Fast reading word by word

Becoming a fast reader is a skill which is developed over time. The average adult reads 300wpm (words per minute), but that seems tiny in comparison to a world speed reading champions who averages at 4,700 wpm.

Regardless of who you are, reading fast has its benefits, its aids you taking in information, increases knowledge.

This post will take you through a variety of techniques to becoming a better reader from changing your attitude, to reading more frequently, and reading easier material.

Give this post a read and see if you can benefit from any of our tips.

So, how to read faster and understand?

In order to read faster and understand it is essential to practice every day. Also, you should avoid reading word-by-word, diversify your content and read something easier, especially in the beginning.

How fast do people read?

According to Forbes, the average adult reading speed is 300 wpm, the average college student reads 450wpm, a high level executive 575 wpm, and a speed reader 1,500 wpm. How fast you want to read is up to you.

The best way to determine how fast you currently read is by accessing a free wpm test. Retake this test in approximately 6 months to see if you have gotten any faster.

Should I feel bad if I am a slow reader?

No! Of course not.

Like most things, becoming a fast reader takes time. The whole process is supposed to be fun and any negative feelings may actually put you off developing reading skills. Think back to childhood, even learning the alphabet was difficult.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) 21% of Americans are illiterate, that’s around 43 million people. Many of these people cannot read a single word, and/or have a basic, or below basic ability to read.

So, to be at the ability to be wanting to simply read faster means you’re already talented.

As Bell Hooks says, reading is a skill, and she went many years reading at least one book a day before giving up because the pressure was too much.

Can fast reading affect my comprehension?

Yes, and no.

Yes, if you are simply trying to race through the literature you may find that your quality standards drop. Rather than engaging with a story as you used to, you may be skipping words and paragraphs to go as fast as you can.

This is not the aim. Slowly developing the skill will have it come naturally.

No, if you slow develop the ability to read fast there should be no affect on your comprehension level. You should actually comprehend better.

How to read faster and understand (step-by-step)

1. Change your attitude towards reading

Take a moment to consider how your approach to reading. Do you consider it a strenuous task which you have to do, or an enjoyable hobby which aids your life’s development?

Your overall attitude will impact your speed and enjoyment. If you are looking at reading negatively then maybe try and run through some positive prompts before you begin.

Reading will aid my progress in life

Reading makes me a smarter, more knowledgeable person

I am reading because it benefits me, it is not torture

2. Read frequently

Another step to becoming a more proficient reader is to make sure you’re actively reading. If you don’t actually dedicate time to read, you cannot be surprised when you do not develop the capabilities.

The first step will be to determine how much you read, daily, weekly? You will need to increase this.

You could try and increase the amount you read weekly, and/or the time you spend reading when you do. Either way by reading more frequently you will find that you read faster.

3. Don’t read word by word

Reading word by word is a skill taught to children to aid them initially get used to reading.

The skill is usually to make sure that the child understands how to pronounce the word. Many adults wrongfully continue this reading word by word practice far into adult life.

You want to get into the flow of reading sentences not words, it’s a small progression which will see you reading faster. In this process, you will be breaking what is known as subvocalization.

Once you’re into the habit of reading sentences, you can then progress to reading paragraphs. Begin with the sentence below.

Once. Upon. A. Time. versus Once upon a time. Reading the sentence, as a sentence, flows better.

One skill I utilized when trying to read faster was reading one sentence at a time. Completing it as the author intended. This may not be something you realized you were doing.

4. Don’t read the same sentence repeatedly

Some people get caught in habits where they end up reading the same sentences over and over again. This is ultimately not productive when it comes to reading.

This technique will bore the reading and lead to a state in which you are deterred from engaging with the literature. If you are stumped at a point, and keep reading it over and over again, move on. This may be a flaw in the book, or part of the plot which is explained later.

5. Use a tool to track sentences

If you’re someone who very easily looses track of where they are reading then using a pen or finger to keep you on track can be useful. See this as a tool to aid your reading experience.

This is known as tracking and there is a good reason it is taught to children, it works!

