# Reading without sounding words out in one's mind. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429 "2009-10-20T02:49:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/21 "2009-10-20T16:46:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I didn’t know other adults did this until I had this big to-do with the boyfriend who didn’t believe me when I said I don’t hear the words. Of course I don’t hear the words - I’m _reading_. Oh, same here. I’m not really aware of even reading each word, that happens on autopilot,similar to walking or driving. And I don’t read one word at a time, I absorb sections all at once. While I am reading my mind is either analyzing the content, exploring the concepts or, in the case of fiction, imagining the story. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/22 "2009-10-20T16:55:15Z")
Whether you sound the words in your head appears to be innate and just one more variable among people. It doesn’t necessarily correlate to slow reading speed. I’m the fastest reader I know - I’ve read mysteries at a rate of two pages a minute regularly and I’ve hit three - and yet I sound out the words. I’m sounding them out now as I type. Why not just try a speed reading course? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/23 "2009-10-20T17:42:48Z")
I agree that most people sound out words in their heads. I’m a very fast reader and I know even I do it; it’s so fast though that it’s unconscious and I never noticed. How I noticed? When I read Hindi, I am slowed down because I do have to sound out words in my head, and I am not as familiar with the “shape” of words in Hindi as I am in English. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/24 "2009-10-20T18:00:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Whether you sound the words in your head appears to be innate and just one more variable among people. It doesn’t necessarily correlate to slow reading speed. I’m the fastest reader I know - I’ve read mysteries at a rate of two pages a minute regularly and I’ve hit three - and yet I sound out the words. I’m sounding them out now as I type. I sound out words when I’m typing, but not when I’m reading a novel. I don’t hear the words at all, and I was also surprised to find out that other people do. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/25 "2009-10-20T19:04:15Z")
I read a lot. If I don’t sound out words in my brain then my brain wanders and I get to thinking of something else, I skip things and loose my place. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/26 "2009-10-22T21:42:58Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Gah! I don’t usually mentally sound out words when reading, but now that you mentioned it I can’t stop doing it – I’ve read this entire thread hearing all the words in my head. Urrgh… Ditto. What have you dddoooonnneee?? ---
**Author:** ![missouri65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@missouri65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missouri65)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/27 "2009-10-23T01:15:13Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Whether you sound the words in your head appears to be innate and just one more variable among people. It doesn’t necessarily correlate to slow reading speed. I’m the fastest reader I know - I’ve read mysteries at a rate of two pages a minute regularly and I’ve hit three - and yet I sound out the words. I’m sounding them out now as I type. Same here. In fact, I didn’t know that people regularly read in any other way. I knew speed reading teaches it, but not that people actually do it naturally. For those of you who don’t sound out the words, how do you think? My thoughts take the form of an internal narrative. Every thought I have is in the form of words. I thought everyone was like this until a couple of years ago when I found out some people don’t think in words at all. After reading this thread, I wonder if the two are related. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/28 "2009-10-23T02:28:31Z")
Some of my thinking is in words, but probably just as much is spatial, and (being a scientist) a fair chunk is numerical. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/29 "2009-10-23T02:33:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Some of my thinking is in words, but probably just as much is spatial, and (being a scientist) a fair chunk is numerical. Very cool. As I discovered back in college or so, that apparently most of my thinking is verbal- I have an internal narrator saying everything and even when reading images or fiction i tend to just have words of descriptors rather than colors or scenes played out in my head. I was very surprised to find out not everyone else thinks this way! And I also consider myself a scientist-y sort of person though I do enjoy Verbal tasks more than numerical or spatial, but I’m not bad at either of those. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429/30 "2009-10-23T17:07:35Z")
I hear fine, but mostly I don’t sound out words as I read. I am a very fast reader, but have a really hard time reading out loud: I read each sentence mentally probably 3-4 times while I am speaking it, and tend to lose my place a lot. When reading on a unfamiliar subject with jargon that is new to me, I often won’t even consider how to pronounce the words…which can be embarrassing when I later try to discuss what I read with an expert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-without-sounding-words-out-in-ones-mind/514429.md?page=1)