<p>I know that a lot of people have this problem: Subvocalization, or thinking every word while reading. If you don't, you're really lucky. Or, if you can get rid of it, please, please, please, tell me how you do it. </p>
<p>I get above 30s on the other sections of the ACT and only a 29 on the reading section because I subvocalize. I am convinced that if I stop subvocalizing, I'll be able to read faster and absorb more info. So, those of you who get above 30s on the reading section, do you subvocalize? How do you ignore that voice in your head?</p>
<p>Huh? I think everyone "subvocalizes" if I understand the word correctly. For me, I read very quickly so I probably subvocalize more quickly than you do. It doesn't mean that I or other people don't do it at all. If you don't think about the words as you read them, you can't understand the passages. </p>
<p>However, I might be off.. because I don't hear a voice in my head when I read.....</p>
<p>^I think some people don't, though they would be at the higher end of on the scale of mental capabilities.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry though. Subvocalization helps with memory. My suggestion is to start w/ the questions for the ACT, test books probably don't recommend this but it works for me, especially w/ the short time on the reading section. I'd def. recommend buying a practice book and taking a couple practice tests w/ diff. strategies. Chances are even if you can learn to unsubvocalize, it would take too long and probably wouldn't be worth the effort.</p>
<p>Yeah, so unless your schizophrenic, never ignore the voice.</p>
<p>amb3r, if you don't hear a voice in your head when you read, then you don't subvocalize.</p>
<p>goblue, i also talked to my english teacher about it, and she said when we subvocalize, it slows down our reading, and we subvocalize because there's a timer going. My friend "claims" that he doesn't subvocalize if he can count backwards while reading. Personally it doesn't seem plausible....</p>
<p>DO NOT, i repeat DO NOT follow those stupid strategies in the books for reading sections. They slow you down alot.
Instead, simply read the paragraphs first then move on to answer the questions. Work on speed reading. There are various websites that can help you improve your reading speed and comprehension simultaneously for free. (well they're usually free trials but every bit helps).</p>
<p>That is likely your only real problem is your reading speed and comprehension not subvocalization. I ended up wtih a 34 in reading even though i'm kind of a slow reader ^^ so do not worry. I did some of the speed reading stuff for a few days. It probably helped at least a little bit.</p>
<p>Keep in mind...you must move on to the next question in 30 seconds or less. Come back later. You do not have time to fiddle with it for longer than that.</p>
<p>what helps to cut down the subvocalizing is using your finger to move thru the text, although not too fast to risk comprehension of the material. You have to play with it to reach your sweet spot, but visually focusing on the
movement cut the vocalizing way down and helped to pick up speed and comprehension. Subvocalizing does reduce your speed cause you can't speak as fast as you read</p>
<p>I deleted another post I made because I wasn't really offering any helpful advice to the OP (and now I'm making another pointless post :() But basically I wanted to say that I thought about it a bit more, and tried reading a little to make sure.. and started to think that I really don't subvocalize at all. I can understand how doing it would slow you down. (I got a 36 on Reading, if it matters). The more you read and practice, the less you subvocalize, but it's probably a very slow learning curve. One trick you can try is to look at a page of text line by line, instead of word by word. Move your eyes across the page just a notch faster than you would if you were just reading naturally. That will encourage your brain to process the words more quickly so that your reading comprehension catches up to the movements of your eyes. As your reading speed increases, subvocalization most likely naturally decreases. Fast readers can read much more quickly than anybody can speak, which makes the "voice in your head" scenario impossible.. so it simply disappears.</p>
<p>Also, realize that when you're reading stuff on the ACT, you're not supposed to be reading as quickly as you would read a fiction novel for pleasure. You should read slowly enough to absorb all of the information so you can answer questions about it later. Even for some people who don't subvocalize naturally, slowing down their speed to that extent means they start to subvocalize a little bit. I'm sure people can get 30+ scores on reading even with subvocalization, so don't stress about it.</p>
<p>I agree with the suggestion of using something to follow the words. I did a speed reading course about a hundred years ago and one of the things I learned is that as we read a passage we read ahead and also backtrack without realizing it. In the class they had a gadget that covered everything but the line you were reading to stop you from doing that. After a while this trained you to not do it. I went to the class thinking it was stupid (it was a class my company would send us on ) because i was already a pretty fast reader. I really sped up by the end of the week. </p>
<p>Although this is a different situation the same technique might help as it focuses you more which might take away the need for the subvocalization. You could try holding a piece of paper under or over the line to make you focus on the line. Not sure if you can do that in the exam though. Following the line with your finger would have the same effect.</p>
<p>yeah i guess i don't i read really fast but when i'm reading i can't even sometimes remember a characters name because i just look at it and remark like in my brain that this certain character is saying something i dunno hard to explain</p>