Female - it’s not a vivid presence in my head but I hear words as a kind of babbling in the background. I read fairly quickly, probably about 3-4 books a week.
I think this describes me exactly. Also, I never knew that some people don’t hear words when they read. Also also, since reading this thread, I’ve been trying to not hear words, but they are becoming more insistent in protest–it’s like when you become aware of your breathing and then can’t be unaware anymore (oh christ–maybe no one else ever becomes aware of their breathing!).
Until now.
I not only hear words when I read–I see words when I’m listening. Not 100% of the time, but often.
Female, English professor and writer and editor, and I read a lot, and quickly.
I pretty much have your personality disorder. If I slow down and pay attention, I can hear the words, but most of the time I’m just absorbing fast.
Funny - I always assume he’s blonde until the text says otherwise and I’m jolted by it. Then I forget again and go back to believing he’s blonde.d
He just is, alright.
Female, word-hearer.
Yes, and I guess it’s not that surprising: the speed at which we can rifle through words in our mind isn’t limited by the physical limitations of the mouth and vocal chords nor the need to be clearly heard.
And then there’s that thing where if you read a passage where every word has been jumbled (but the first and last letter of every word is not moved), it’s pretty readable…so similarly perhaps “the voice in the head” is not hitting every syllable, and doesn’t need to.
All that said, I’m someone that hears a voice when I read, and I can’t read any faster than, say, 2x human speech.
I’m also skeptical of speed reading (and how much information can be retained).
I read about 150 pages per hour, or 2-2.5 pages per minute, which is apparently quite fast compared to other people around me.
I don’t even see words when I read. I go into a semi-trancelike state and the words actually form a movie in my head. I feel like I’m watching a movie.
As a grad student, god I wish I had that ability. I have to read very carefully and slowly in order to absorb content.
I put ‘‘something else entirely’’ (female). I sort of hear words, but almost not. It’s hard to explain. I hear words without hearing them.
I read very quickly. If it’s fiction, I have a movie going in my head. If it’s nonfiction, it’s usually narrated. The gender changes depending on what mood I’m in or what the subject matter is. I’ve found I can also make it change from one voice to another. Halfway through a book, I decided I’d rather listen to Morgan Freeman. It worked out nicely.
My reading is non-verbal. If I’m reading one of David Brin’s uplift novels and he writes about an alien race called the G’Kek or the Mrgh’4luargi or the Karrank%, my brain doesn’t skip a beat trying to figure out how these names would be pronounced.
I don’t exactly “hear” the words in my head, but it’s as if I’m speaking the words. I read at exactly the same speed that I speak.
I have three levels of reading. When I’m reading something for fun, I don’t “hear” anything, just absorb, and go very fast. At other times, mainly non-fiction, media other than books, and authors with very dense styles, I “hear” the words and that’s still fast, but a lot slower than just absorbing them. Sometimes I read each page twice, absorbing first, then going back to “hear” it, but that’s usually if something distracted me. In the worst case, I find myself mentally pronouncing all the words as I read them, and that’s impossibly slow. I have to snap myself out of it. Funnily enough, I retain the information best at the fastest speed, probably because I’m concentrating on the content and not being distracted by form.
Also, if I’ve been spending too much time typing, I have to mentally type my thoughts on an imaginary keyboard as I think them. Can you imagine how bad that gets? 
I don’t hear the words. When I first start reading I hear everything for about a paragraph or so. Then its like the words fall away and I’m seeing what happens. So when I think back on a book it feels like I watched the film of it.
I have read that if you want to write then you should read so that you get a feel for people’s styles etc. But I find that doesn’t help me at all. Because I’m unaware of the style of writing when I’m reading.
Another thing I’ve found is that I can’t listen to audio books. I’ve tried a couple now but I find that when I’m being told the story my brain just can’t make the switch to picturing what’s happening. Its really disconcerting. Its like my brain can’t figure out what to do with the words.
This happens for both fiction and non-fiction. Although the non-fiction I read tends to be quite novelly. Maybe if I was reading dryer non-fiction that would be different.
My previous, thread-killing post on the subject. The short version is: no, I don’t “hear” or “see” anything most of the time. I form mental pictures and sounds occasionally, but most of the time it’s more like a data-dump into my head.
It’s hard to say. I don’t always subvocalize, nor do I necessarily hear what the words actually sound like. But there is this notion that I have just heard someone say the words.
Also, I do subvocalize when I’m really tired or otherwise have trouble concentrating. And I have to subvocalize for comedy, as I need the timing.
Finally, I subvocalize a lot more when writing/typing. Sometimes I actually move my lips or whisper along.+
Me neither. If the name is ridiculously difficult, I’ll rename them.
I don’t hear them, but I know that hearing them (or even mumbling them) is also perfectly normal. Like being righty or lefty, this is simply one of those things where “normal” has several options.
I read everything aloud in my head and if I mispronounce something, or emphasize the wrong word I have to start the sentence over. I’m a very slow reader.