# Do you hear a voice in your head when you read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497 "2006-03-22T22:33:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/21 "2006-03-23T01:34:41Z")
The suppression of “hearing” the read words in your head is one of the keys to speed reading. You can absorb the words on a page much faster than you can speak them out, so requiring your brain to “say” the words in your head just slows down the rate of digestion. I didn’t want to learn to speed read because when reading fiction, “hearing” the words in my head helps me visualize. When reading particularly complex non-fiction such as quantum physics or otherwise, “hearing” the words in my head helps me understand it. I’m doomed to being a pokey reader. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/22 "2006-03-23T01:50:03Z")
I “hear” a voice when I read. And when I think. I don’t think in pictures very often, and was an adult before I realized that there are people who visualize things they read and write; that realization cleared up my bafflement about the frequent comment that books help kids use their imaginations (the way I saw it before that was only the author was imagining anything). Therefore, one of the most startling comments that I sometimes get about stories I’ve written goes something like “I could picture the whole thing unfolding in my head like a movie!” because **I** don’t even do that when I write! ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/23 "2006-03-23T01:53:36Z")
> [@Logan 5](#): > > Also, when I am reading something written by someone whose voice I am familair with I “hear” it in their voice/cadence. I have the same thing happen. When I first saw “Angela’s Ashes” on DVD, I watched it with the commentary by Frank McCourt, and now when i read his books, I hear his voice in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/24 "2006-03-23T02:09:38Z")
A few years ago, Thomas Berger wrote a sequel to _Little Big Man_ called, uh, let’s see here, _Return of Little Big Man_. I noticed a copy on the display table of my local We Got Yer Books Right Here store and picked it up to have a look. The book, like the original is a first-person narrative by one Jack Crabb. As I read the first sentence, Dustin Hoffman’s voice (from the movie) absolutely leaped out of the page at me. It was the most vivid instance of hearing a voice in a book that I have ever had, and it made it more fun to read. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/25 "2006-03-23T02:21:20Z")
Yes, I hear a voice when I read and when I think. I am male. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/26 "2006-03-23T02:39:35Z")
I’m really surprised at the number of people who say that they hear a voice when they read. That would be extremely distracting to me. I don’t hear anything. I do visualize, more like _conceptualize_, the action in the book. I’m so glad I don’t hear anything. I can’t imagine being a student and studying anything while having someone talking about it in my head. That would be too weird. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/27 "2006-03-23T02:45:53Z")
Male here. I hear my voice as I read and when I think. I will roll words around and different sentence constructs for what sounds the best or well-said phrases in books I will replay and savor. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/28 "2006-03-23T03:05:01Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > I’m so glad I don’t hear anything. I can’t imagine being a student and studying anything while having someone talking about it in my head. That would be too weird. It’s not like someone talking _to you_, it’s like you talking to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/29 "2006-03-23T03:13:26Z")
Sometimes I’ll read poetry aloud to myself, to savour the sounds and rhymes, but I won’t hear it in my head per se. I like to imagine _Lord of the Rings_ read by Christopher Lee, but that’s about it. No voices for me (yet. Whew. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/30 "2006-03-23T03:42:58Z")
Yes, I hear a voice. And when I run across a name I can’t pronounce (like in every damned fantasy novel), I have to settle on a pronunciation or I can’t keep reading. Most of the time, I point out the word and ask my husband to gift me with a pronunciation. It really doesn’t matter how it’s pronounced, just so long as I can convince my inner voice to say it a particular way. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/31 "2006-03-23T03:44:21Z")
I tend to hear my own voice, as though I was reading it aloud, but MUCH faster. I’ve noticed that I tend to do more visualizing when I listen to an audiobook than when I read a book by myself though. Sometimes the difference is striking. If I listen to a book that I’ve read by eye before, I’ll get things out of the audiobook that I didn’t get when I was just reading it. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/32 "2006-03-23T03:50:00Z")
I hear my voice when I read. If there are several different characters, their voices will vary… most of the time they sound like someone they remind me of. If they don’t remind me of someone… I think I just make up a voice. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/33 "2006-03-23T05:44:34Z")
Nope, no voice. I’ve tried to read with a voice in my head, but it slows me down far too much. _Particularly_ if I have to do all the accents! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/34 "2006-03-23T05:48:25Z")
I _think_ there’s a voice, but I can’t quite really tell. It’s nothing distinct–it certainly isn’t my voice, nor the voice of anyone recognizable. It’s probably somewhere in between hearing a voice and not hearing a voice. I mean, for me reading is impossible without at least a fleeting sense of the sounds of words, but I’m not exactly consciously aware of a voice. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/35 "2006-03-23T07:26:51Z")
Male here. I always hear my internal voice when I’m reading (and often, when I’m not reading). I can’t listen to audio books, because they’re not in my voice, so my mind wanders. I also visualize quite a bit, often going way beyond the author’s descriptions. ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/36 "2006-03-23T09:58:50Z")
Another male, and a fine question indeed. I hear a voice when I read. Currently reading The Historian, which is written from a young girls perspective. I hear her speaking and then it switches when her father takes up the narrative. Also need to visualise what I’m reading. In fact, if the description is confusing or downright odd, I have real trouble… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/37 "2006-03-23T10:16:50Z")
I usually “hear” one—and it varies on what voice it is. Sometimes the characters have distinct voices, sometimes it’s just one narrator. For the most part, it’s not my voice, I don’t think. Accents are hit and miss—if the dialogue or the character is really loud and over the top, it carries through, but if the dialogue is written in fairy “neutral” english, everyone just sounds American. (And it’s been awhile since I’ve read it, but I seem to remember a lot of the written speech in Huckleberry Finn “sounding” like a stroke victim. _Connecticut Yankee_, which I read last winter, “sounded” like Hal Holbrook was reading it.) And I _always_ visualize. I couldn’t stop it if I tried—the scenes paint themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/38 "2006-03-23T11:48:51Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > \ > And I _always_ visualize. I couldn’t stop it if I tried—the scenes paint themselves. Yes, I agree. And I believe it is one of the reasons I prefer reading to say listening to Audio or watching a movie. The visualizing is part of the experience. But I still hear my internal voice. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/39 "2006-03-23T11:51:02Z")
I was going to say no, but then I remembered I hear the voices of the characters in my head, and yes, they each sound different. Sometimes I catch myself mouthing to their dialogue. I also visualise a _lot_, which is why it can take me several minutes to read a page, and why I love descriptive books (I thoroughly enjoyed \*\*2001: A Space Odyssey, for example). Basically when I read, I like the story to play in my mind the way a film would. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497/40 "2006-03-23T13:35:34Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > I hear my voice, and I visualize the environment extensively, but I only have a vague idea about the look of the characters. This sums me up perfectly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hear-a-voice-in-your-head-when-you-read/349497.md?page=3)