# Test your reading speed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917 "2007-03-14T18:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/1 "2007-03-14T18:25:57Z")
You read a paragraph and find out how many words per min. you read. Then you get 5 minutes of speed reading training, and another paragraph. I went from 265 to 288. [http://www.rocketreader.com/demo/flashDemo.html](http://www.rocketreader.com/demo/flashDemo.html) ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/2 "2007-03-14T18:40:13Z")
906 to 1011. Pretty neat flash app. I must preface by telling you I’ve done speed reading training before, two in person and a couple online. In my case, I’d bet the reason for my “improvement” is simply knowing the kind of questions that were going to be asked, and the software warming up my eyes, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/3 "2007-03-14T18:42:23Z")
393 to 397. Did the grammatical errors bug anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/4 "2007-03-14T18:53:48Z")
631 to 634. Hardly seems worth it for a 0.05% improvement. I agree with Pygmy Rugger, though, in that I wasn’t reading for complete comprehension, and if the questions had been a bit more obscure, I probably wouldn’t have scored well on them. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/5 "2007-03-14T19:15:26Z")
Damn, I’m a slow reader. Maybe I should seriously look into speed reading. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/6 "2007-03-14T19:23:04Z")
434 to 519 not bad, but I think its more of getting my eyes warmed up than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/7 "2007-03-14T19:27:54Z")
380 to 509. Have to admit that once I knew the type of questions they’d ask, I was able to essentially skim the second one. While I get a good sense of the gist of material reading that fast, and can scan for info I want, I admit I am not great at understanding and retaining unfamiliar or challenging info. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/8 "2007-03-14T19:31:09Z")
[QUOTE=auRa] 393 to 397. Did the grammatical errors bug anyone else? [/QUOTE] Oh, yeah. Very choppy writing in the word grouping exercise – as if Captain Kirk himself had dictated it. 392 to 413. I can’t say I enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/9 "2007-03-14T19:33:28Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] 392 to 413. I can’t say I enjoyed it. [/QUOTE] Me either. I probably would’ve done better if I hadn’t known I was being tested. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/10 "2007-03-14T19:34:47Z")
723 to 785. Interesting, but now I have a freakin’ headache. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/11 "2007-03-14T19:37:06Z")
[QUOTE=Batsinma Belfry] Me either. I probably would’ve done better if I hadn’t known I was being tested. [/QUOTE] The massive orange background was pretty aggravating, too. You think they’d pick something more restful. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/12 "2007-03-14T19:39:55Z")
1112 - 1130. I don’t see paying for this. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/13 "2007-03-14T19:41:26Z")
493 up to 609. I don’t think it was the training so much, as knowing what sort of questions to expect, so I was much less careful the second time…basically skimming. Also, I found the “word grouping” stuff to be VERY annoying. I think I tend to keep my eyes moving when I read, and that forced them to stop and start. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/14 "2007-03-14T19:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=auRa] 393 to 397. Did the grammatical errors bug anyone else? [/QUOTE] Nope, I was reading too fast to notice them. 😉 I usually don’t notice spelling or grammar errors unless I’m specifically looking for them, though. Which probably explains why my spelling sucks so bad! ---
**Author:** ![Aguecheek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/15 "2007-03-14T19:54:14Z")
488 _down_ to 453. I usually read in the method they describe, unless I know I’m going to be tested for comprehension, whereupon I unconsciously slow down to make sure I did get it all. Don’t know how the hell I lost time, though. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/16 "2007-03-14T20:02:47Z")
774 down to 700. I wasn’t reading in depth either time, and my eyes were tired enough after all the stuff in the middle that I wasn’t as effective the second time around. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/17 "2007-03-14T21:12:30Z")
780 to 1122. The first was reading for comprehension, the second was to extract information, two entirely different things. The results would have been the same, even if I’d skipped the middle part. Actually, I might have been faster the second time around if I’d skipped the silly exercises. ---
**Author:** ![Jimson\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@Jimson\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimson_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/18 "2007-03-14T21:17:39Z")
I was taught speed reading in “Reading Lab” in 7th grade. Does anyone else remember this? You’d take the selected text usually about a page long. You’d put it in on this desk in that would shine a colored light on each line. It moved at a certain rate. There were set comprehension question at the end of each story. As you got more right you’d get a different set of texts and the light would move faster. I think I maxed out at about 1000 wpm. Since then I’ve had to learn to slow down. It’s one thing to blaze though children’s stories it’s another to read investigative reports and legal documents. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/19 "2007-03-14T22:20:24Z")
I started with 1111, then got down to 936. But I was really skimming the first time. :: sigh:: how can I read so fast, and yet it takes me ages to wrestle through my reports at work? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917/20 "2007-03-14T23:17:29Z")
1395 down to 1349 after their ‘training’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/test-your-reading-speed/395917.md?page=2)