There are more books and other written works today than there have ever been before. Tomorrow will be a record-setting day, just as will be each day afterward. It’s impossible to read everything ever written, but the number of words we’re expected to take in keep going up just the same. That means that speed reading is a pretty good tool to have in your personal arsenal.

Speed reading isn’t just a matter of cranking up the speed at which your eyes cross a page, though: there are multiple methods for increasing your reading speed. It’s also worth considering that different approaches to reading have both benefits and drawbacks. In general, the methods that allow a person to read faster don’t always provide for the same level of comprehension that slower reading allows.
Barriers to Speed Reading

There are speed reading systems out there that claim they can get you up to reading 20,000 words per minute (about 300 words per minute is typical of a college reader without any speed reading training). At best, that 20,000 words per minute claim allows only for skimming. It’s likely to provide minimal comprehension — rarely useful. More realistic speeds range from 600 to 2,000 words per minute: at those rates a reader can usually comprehend the words on the page.

No matter what approach a particular speed reading system takes, most start with eliminating bad reading practices and then accelerating reading speed through a series of exercises. Bad reading habits can include:

* Sounding out word out loud as one reads — or subvocalizing
* Re-scanning over passages already read
* Moving one’s eyes across the page as one reads
* Using one reading speed for all reading material

Subvocalization is often considered the biggest barrier to speed reading. Because of the way that reading is taught in most schools — students learn to sound out letters rather than recognize whole words — most readers automatically sound out words, especially those that aren’t in their normal reading vocabulary. Subvocalization, no matter its value for initially learning to read, slows down most readers. That’s because saying a word, whether aloud or subvocally, takes more time than recognizing a word.
Learning to Speed Read

There are thousands of speed reading books, systems and software packages. For the most part, those systems are equally effective. It’s also possible to train yourself in speed reading using resources that you can find online. No matter how you approach learning to speed read, you’ll find that you need to complete (and often repeat) a series of exercises. Most systems rely on a simple set of exercises, repeated at increasing speeds to train your eyes and mind to take in and interpret information faster.

A few free speed reading resources include:

* Wikibooks’ Speed reading textbook
* How do you become a better reader? (includes several guides)
* The SQ3R Reading Method

There are also thousands of books available on the topic of speed reading. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going out and purchasing any speed reading book that’s on the shelf at your local bookstore. Most libraries carry at least one or two different speed reading books, giving you a chance to take a look at individual approaches and try out exercises before committing yourself.
Speed Reading Software

There are numerous commercial speed reading programs that promise to get your abilities up to a faster level. Prices for such software can vary dramatically: You might find a software package that could do the trick for under $20, but there are just as many packages priced over $200.

There are several common approaches used in commercial software packages. The pioneer of speeding reading software, Vortex Speed Reading, placed words in front of a reader one at a time — the method forces readers to focus on just one spot on a page, rather than moving their eyes to read. Some of the speed reading packages currently available follow Vortex’ model.

Others present words in a serial stream. Still other software options guide readers through lines of text at certain speeds, often highlighting certain words in order to train readers to direct their attention to the center of the page.

These software options can provide you a starting point for study, if you’re interested in taking that route:

SpeedRead.org
RocketReader
The Literacy Company
eyeQ
Speed Reading on the Computer

In many cases, the speed at which you read the page of a book will be identical to that at which you read words on a computer screen. However, some readers report being unable to increase their on-screen reading speed beyond 1,000 words — no matter how fast they read pages. The problem seems to be connected to the refresh rates of CRT screens: as a speed reader progresses through the page, ghost images can appear as a result of screen refreshes. It’s a sort of disconnect between the eye and the brain that causes quickly refreshed images to superimpose ghosts. Readers using LCD screens don’t have the problem.

Some readers also find that larger computer monitors impede their speed reading; most speed reading systems recommend that readers rely on peripheral vision to read, rather than running their eyes across a page. With large computer monitors, taking in text at the edges of the screen can prove difficult. A simple fix is reducing the size of the window in which you are reading.

現(xiàn)在這個時代，書籍和其他書面作品的數(shù)量要比以往任何時候都多。明天又將是創(chuàng)紀錄的一天，就像以后每天一樣。想要閱讀所有的書面材料幾乎是不可能的，但與此同時我們期望要攝入的文字數(shù)量卻持續(xù)地增長著。這就意味著快讀閱讀將是一件很好的工具，我們可以以此來武裝自己的頭腦。

快速閱讀并非等同于簡單的加快你眼睛掃視頁面的速度，盡管會有很多種方法讓你這樣做。同時我們也應該看到，不同的閱讀方式都有各自的優(yōu)缺點。總而言之，使人們快速閱讀的方法并不總能保證同等程度地理解原文意思，而慢讀倒是可以。
快速閱讀的障礙

