I’m a slow reader. Always have been. When I read, I say every word aloud in my mind. I’ve been reading online that this “subvocalization” actually slows reading WAY down and doesn’t help with reading comprehension (once you know how to read). Is this true, and if so, how can I read without subvocalization? I’d like to become a better reader that can read books in weeks, not months. Thanks for any help!
I don’t think faster readers get rid of the subvocalization. They either speed it up to match or they stop being conscious of it. You want it to at least match your speaking speed or the speed a person would use if they were telling you the story out loud. I’m assuming that you don’t…talk…like…this…in…your…daily…conversations.
Ideally, when you glance at a word, you say it in your head instantly. You don’t stop to think about what word that is or how to say it out loud or study the spelling of it. Even more ideally, you glance at the first couple of words, have the context of the scene/moment, know the character’s personality, and instantly predict the entire sentence/paragraph. < — This is what happens when you get into a zone with a book that is written in a generally modern, easy style of writing. Classics with older writing styles and more complicated language are going to slow you down until/unless you get very used to them.
I took a speed reading class once, I think the first lesson was how to remove the sub-vocalization. I don’t have an inner voice anyway so I can’t tell if it actually helps but the other students seemed to buy that it made them faster.