6. Read easier material

Potentially, the literature which you’re reading is simply too difficult. There is nothing to be ashamed of admitting this. Try reading something which is considered ‘easier’

You may be shying away from YA novels, poetry, or mystery books. These genres oftentimes don’t have the most challenging literature but they can still include books which can spark interesting conversation.

Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, The Hate U Give, The Power. These are all best-selling books which shouldn’t be too difficult to read.

Easier? yes, less valued in the literary community, no.

7. Diversify your content

Reading fast doesn’t have to mean reading books fast.

Potentially, you work in a document-heavy field where it is part of your job to process large amounts of data. But reading news articles, blogs, and briefings will also aid your comprehension of a range of literature.

8. Keep a dictionary near by

As you’re increasing your vocabulary you may find that there are words you don’t know. Having a dictionary nearby will help you quickly search up the meaning of these words. The next time you’re reading and you come across this word you will be more likely to understand it in context.

9. Read Shorter Content

Longer books move more slowly, as they have a much longer time to get to the main hook of the story.

Potentially, the books you’re reading are too long and that’s why you’re reading slow. When a storyline catches you there is no moving slow through it as you’re captivated.

Why go for some shorter books and see if this speed up how fast you read. It could be that you weren’t getting to the good points fast enough to be motivated to complete the book, it doesn’t hurt to give this tip a try, also when you finish a book you get the little high of having completed.

Books such as Phantom at the Opera, Anna Karenina, and War and Peace, are probably too long for someone just getting into novels.

10. Don’t read out loud

Following on from the tip above. The next tip is to not read out loud. Children are often encouraged to read out loud so adults can ensure they’re pronouncing words correctly.

In this process, an adult can kindly correct them when they get a word wrong.

Then give them praise once completing the book to encourage them to read further.

As an adult, reading out loud simply slows you down. Words flow quicker in our brain, so if you have carried on the habit of reading out loud then now is a great time to break this habit. Every time you catch yourself reading out loud stop and begin reading in your brain again.

11. Don’t drift away from the book

It happens to everyone, you get to a great part in the book and suddenly get caught up in your own mind. Don’t do this! Try and stay present. Maybe your brain frequently goes on a tangent, but that fights one of the great aims of writing.

To increase your ability to stay on board, constantly bring yourself back to the book. Every time you feel you’re drifting away, bring yourself back. Slowly, but surely you will build

Conclusion

Now you know there are many steps which you can take to becoming a faster reader.

You’re on the right path. You know you want to become a better reader and have decided to take the necessary steps to become one. Incorporated some of these steps and see how your reading speed improves after a week, month, and year. Keep a file and update it.

Let us know in the comments section if anything has been left out which worked for you!

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Prerequisites: File Handling in Python Given a text file and the task is to read the information from file word by word in Python. Examples:

Input: I am R2J! Output: I am R2J! Input: Geeks 4 Geeks And in that dream, we were flying. Output: Geeks 4 Geeks And in that dream, we were flying.

Approach:

1. Open a file in read mode which contains a string.
2. Use for loop to read each line from the text file.
3. Again use for loop to read each word from the line splitted by ‘ ‘.
4. Display each word from each line in the text file.

Example 1: Let’s suppose the text file looks like this – Text File:  

Output:

Geeks
4
geeks

Time Complexity: O(n), where n is the total number of words in the file.
Auxiliary Space: O(1), as the program is reading and displaying each word one by one without storing any additional data.

Example 2: Let’s suppose the text file contains more than one line. Text file:  

Output:

Geeks
4
Geeks
And
in
that
dream,
we
were
flying.

Time complexity: O(n), where n is the total number of words in the file.
Auxiliary space: O(1), as only a constant amount of extra space is used to store each word temporarily while printing it.

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In this article, we are going to learn How to Read text File word by word in C. We will read each word from the text file in each iteration.

C fscanf Function

The fscanf() function is available in the C library. This function is used to read formatted input from a stream. The syntax of the fscanf function is:

Syntax

int fscanf(FILE *stream, const char *format, ...)