現(xiàn)在有些快速閱讀方法宣稱能夠使您達到2萬字每分鐘的閱讀速度（約300字每分鐘就可達到典型大學生的讀速了，而他們沒有經(jīng)過任何速讀訓練）。此2萬字每分鐘的說法充其量也只夠進行略讀。這種做法可能很少能做到理解原文－因為很難奏效。還有很多較實際的速度，即每分鐘從600字到2000字：以這樣的速度一個讀者是可以做到理解書面文章的。

無論一個具體的速讀體系采取哪種方式，大部分體系都是先從改掉壞的閱讀習慣進而通過一系列練習以加快閱讀速度開始的。壞的閱讀習慣包括：

# 閱讀時出聲－或默讀
# 回視已讀段落
# 閱讀時眼睛來回掃視
# 以同樣的速度閱讀所有的材料

默讀被視為速讀的最大障礙。正因為幾乎所有的學校都教習閱讀－學生們學會了讀出聲來而不是辨認字形－所以大多數(shù)讀者在閱讀時都很自然地出聲了，尤其對于那些不夠基本閱讀詞匯的讀者們。默讀，先不論它在最初學習閱讀時的價值如何，卻降低了大多數(shù)讀者的閱讀速度。這是因為要把一個字讀出來，不管是出聲的還是默念的，都要比辨認這個字多花一點時間。
學習速讀

現(xiàn)在社會上有數(shù)以千計的速讀教材、體系以及軟件。大體上這些速讀體系都可以同樣見效。與此同時，如果您在網(wǎng)上尋找素材來對自己進行速讀訓練也是可行的。不管您如何進行速讀學習，您會發(fā)現(xiàn)您需要完整地（同時也會重復地）進行一系列練習。大多數(shù)方法依靠一套簡要的練習設(shè)置來進行，即反復訓練眼睛以及大腦攝入和轉(zhuǎn)換信息的能力，以提高閱讀速度。

一些可用于速讀的材料包括：

# Wikibooks’速讀教材
# 怎樣使您成為一個速讀者？（包括一些指導意見）
# SQ3R閱讀方法

現(xiàn)在也有數(shù)以千計的關(guān)于速讀題材的書籍有售，但我卻不建議您到當?shù)貢�店里去購買任何關(guān)于速讀方面的書籍，因為大多數(shù)圖書館會存有至少一套或兩套不同的速讀書籍，使您有機會事先在這方面做一些自我方案以及進行練習。
速讀軟件

現(xiàn)在有很多商業(yè)速讀軟件，它們承諾會讓您的閱讀速度提高到一個很高的層次。這些軟件的價格差異很明顯：您可以發(fā)現(xiàn)有些合格的軟件價碼竟低于20美元，而另外很多卻是高于200美元。

這些商業(yè)軟件使用幾種普通的速讀方法。作為速讀軟件的先驅(qū)，Vortex速讀軟件在操作的時候通常一次只給讀者顯示一些單詞－這種方法促使讀者把注意力集中在書頁的一個點上，而不是來回移動他們的眼睛進行閱讀�，F(xiàn)有的一些速讀軟件正遵循了Vortex的這種模式。

其他軟件的做法就是顯示一連串一連串的文字。另外也有一些軟件操作會指導讀者以特定的速度閱讀每行文字，而且經(jīng)常突出某些單詞以訓練讀者把注意力集中在書頁中央的能力。

這些軟件操作能夠讓您起步學習，而您需要有這個興趣按照它們的步驟進行下去。

SpeedRead.org
RocketReader
The Literacy Company
eyeQ
電腦速讀

在很多情況下，您閱讀一本書的速度，與您在電腦上進行閱讀是相同的，但是一些讀者卻反映他們進行屏幕閱讀時的速度達不到每分鐘1000字－無論他們?nèi)绾渭涌扉喿x速度。這個問題似乎與CRT屏幕的刷新頻率有關(guān)。當一個讀者進行閱讀的時候，電腦屏幕的重影會隨著屏幕的刷新而顯現(xiàn)。這是一種造成眼睛與大腦之間信息中斷的現(xiàn)象，它能夠使得電腦快速刷新的圖像疊加成重復的影像，而使用LCD顯示器的讀者則不會有這樣的問題。

也有一些讀者發(fā)現(xiàn)大尺寸電腦顯示器會妨礙他們進行速讀，而大多數(shù)速讀體系則建議這些讀者利用眼睛的余光來閱讀，而不是眼睛在書頁上掃來掃去地讀。然而對于大尺寸電腦屏幕來說，要看到屏幕邊緣的內(nèi)容卻是困難的。不過簡單調(diào)試一下能夠減小您進行速讀的視窗尺寸。