<p>I would consider myself to be a slow reader, but I do understand and comprehend the information that trail by in front of my eyes. I definitely need to increase my reading pace for the SAT and my classes, or else I probably won't be able to finish. One of the reasons for my slow pace is probably because I don't read enough. Sometimes I read magazines and books for leisure but most of the time I just read school-related pieces, whether it is for AP Physics or AP Biology. Those don't coun't toward improving your critical reading skills right?</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure there are tons of fast readers here and I would like to hear how they became such readers. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Try using a pencil to follow along, or try something I use. I draw an imaginary line down the center of each page and glance once on each side of this line for each line of text. Learn to look at words in groups rather than individually. I read lots of books for school this way. It gets them over with and you still comprehend what you read if you're focused.</p>
<p>I agree with JBV's technique. What I do is read down the center on the page for main ideas and whenever I hit a specific name/event/anything other than a bunch of useless adjectives, I read the rest of the statement for ultimate detail retention.</p>
<p>Or just don't read... somehow just listening (too lazy for notes) in class and sparknotes got me through all my english classes in one of USNWR's "Public Elites" with an A- average for two years without reading a single book (and maybe only a handful of handouts).</p>
<p>For the SAT, just practice sitting in a quiet room, no distractions, and doing the verbal sections. Just do it, again and again, and soon you can do this for the test. After that just forget it.</p>
<p>You mentioned reading for the SAT as opposed to your classes. I think that an entirely different technique is necessary for the SAT. For the SAT, try to skim the passages first to get an idea as to where everyting is and to the general mood and ideas in the passage. Then, for each individual question, search for the information using the line numbers given to answer the question. For classes or for fun, I prefer to read more slowly to fully absorb what's in the writing, whereas many other people prefer to read quickly. This is a matter of personal preference.</p>
<p>stop reading text books. it has been proven that ppl who read text books have a slower reading rate because usually those types of books require thought and deeper comprehension, thus a slower rate. read more fiction. action packed would be great.</p>
<p>When I took the SAT, I read the questions first so that I would have an idea of what to look for. That way, I could just speed through the reading without having to think about it too much. I ended up getting every comprehension question right.</p>
<p>This thread deserves a bump, because it asks an interesting question, and I'll ask my question here, because it is related: how fast do you read? When you read a book, how many pages can you read in an hour? (What kind of book?) Have you ever timed your reading speed? When you take the SAT or ACT, do you have to finish each section and answer all the questions? </p>
<p>To the original poster in this thread, I would suggest finding lots of things to read that are interesting to you. If you have a hobby, read about it. If you have a job, read about that. If you have a favorite subject in school, read about that. Find interesting books at the library, and check out magazines too. READ, READ, READ, and READ. This is great preparation for college, and great preparation for life.</p>
<p>I used to read faster than I do now, but I read a lot of books in my spare time and I read everything school throws at me, but I feel I've slowed down.</p>
<p>I don't think intelligence really has anything to do with reading speed; some people are just natural speed-readers. I'm not sure how much one of the speed-reading courses would help, but it could be worth a try.</p>
<p>To tokenadult, that would depend on the type of book. For easier books, like what most people read for fun, generally about a page a minute. For most of the books I read for fun, maybe 20-30 pages an hour. I'm a pretty slow reader.</p>
<p>Well, when reading books like 1984, I generally take 3-4 hours reading mabye 1-2 chapters or something (30-60pgs?) I don't know but I do reading logs while I read so mabye that is why. I like to ponder around things in the book and talk about them to myself. Like connect, predict, etc. However, many times I would read a sections over and over and over again because the words simply flow past my head. I get fustrated and I just can't suck in the words anymore so I take a break...</p>
<p>with varying styles of writing it's all so different-- for the first chapter or so of harry potter i was trying to slow myself down to take it in, until i got into the rhythm of things- you can read really fast and it's so descriptive you'll still get it all.<br>
i hate taking notes while i read (for like, "literature"), but it really does make me read more "actively" and think about what i'm reading instead of just absorbing.
i just HATE textbooks because they are so dense that i'll sometimes have to read the same paragraph a few times to get myself out of "skimming" mode.</p>