Parameters :

• stream − This is the pointer to a FILE object that identifies the stream.
• format − This is the C string that contains one or more of the following items − Whitespace character, Non-whitespace character, and Format specifiers.
• A format specifier will be as [=%[*][width][modifiers]type=].

1. Read File Word by Word in C using fscanf Function

Here we are making use of the fscanf function to read the text file. The first thing we are going to do is open the file in reading mode. So using fopen() function and “r” read mode we opened the file. The next step is to find the file stats like what is the size of the data this file contains. so we can allocate exact memory for the buffer that is going to hold the content of this file. We are using the stat() function to find the file size.

• Once we have the size and buffer allocated for this size, we start reading the file by using the fscanf() function.
• We keep reading the file word by word until we reach the end of file.In fscanf function, we are passing “%39[^-n] as the argument so we can read the text until we find the next word.
• The code will look like this:

fscanf(in_file, "%39[^-n]", file_contents)

C Program to Read text File word by word

To run this program, we need one text file with the name Readme.txt in the same folder where we have our code.The content of the file is:

Hello My name is 
John 
danny

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

const char* filename = "Readme.txt";

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    FILE *in_file = fopen(filename, "r");
    if (!in_file) 
	{
        perror("fopen");
        return 0;
    }

    struct stat sb;
    if (stat(filename, &sb) == -1) 
	{
        perror("stat");
        return 0;
    }

    char *file_contents = malloc(sb.st_size);

    while (fscanf(in_file, "%[^-n ] ", file_contents) != EOF) {
      printf("> %sn", file_contents);
	  }
    
	

    fclose(in_file);
    return 0;
}

Output

Hello
My
name
is
John
danny

A Guide to speed reading techniques and tips to learn how to read faster

Problem – These days we are bombarded with so much reading material that often it is impossible to keep up with this continuous stream of information. As a result, we end up scrolling headlines and teasers rather than going in-depth with content that will actually educate us. Whether we are at work or students, we often have to race against time to complete our tasks or to keep up to date with the latest developments in areas of interest.

Solution – Hence, speed reading can be a vital and valuable skill in today’s world. People who learn how to read faster using proven speed reading techniques can read as much as three times faster than the average reader who reads about 200 to 250 words per minute.

Benefits – Speed reading challenges the human brain to perform better and faster. As you learn to speed read, your brain will be trained to absorb information much quicker than it is used to. This will improve both your memory and the functionality of your brain. There are other benefits including expanded general and specialized knowledge, improved problem-solving skills, improved self-confidence or a better focus.

Goal – This tutorial aims to help you learn how to read faster. I will explain the essential speed reading techniques and provide you with tips, material, resources and recommendations to help you become an advanced reader and learner.

1. How To Read Faster – Getting Started

Some people mistakenly believe that speed reading is impossible to learn. Others firmly argue that it comes with a toll – that reading quickly limits both comprehension and enjoyment of the text.

These two viewpoints fail to take into consideration one thing, and that’s the fact that fast reading is a scientifically grounded habit that takes practice to achieve.

Reading is about readjusting your brain’s functioning while you read, including eliminating 1st-grade reading rules such as reading out loud or word by word. Let’s do some warm-up with the following generic tips and suggestions (no hard rules here) to get you started.

• Read this or another tutorial of what speed reading is and how to learn it.
• Watch videos or listen to podcasts on this topic if you prefer audio-visual media.
• Make yourself familiar with common phrases and terms.
• Test your reading speed to know where you stand and to set your goals.
• Test your comprehension as well. Speed and comprehension act as a pair.
• Research apps, tools, books and resources to help you learn systematically.
• Adapt techniques such as chunking or note-taking to your system.
• Best speed reading tip: Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
• Read more, and improve your general knowledge. The more you know the more successful you can become.

2. Learn 3 Basic Speed Reading Techniques

To boost your performance, I recommend learning these corner speed reading techniques to read faster and comprehend more.

Technique 1 – Skimming and Scanning

Whatever you plan to read, try to preview your material and skim a text before you fully read it. This will give you an idea of which sections of the text you may entirely skip, and help you identify where the important information is. There’s no use in reading everything cover to cover. Read what needs to be read, nothing more.

