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Have you ever wondered how fast reader you are? Maybe you are so fast that you even do not have to learn to speed read? What is your reading speed?

If you have thought about these questions then you have probably also thought about measuring your reading speed. How can it be tested and what should you do for that?

Fortunately, testing your reading speed is relatively easy. Reading speed is usually measured by WPM (words per minute). It indicates the number of words you read in one minute. For example 200 WPM means that you read 200 words in one minute, which about 3 words in one second.

For measuring your reading speed you will need a text and a stopwatch.

1. Select a text.
2. Count the number of words in the text
3. Read the text and measure time with your stopwatch.
4. Calculate your reading speed

So you will have to choose a text for testing your reading speed. You can choose both text from a paper for that purpose or you can read from the computer. The choice of the text will have an impact on your reading speed. If you choose a difficult text then your reading speed will be slower. Similarly, if you choose a longer text then you reading speed will be somewhat slower. It is logical as if you choose to run a mile then your average speed will be slower in comparison to running 100 yards.

Usually reading speed is tested with ordinary types of text. It means that the content is not too difficult. So, technical and scientific texts are not used. I would recommend you to use an article from a newspaper for testing your reading speed.

After reading the text you have to count the number of words in the text. You will have to do it manually if you are reading a text on paper. But if you are reading an electronic text then you may use your word process for word count.

Measuring your reading speed is not an exact science and therefore it is not that important that you will count the exact number of words. It does not make so big difference if there are 780 or 796 words in the text. So you can calculate the approximate number of words as follows:

1. Count the number of lines in the text.
2. Count the number of words per line. Choose an average line for that where the number of words in that line is typical for that text. So do not choose a line where there are very long words in it.
3. Multiply the number of lines by number of words per line.

Now start the stopwatch and read the text from the beginning to the end. If you read the end of the text then stop the stopwatch and see what the time is.

Calculate your reading speed by dividing the number of words in the text by your reading time. For example if you complete a 750 word text in 3 minutes then your reading speed will be 250 WPM. Note that the time is measured in minutes and minutes should be treated as decimal here. So if you read a text for 3 minutes and 15 seconds, then it is 3.25 minutes.

The average reading speed is for an average text written in English is about 180-250 WPM. If you get more than 350 WPM then you will be doing really well. Speed readers read at 500 WPM and faster. Top class speed readers can even reach above 1000 WPM.

No matter how fast your reading speed is, there will be always room for improvement. Even if you are reading at 1200 WPM then it is possible to increase it to 1250 or 1300 WPM when practicing speed reading.

Besides reading speed comprehension is also vital. There is no point in super fast reading if you don not understand or remember the text you read. Reading comprehension is measured in the percentage of the text you can recall. 100% comprehension means that you can fully recall the text.

Reading comprehension is usually measured by answering to the questions about the content of text after completing the reading. For that you will need questions about the text. If you are doing it with your own text then you may let your friend to prepare questions about the content of the text. After completing the text then you will answer to these questions. Reading comprehension will be measure by the percentage of correct answers.

As it is troublesome to do so, then I will recommend you to choose an online speed reading test. In that case the questions for testing comprehension are already there and you do not need a friend to help you. There are many tests out there in the internet and you may try out several of them. Be sure that the test includes also the comprehension test. Sadly it is often not the case. If you want to be sure that you can test both your reading speed and comprehension and get an evaluation about your present level of reading speed then you can use this free speed reading test.

In many cases achieving 100% comprehension is not necessary. Our job tasks often require finding information from many sources or getting the central idea of the material. We do not have to remember all the details. In case of speed reading 70% comprehension can be regarded as satisfactory.

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Previously I have written on my blog about the importance of good eyesight for speed reading. In addition, I have provided you some tips about how to keep a good near vision

Today I will tell you how you can easily test your eyesight online, without going to the doctor. Of course it is recommended that you check your vision regularly at a specialist, but this is for a quick test for being sure that everything is ok.

When talking about testing eyesight we have to distinguish between two types of eyesight. Near vision is an ability to see objects clearly at 30-50cm. As this is our usual reading distance then it is the near vision that affects our reading speed.

