Speed Reading – Using Software to Increase Your Reading Speed

There is no doubting it – we are in the midst of the Information Age. Keeping up with the huge volume of information presented to us every day is becoming a growing problem – unless we completely improve our ability to understand it. We also have the opportunity to use speed reading software to make the task easier.

Speed reading is a skill required to read at higher than normal speed. Many people read about 200 to 300 words per minute, whereas fast readers generally read 600 to 2500 words in a minute.

The topic of speed reading came to prominence in 1957 with Evelyn Wood’s well regarded at the time, Reading Dynamics program. It opened up the world to the intriguing idea of waving your hands across the printed text and grabbing hold of every word. We were told that you’d be able to read in approximately one minute, 1000 words and be able to remember everything you read. At the time, the truth was believed by many to be very different.

However, it has been shown that “speed reading” is certainly very different from reading at “normal speed” because the reader sees the words and then changes them using imaging processes in the mind. Speed reading makes us use the visual cortex which operates at amazing speeds all day. Taking advantage of these functions uses skills that are not utilized by most people while they read. The fact is, most people learned to read at a Grade 5 level and have never attempted to improve upon the skill.

Introduction of Speed Reading Software

The People who learn speed reading with software typically become reliant on the software and have to unlearn everything they learned and learn once again how to read quickly. Actual reading is a natural process and this sets it apart from a machine trying to be in charge of your brain.

However, although reading fast doesn’t require software to be learned, software does have many benefits, including speed tests, and reading exercises which help measure progress. It is a lot harder to comprehend a normally printed page without reverting back to old “sub vocalization habits”.

Speed reading is extremely familiar in Asian cultures. The children from these cultures are not trained to pronounce their words one letter after the other. As a consequence, many children are not restricted to the normal sub vocalization reading traditions. These children are taught to learn other languages such as English, which they do by using this technique and then become naturally good speed readers. It does not mean that all Asians and their children are speed readers; many are still reliant on sub vocalization mainly because it is much more familiar for them and this is probably how they were initially taught English. This explains why there is a large number of Asians who can speed read, because they came from a country where their native language was based on characters.

When using speed reading software you have an interactive understanding with the software, which makes learning easier. When trying to learn reading quickly from a book or audio CD, you have to time yourself as you read set out passages. Software programs do the timing for you, which is more precise and much easier.

Which Software is best?

This question is talked about in various reviews and appraisals, some using realistic tests by those evaluating the programs. This conversation and analysis has reported some speed reading software as ineffectual, but others are found to be of great value. The suggested speed reading software programs have many benefits, including speed testing, and guided reading exercises. Learning speed reading using software for children and adults of all reading abilities can adequately produce results from a goal of 100 to a relaxed speed of 300 to 500 words per minute with fantastic long term comprehension. One special exercise can even aid you in learning how to skim and pre-read text at up to several thousand words per minute.

Learning speed reading by this technique is therefore suggested for anyone who loves to read or must read comprehensively.