You can scan headlines, names, numbers, tables, graphs, images, excerpts, content boxes or just fly over the page to get a first feeling for the topic. In non-fiction books reading the first 3-5 sentences of each section will give you a quick overview of the most important ideas and facts. Remember: A good reader already knows what lies ahead.

Set your reading goal by asking yourself what you expect from a specific text, book. or author. By knowing the chapters you can even skim for specific information and skip several paragraphs or pages. Skim and read fast, don’t get lost in detail.

Technique 2 – Hand Pacing

Learn how to read faster in just one minute with this method.

Using your index finger or a pen as a tool to lead and pace your eyes along the text is the easiest of all speed reading techniques. We know it from our school days but stopped using it. Simply move your finger underneath the lines. You can apply zig-zag patterns too.

Once being familiar with that technique you may try to use two fingers to lead your eyes. But instead of moving them smoothly along the lines apply two bounces on each line. It is faster and more advanced, but your ability to read chunks of words will determine how fast you can hop and still grasp the sentence.

Technique 3 – Reading Chunks of Words

Minimize the number of eye fixations or stops per line. Ideally, you read with your eyes focused in the middle of the line and still be able to grasp and comprehend the whole sentence. Here is a pen and paper method to learn it. Start with 3 words, then 4 and 5.

The goal is to not read word by word but to divide the text into reading chunks and then read block-by-block or “jump” between whole blocks of words. A block is basically a unit of words that you can read easily read in one go.

By reading chunks of words you slash your reading time substantially because you use your peripheral vision to absorb the information around the block of words you’re already reading.

How do you read and understand phrases containing more than one word? You usually recognize them as a two or three letter phrase rather than reading the single words they are made of. Try the following city names:

New York City – Rio de Janeiro – Santiago de Chile.

Letters hardly transport meaning or information. Single words already have meaning. Word phrases carry an idea or concept. Phrases are images. Understanding those images is the key experience to the technique of learning to read word chunks. Each sentence is made of phrases that contain an idea, often the whole sentence must be read to get its meaning.

3. Stop Subvocalization & Bad Reading Habits

Identify and be aware of your speed reading sabotaging habits. Unless you know what habits are interfering with your reading, you cannot possibly know what needs fixing. The most common bad reading habits are reading word by word, reading out loud, reading with your mouth, or hearing the words in your head. These are often the reasons why you aren’t reading as fast as you could be.

Focus – There’s no right or wrong way of starting to speed read, however, I recommend focusing on your most blatant reading weaknesses. If your issue is subvocalization (voicing the words read in your head or mouth) you need to work on that first.

Subvocalization – Many speed reading techniques indeed focus first on eliminating subvocalization which is the primary reason for our slow-paced reading. Of course, other reading habits come into play that can slow down reading speed, and these are also eliminated when we learn to speed read, but subvocalization is the primary culprit.

The most efficient way to stop subvocalization is to force yourself to increase the speed at which you read. It will feel awkward and uncomfortable at first and you will certainly think that by not saying or sounding out the words read you are going to miss their meaning.

Well, this is definitely not the case. In fact, quite the contrary; having two instead of three reading phases makes the process a lot more optimized. You constantly move from seeing and visually encoding words to directly understanding them at their semantic level.

To teach your brain to adjust to this phased process use the speed reading techniques below:

Track-and-Pace – Use a pen, your finger, or some other prop to direct your focus where you want. If you also hide away the text before and after the section you’re reading, you allow your eyes to stay focused and not wander.

Expand eye-fixation – This can be achieved by fixating at the center of each line, rather than conventionally reading left to right. Once you fixate less frequently on each line, you leave no choice for your brain but to start semantically processing the visual information, as there’s no time to sound it out! Combine this technique with the pointer method.

Word Chunking – Another parameter of eye-fixation is to expand the number of words you read each time. Fewer word chunks per line mean less eye-fixation per line, which ultimately means a faster reading pace and fewer chances for subvocalization.

