Do you ever wonder why some people can go through books so rapidly, and others take forever to finish a thin paperback novel?
Is the ability to read at an increased pace something that a person is born with or something that they develop over time? And what about that super slow reader is there still hope for them?
Well, to go back to the source of this issue, it has been assessed by reading experts that the way we learn to read as a child directly affects the type of readers we become in the future.
It is usually during childhood that we form bad reading habits that we carry on to our adulthood. This contributes to why some people are slow readers.
One of the earliest ways children learn how to read is through subvocalization. This is when you read the words that you hear out loud in your head. Some people even mouth out the words to themselves. Reading experts say that this is how we learn to develop comprehension, and absorb the information we are receiving.
Certain words are so familiar to us that we don’t even unconsciously subvocalize. This is because we naturally make the connection with the meanings of these words since they are so familiar to us. Some examples of these words are: brand name products we are familiar with, road signs, etc.
Individuals who want to try to read faster consciously make an effort to lessen their subvocalization during reading. The average reading speed of a person is around 250 words per minute accompanied by a reading comprehension level of around 60%.
Some of the bad reading habits that individuals possess they have nurtured over a lifetime. Being taught by a slow reader is especially detrimental to a child since he or she might pass on some bad reading habits to the child.
Some bad reading habits include:
Vocalizing while reading. Basically this means reading the words out loud.
Reading a text one word at a time. Not only does this decrease a person’s reading speed. Also, it has been said by reading experts that reading word by word decreases a reader’s understanding of the material. Reading words by grouping expand a reader’s understanding of the text as a whole.
Regressing. This means going back to reread words, or sentences that have been read because it has become a habit, and not because of necessity. This accounts a great deal as to why some individuals are slow readers.
Another thing that contributes to a child becoming a slow reader is fostering a negative attitude towards reading. Thinking that reading is boring, or that watching a movie, or playing video games instead of reading is not going to help a child read any faster.
A child will just become restless and anxious to get the task of reading over with if he or she is burdened with this type of mentality.
If this type of attitude does not get corrected, a child would grow up harboring these negative feelings toward reading.
Most children start learning how to read at around 6 or 7 years of age. It is important that the child is not forced to learn how to read until he or she is ready, because this will add an additional burden and frustration to the child, which may result in reading problems.
Most people who are slow readers are not so because they lack the ability to read faster. It is because of these bad habits that they have formed over the years that they have learned to become slow readers.
Luckily, this is a problem that can be remedied. By breaking these bad reading habits, slow readers can slowly become faster readers!
