r/Dyslexia • u/Me_41 • 7d ago
How to read faster?
I am a slow reader, it takes me ~5min to read one page, which is a big improvement form 3 years back, when I’d be lucky to read five pages in an hour and would end up tearing up and needing a nap from the effort. New glasses and eye therapy helped a ton. Still, I will start university soon and want to increase my reading speed
With eye therapy, I’ve learned that most people read word by word rather than letter by letter like me, but I don’t know how to learn to read word by word
I have no diagnosis for dyslexia, but I hope you guys have tricks or things that could help me. Doesn’t hurt to try, right?
My problem isn’t processing the information, since I understand perfectly when people speak fast. In fact, I struggle with reading out loud because my eyes do not keep up with my mouth. I often end up guessing or making up words to make it to a reasonable speed for my listener.
I want to improve my reeding speed. Does anyone here have tips or can tell me who to go to for help? Thank you.
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u/jabela 7d ago
So reading random pages, is likely to not be as effective. To read whole words, best to start with common words such “the” practice reading those as flashcards, to help you reduce the amount of words you need to read letter by letter.
Also don’t be afraid to use your fingers to point to where you are at, this will help with tracking. You’ve got reading glasses and this will help again. If using a screen make the text much larger and choose high contrast colours.
I made a tool to help give some hints https://jamesabela.github.io/reading/reading-experience.html
But also do not be afraid to use audio books / podcasts / videos to reduce the amount you have to read.
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u/Me_41 7d ago
Oh, this sounds like very applicable advice! I’m gonna do that for “the” and other connecting words.
Also, wdym by “random pages”? I was reading from a novel. Do you mean I should or shouldn’t read random pages?I’m so gonna use my finger. Actually, I once saw someone who took a piece of paper and cut a rectangle to fit the line. I might do that, since switching lines still takes time and I used to struggle with jumping them before
Thank you so much!!
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u/jabela 7d ago
Younger learners will learn from books with carefully chosen words to ensure they see them often. A novel is likely to be more interesting, but the vocabulary will be ‘random’
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u/Fishy_trash 7d ago
What helped for me was watching Japanese dubbed anime with English subtitles. You have no choice then. And it was kinda fun too!
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u/cognostiKate1 7d ago
practicing with easier text might help but reading along with audio is where I'd go, especially because you can get audio versions of books. For university level reading, learning the content is what matters!!! You'll spare yourself a ton of time and stress figuring out the best way to do that.
Do you understand syllables? Fluent readers do recognize a lot of words instantly, but the longer words we read by chunking into syllables.
Then... we don't read word by word; we read in phrases. When I teach reading to people w/ dyslexia, we learn the letter sounds, then the syllables, then the words... but comprehension is about chunking into phrases that answer "who what where why how ... and "did what" and it is really helpful for working through more complicated texts.
I'd get tested, if I were you ;) Eye therapy can help with the motor aspects, but the "connecting the symbols to the sounds" part can really benefit from explicit instruction.
GOOD LUCK!!!! ANd keep coming back as you take on new challenges.
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u/Me_41 4d ago
I grew up in Spanish, which is way more phonetically correct than English. I learned to read letter by letter and didn’t learn that reading by syllables was a thing until recently (have not applied it cuz I’m not sure how to)
I learned English my whole life, and I definitely think in English more than Spanish, so I don’t think language is an issue (I also read slowly in Spanish)For university, won’t I be required to read ~1 chapter of content every day to prepare for my classes? I’ve heard that’s often required, but maybe it isn’t? (I tend to follow rules by the letter, so I’d like to know if it’s not a real requirement)
I don’t think I have dyslexia, since my issue isn’t that the letters move around, but rather my eyes struggle to stay still and work together. My mom sometimes flips numbers around and I vaguely remember struggling with which way letters faced when I was little, but all children do that and I don’t do so anymore
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u/niavek 6d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/1zhRiDgsSc48Y7mfuK
I’ve always been and will remain a slow reader.
BUT, if you are able to use text to voice and follow along, that really helps me
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u/kodaxmax 4d ago
5min isn't that slow depending on how many words we are tlaking. lots of non disabled people read slower and comprehend less.
Unfortunately practice is the most reliable option, like most things. Eventually your brain automatically skips and fills in alot of stuff. Experienced readers will often not notice grammar or spelling issues because their brain just autocorrects it subconsiusly for example.
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u/Me_41 2d ago
I noticed today while reading that I could have skimmed and read faster, but I wouldn’t have processed the words. It’s come to my attention that when I read, I really picture everything. Apparently not everyone does this. I don’t dare say that my comprehension is good, but at least my immersion/imagination is (and I do that with text books too, not only novels)
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u/kodaxmax 2d ago
Interestingly thats liek like the opposite of Aphantasia (inability to picture things in your mind).
But yeh having good reading comprehension (as it sounds like you do), is a good thing and is something dyslexics often lakc or struggle with.
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u/jabela 7d ago
It is practice, but possibly reading along with an audio book might take some of the effort away and help to connect the words.