Resist Regression – Most people have a habit of skipping back to a sentence or paragraph that they just read in order to make sure that they completely understood the meaning. This thing is so common that most of us do it without even noticing.

Furthermore, regression will not only force you to subvocalize but to subvocalize content that has already been read. Increasing your reading speed will discourage you from re-reading and keep you moving forward. It’s possible that when you’re first practicing this, your comprehension will go down, but as you re-train your brain it will catch up again.

In order to avoid skip-backs, it is quite effective to use a pointer to underline the text while reading it or cover it with blank paper as you move forward.

4. Increase Reading Speed and Comprehension

Works Instantly

• Preview and skim any material. Skim for trigger phrases, numbers and names.
• Recall the main idea. Set your reading goal.
• Ask questions Who, Where, When, What, Why and How.
• For reading use your hand/finger as a pacing tool.
• Flip page with the hand you are not using for hand pacing. It will speed you up.
• For Web Reading: Check headlines. Scan bullet lists and bold words. Use mouse pacing.

Needs Exercise

• Learn to read groups of words. Start with two words at a glance, then three, four and five.
• Hum a melody while reading to avoid subvocalization.
• Resist going back in text. Just keep reading. Trust yourself and get back in line.
• Learn common pref- and suffixes to understand words and derive meanings faster.
• Conceptualize and link an image to common words to improve comprehension.
• Improve your vocabulary. Learn new words to improve comprehension.
• Visualize information. Use memory techniques to effectively embody knowledge.

Involves Activity/Motivation

• Utilize mind maps to recall ideas, review content and to create knowledge databases.
• Affirmations create a positive attitude. Trust in your skills.
• Reduce noise or any distracting impacts.
• Test new skills or stick to new projects for at least 21 days.
• Read everything you come across. Practice speed reading techniques daily.

Solutions for Bad Reading Habits

• Apply drills to eliminate subvocalization.
• Learn to read at least 4 words in one fixation.
• Trust yourself and resist regression by keep reading.

5. Use Tools to Learn How to Read Faster

Learning how to read faster is an inexpensive method. There are many free tutorials and videos available that teach you basic speed reading techniques. However, it can be time-effective to skip steep learning curves by enrolling in speed reading classes or learning with software.

Regular training sessions and exercises are the keys to improve your reading skills. Such courses or programs can help you to achieve your goals faster and with more accuracy and discipline. There are free and paid programs on the market.

Adopting this method is a foolproof way to streamline and accelerate your reading pace. Products such as Spreeder™ or Become a SuperLearner offer an efficient solution for people wishing to reach their goals in a shorter period of time and with less effort.

6. Speed Reading Tips for Kids

• Reading tests are not really necessary for kids. Relax and enjoy the fun.
• Easy methods such as hand pacing or previewing are great motivation boosters.
• 15 minutes a day is a good time frame to practice speed reading techniques.
• Keep sessions short and catchy. The younger the child the shorter the sessions.
• Research books that are suitable for children.
• Think of a smart and inexpensive reward system to keep your child motivated.
• Invite friends from the neighborhood. Learning in groups can be very effective.
• Make a plan on what to teach and how to teach. Explain what you want to accomplish.
• Warm-up sessions help to increase focus.

7. Practice Speed Reading

• Increase your vocabulary by reading something every day.
• Use memory techniques to recall better.
• Exercise reading chunks of words.
• Exercise visualization skills.
• Exercise to read/skim a book in five minutes
• Scan urban space for word groups. Understand them as one construct. Check signs, ads.
• Advertisement: Practice reading word phrases by skimming magazines, street or shop ads.
• At the doctor: Preview magazines. Recall ideas. Check ads. Read word groups.
• Check out free web apps to exercise speed reading techniques on mobile devices.

Start by reading a book or article that you have already read. It will be easier to skip words and keep up a smooth flow if you’re familiar with the material.

Read a lot, especially non-fiction books. With novels, you’ll often want to slow down and immerse yourself in the author’s world, and that’s okay. But when you’re practicing speed reading techniques, virtually anything that’s not literature is a good choice.

