Author Tim Ferriss says that this habit is called regression.

Regression slows down the reading pace significantly and makes it all the more difficult for you to get a bigger picture of the text. You will quickly if you are not understanding a section of the text if you attentively and carefully approach a text. This will save your time in the long run.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read a book fast and understand it.

13. NOT EVERY WORD HAS TO BE READ

Pay attention to your eyes in order to increase your reading speed. 1.5-inch chunks can be scanned by most people that are dependent on the type of text and font size. It usually comprises of three to five words each. Move your eyes in a scanning motion, jumping from a chunk of three to five words to the next chunk of words rather than reading each word individually. Your peripheral version should be advantageous to you to speed up around the beginning and end of each and every line. More focus should be given on the blocks of words rather than the first and the last words.

At each chunk of words, you should point your finger or a pen. It will help you in learning how to move your eyes quickly over the text. This will also be helpful in encouraging you to not subvocalize as you are reading. Subvocalization is silently pronouncing each word in your head as you read. This will slow down your reading speed and will be distracting you from the main point of the author.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read book fast.

14. EVERY SECTION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE READ

It is an old-fashioned myth, according to the Academic Skills Center of Dartmouth College, that students should read every section of an article or a textbook. You should skip the sections that are not relevant to you or your purpose unless and until you are reading something which is of extreme importance. The main points of many texts will be easier for you to digest if you read in a selective way.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read book fast.

15. A SUMMARY MUST BE WRITTEN

Once you have read the last word written on the page, your job should not end there. Write a few sentences to summarize what you have read once you have finished reading. The questions that you had before you started reading must be answered once you have read the text at hand. You will solidify the material in your mind by spending a few minutes after reading to think and synthesize the information and writing what you have learned. This will help you in recalling whatever you have read earlier in a better way. Draw a mind map summary or tell someone what you learned if you are a more verbal or visual learner.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read a book fast.

16. TIMED RUNS MUST BE PRACTICED BY YOU

Strategically reading a text, actively reading the text, and summarizing the text effectively involves a lot of practice. Use a timer to test how many pages or words you can read per minute if you want to improve your reading speed. Check-in with yourself so as to make sure that you are happy with your level of comprehension as you are able to read faster and faster.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read fast book.

17. YOU SHOULD READ MORE AND MORE

Reading, like all other worthy pursuits, is a skill that takes time to develop. You will get better if you practice reading more. Reading should not be taken as a race. In order to carve out more time for reading, you should set goals so that you will find more and more time to read. The more books that you read will help you in reading them faster.
But while trying to answer your question of how to read a book fast, you should also keep this in mind that you will only be able to enjoy a book if you read it at your own pace. You should try and read as many books as you are comfortable with.

Doing so will answer your question of how to read a fast book.

SOME BOOK SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO READ A BOOK FAST

  • HOW TO READ BETTER AND FASTER by Norman Lewis. Click here to buy the book.
  • HOW TO READ A BOOK by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Click here to buy the book.
  • HOW TO READ FAST by Tejvir Sinhmar. Click here to buy the book.
  • YOUR SPEED READING GUIDE by Allan Green. Click here to buy the book.
  • READ SUPER FAST by AK Jennings. Click here to buy the book.

FOR MORE SUCH UPDATES FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here