Distant vision is an ability to see far objects, which can be meters of even kilometers away from our eye. Although we do not read texts usually at these distances, reading can affect our distant vision. Therefore it is recommended to also check your distant vision regularly.

For testing your near vision you can use a following test. For doing that test you will need to print a following chart

Perform this test in a well lit room. Do not take this test if you are tired. Wear the glasses or contact lenses you normally use for reading. Keep both eyes open. Hold the Near Vision Chart about 14 inches (35 cm) away from your eyes. If your near vision is OK then you should be able to read the sentences printed on the chart as well as the row of the “C’s” (you should be able to tell where each opening is in the row of “C’s”)

For testing your distant vision you can print a test chart here

Perform this test in a well lit room. Tape the first page of the chart to a bare wall with no windows. The chart should be at your eye level. Stand 10 feet (3m) away from the chart. If you already have glasses for distance vision, wear them during the test. You should perform this test separately with each eye, so cover one eye for taking the test. Read each of the letters from left to right starting with the largest line. Continue moving through the chart to the smallest letter you are able to read. You may write down the letters as you see them. You pass a line when you can correctly read at least 3 out of 5 letters. Write down the lowest line on the chart that you passed.

Adults should be able to read the 20/40 line with each eye. You passed the test if you passed the 20/40, 20/32 or 20/20 line in each eye.

So you can use these test for making a quick check-up for your eyesight. If you find that it is not up to the required standards then you should visit your doctor.

kristjan Speed Reading eyesight, reading speed, vision

During my speed reading courses I have watched carefully how the trainees perform the reading exercises. On thing that I have noticed is that different people spend considerably different amount of time on turning the pages. While most of people can turn pages in one or two seconds, some will lose three or four seconds by doing it.

How much can paging affect our reading speed? It depends on the amount of text printed per page and on the reading speed itself. On the average there is about 500 words per page although depending on the size of the page, font and layout it may range from 250 to 100 words. It is clear that if there are fewer words per page then the time spent on paging will affect the reading speed to a greater extent. The reading speed itself is also important as if we read at 500 words per minute and then there will be one paging per minute in case of 500 words per page. If our reading speed will be only 250 words per minute, then we have to page every two minutes. So, the faster we read the more often we have to turn the page. Thus paging affects reading speed more if we read at faster speed.

If we are reading at 250 words per page and there are 500 words per page then an extra second spent on turning the page will decrease our reading speed by 0.8%. But if we are reading at 500 words per page and there are 250 words per page then an increase in paging duration by one second will reduce the reading speed by 3.3%. Three extra second in that case could mean 10% lower reading speed, which makes a considerable difference.

How to page fast? There are many reasons why some people waste too much time turning the pages. First, if you are not sitting straight and behind the desk, then it may be more difficult for you turn pages. It is much easier to page when the book is flat on a table. If you are lying on a sofa and holding the book in your hands then paging becomes more time consuming. In that case you are also not so actively participating in the reading process; you do not react so fast when you have completed a page and you are likely to make a delay with turning the page.

Second, your hand should be in a position that you can turn the page immediately if you have completed a page. As in case of speed reading you may want to keep track on reading with the finger of your dominant hand (right hand for most people), then you should use your non-dominant hand (left hand for most people) for turning the pages. You should wrap your left forearm and hand around the book in a way that the fingers of your left hand a resting on the top corner of the page. Put the index finger of you left hand under the upper-right corner of the page. If your left hand is in a that kind of position then you are able to turn the page with your should turn the page by flipping it over with your left hand. You have to be always ready for turning the page, which means that your left hand has to be in a right position at least for the time you have reached the halfway point of the page.

If you are not using your hand or pencil for keeping track then you can use your dominant hand for turning the pages. If you use your right hand for turning the pages then you should grab the pages from the bottom-right corner of the page. This applies also for the case if you are left-handed and you are using your left hand for keeping track. In that case you have to put the index finger of your right hand under the bottom-right corner of the page.

Applying that kind of paging techniques is not an absolute must and may be you will feel more comfortable by using different methods. The main point is that you have to admit that paging speed will affect your reading speed. Feel free to experiment with different ways to turn pages and find out the method that suits you best and allows you to turn pages with shortest time possible.

kristjan Speed Reading paging, reading speed