When utilizing your index finger to lead your eyes, start slowly, but at a challenging pace. Keep moving for a page or two and then check your reading comprehension. You will soon be able to move your hand quicker, thus know how to read faster and comprehend more.

You don’t always have to speed read. Speed reading requires a lot of cognitive focus and effort. Besides, you might wish to slow down and take in ideas and concepts in a more gradually satisfying manner. It’s okay to read at different speeds depending on the material. In fact, slowing down and relaxing can be good as it will give you time to recuperate.

Take regular breaks. This way, your comprehension and focus will stay on a high level. Taking breaks also helps to keep your eyes healthy and avoid eye strain.

Get rid of distractions. Cell phones, TV, internet, radio, etc can distract you easily while reading and cause hindrance in your reading speed. Even if you are good at reading, you can become a pro by getting rid of these distractions.

Time yourself. You can improve your reading speed by timing yourself. By timing yourself you will not only try to improve your reading speed but you will also stay motivated to perform better. Moreover, it will also be easier to keep track of your performance.

Each speed reader is unique, so avoid solely adopting specific methodologies, rather adjust each of them to your learning demands. Often the tricks we come up with ourselves enhance our learning progress more than any scientific method could ever do.

Speed Reading Techniques and Tips – Summary

Wrapping up our tutorial on how to read faster. Despite that there are many benefits of speed reading, the biggest advantage of this learning technique is that it saves time.

You will be able to retain the same amount of data that you would have retained by reading slowly. Therefore, this can be very beneficial for those people who have to read manifold documents at their workplace every day.

Furthermore, students who know how to speed read have a competitive advantage over their peers. Studies have revealed that a person who possesses this skill can learn a language much faster than a person who doesn’t have this skill. Recent studies about fast reading have also revealed that this particular reading technique improves memory.

Speed reading is also all about practice. The more you practice this learning method the better you will become at it. There are manifold speed reading techniques that can help you in improving your reading speed. However, the one thing is that you should learn to identify the most important points in the reading material and develop a wider eye span.

With speed reading, people have the power to increase their knowledge and use it towards their own ends and for their own benefit. Therefore, my last tip is to never give up on an opportunity to read something useful and pertinent to your success goals. Everyone can learn how to read faster.

What is speed reading?

There are varied definitions of speed reading. Some people define speed reading as “skim and scanning through context.” Others mean using a meta-guide to encourage a faster reading pace, and there are still other definitions that include both of these and even more aspects of speed reading.

The underlying truth is that speed reading is an acquired skill that people use to speed read or read faster through written content and comprehend and retain a substantial amount of information once they’re done.

What is the average reading speed?

The average reader reads about 200-250 words per minute but the average reading speed can slow down to 100-175 wpm depending on the complexity of the material, for example, scientific papers.

Proficient speed readers are those who reach an average reading speed of 500-600 words per minute or more while keeping their comprehension rates well above 70%.

Sleep Better, Read Faster

• Have a sleep routine.
• Drink a glass of water before bedtime.
• Avoid heavy meals, nicotine, alcohol, sugar, caffeine before sleeping
• Darken and cool your bedroom
• Exercise regularly to have a good night’s sleep.
• A high-quality mattress is beneficial to your sleep and well-being.
• Avoid computer/TV consumption at least one hour before bedtime.
• Stress is a concentration and sleep killer. Try to relax your mind!
• Meditation may help to fall asleep quickly.
• Progressive muscle relaxation can help prepare for sleep.
• A power nap usually improves focus and concentration.
• Read more about tips on how to sleep better here.

Resources and further reading

• The Wikipedia entry.
• Use PDF Booklets (see above) to practice word group reading.
• Use the converter to create your own exercises and material.
• Give RSVP readers such as Spreeder a try.
• Use Bookmarklets from Accelareader.
• Try Quickreader on your iOS device.
• Try Evernote or Read it later apps for better organization.

Thanks for reading. To help spread the word, please share our tutorial on how to read faster and basic speed reading techniques and tips on your favorite social media platform.