► Did you know Staples' website has a feature that lets you compare your reading speed to the national average? Go ahead. Check it out! Once you feel sufficiently inadequate, we'll explore a few speed-reading links... ;)
► Interesting, right? That brings me to the inspiration for today's post. This February, Alexis Kleinman posted an article ("You Could Soon Read An Entire Harry Potter Book In Under 90 Minutes With This App") about Spritz—a company making headlines for its speed-reading technology. You should check out their website.
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| Source: Spritz |
Apparently, they focus on the "Optimal Recognition Point"—which is a certain point the eye seeks within a given word. By making that letter red, our brains are able to process the information faster.
►If you'd rather practice speed-reading with your own material, there's an app called Spreeder that might be worth checking out.
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| Source: Spreeder |
► And speaking of speed, did you know Honesty (Mark of Nexus #2.5) features the fastest (fictional) man in the world? You should check it out next week. ;)
*Cough* But I digress. These apps seem pretty cool for things like blog posts and educational materials, but I think I'd still prefer to take my time on leisure reading. What about you guys?
Question of the Week:
Would you use a speed-reading app?
48 comments:
Reading one word at a time would be so weird though.
I don't need to check. I know I'm a slow reader.
Not sure I'd want to speed read books. I read them to enjoy them, not to speed through them. Though I do love the ones that are naturally quick reads.
You know, I'm a firm believer in speed reading some things: text books, newspaper articles. It seems like an oxymoron to leisure speedread. lol I tend to read in my mind the way I would read a book aloud. There's nothing fast about making it real. :D
How funny--I blogged about Spritz today! Great minds and all. At 500 wpm, I felt like I was reading backwards. It wasn't pleasant.
I saw the Spritz thing last week and think it's brilliant, just not for novels imo.
I saw this on someone else's Facebook post. I'll have to go check it out. I don't want to speed read novels. I like to savor them, but I think there's a point in cuing in on words. Interesting-- thanks for sharing.
I'm fast enough on my own. LOL
But seriously, I'll check it out. Sounds cool!
(Wish I'd had that in nursing school. :P)
Oh God no... NOOOOOOOOOOO! (Insert Michael Scott from the office screaming at Toby gif here)
I'm already painfully aware that I'm a very average paced reader. The people that read a book (or several) a week floor me.
I think the speed reading apps would be handy for college (like my professors who like to assign readings from 4 separate places a week before a big test!)
As far as reading for the fun of it...I read really fast as it is and sometimes miss things that I catch on the next read. Cool idea, but I don't think I'd be using it.
I'm a fast reader, but when the prose catches my heart, I go very slowly just to savor the sound and the rhythm.
I was thinking this type of software would be excellent to proofread my books with. I have a nasty habit of leaving out words, but with being fed one word at a time, it'd be a lot more noticeable.
I tried the Spritz reader, didn't enjoy it very much.
mood
Moody Writing
I'm not a big speed reader. I've always known I'm a slow reader and am okay with that. It takes a little longer to read stories, but I'm okay with that :-)
Definitely weird! I think my attention would wander...
Same here. I like to get lost in fictional worlds. That wouldn't happen with this type of speed-reading.
It has potential for other uses, though!
I'm usually a slow reader. That's how I enjoy a book. But for two of my favorite authors, I have to make myself slow down to keep from reading too fast.
I'm no fast reader. Reading a Harry Potter book in less than 2 hours sounds creepy to me. I want to savour the experience.
I'm slow reader. There is no doubt about that. When I speed read I speed read, I get all sorts of things wrong!
I scored 361, which is bloody amazing because it took me a year to read War and Peace. Okay, I probably could have done it in a month, but I was pretending I had a life. LOL. Okay, that's not true. I was writing. Okay, that's not true either. I think I'll go make some soup now. See ya later, Miss Carrie!
I apparently read 377 words per minute, 51% faster than average. I'm not surprised, since I had hyperlexia at age three and routinely finished assigned books in English way ahead of all my classmates, who were obediently only reading one or two chapters a week instead of going ahead.
It only took me 19 days to read War and Peace, and I'm hoping it'll only take two weeks when I reread it.
i find that when I take the time to read, and not speed read, I gain emotion, more content, real energy from the book. I have sped read many books and those I never grasp or can't connect as well with. and I've always thought if someone took the time to write it, I need to read thoroughly as a form of respect. p.s chibs says hi, he's bound up in the closet. I have the horse ready, but he's refusing. no worries, I brought my whip for you to take care of that. *wink* psst...jax is in the other closet, but he's enjoying it :)
yeah, I tried Spritz, and it was...weird. I have trouble believing all of their claims about improving comprehension, I have to say.
LOL! Stop, Carrie. You're making me want to go read when I have too much work to get done. But I will, oh I will. Soon. =)
I don't think I'd ever use a speed reading program. I'd just read more to improve my speed.
Heh! I would never use a speed-reader. I can go fast enough if I need to, but I enjoy books more when I don't rush. The tome I'm reading now (seriously, 1088 pages, it's a tome) has so much going on that I have to read it slowly if I want to figure everything out. And I actually want to figure it out along the way, because I have no idea when the reveals will come. O_o
Agreed there, Donna! :D
Great minds, indeed. High five!
Yeah, you wouldn't want to sneeze at 500 wpm. You'd miss half a page!
Definitely! :)
You're very welcome! Thank you for stopping by. :D
I think I'd like to speed read a few e-mails. Maybe some blog posts. After that, I'd go total ADD mode and miss pages!
I don't want to be treated by a speed-reading nurse! Can you imagine the knowledge retention there? "Uh, there was something about a vein..." LOL
Oh, EJ....
Even without the GIFs, you still manage to present the mental image. I love it. LOL
Oo, yes! Assigned readings would be perfect for this—especially if you forgot and had to do it right before class. ;)
I LOVE how you worded that, Lee. I'm the same way. :)
I didn't even think about proofreading! That is an excellent idea. :D
I can tolerate it at mid-levels, but that 500 wmp is so not happening! LOL
It always seems like I can read at a decent pace, until I have to. When there's a deadline, it takes forever! LOL
So not a speed reader. I do kind of wish I was faster so I could read more books, but if I try and speed up I feel I miss out on subtleties and nuances. BTW, that was an ingeniously done plug! ;)
I'm the same way with my favorite authors! I want to know what happens so badly. I just devour the writing. :)
I don't think I could rock a HP book in 2 hours even if I had the software. I'd see something shiny and wander off...
LOL I see how it is, spinning your lies on my blog... *grins* So great to see you around again, Joylene!
You're not alone! It seems like most of us are slow readers when it comes to fiction. :)
Wow! You don't need the software. :)
I love how you explained that, Tamizzle! I never thought about it, but you're right. We do get energy from some of the books we read. :D
Uh oh! Maybe he wanted to be the horse this time.
Yeah, I don't think much would stick for me unless it was short material!
I'm a bad influence! *grins*
Whoa! That really is a tome. I'm impressed!
Thank you, my friend! It's great to see you back around here. :) Like you, I feel like I'd be missing out on too much if I sped-read fiction.
Haha. Nice plug there. :)
I'm yet to buy into the Spritz hype. I would love to be able to read more books but the books I love, I typically read certain sections more than once, to really absorb the awesomeness.
BUT I really would like to be able to read more...
Why thank you! ;)
Same here. I would love to be able to read more, but it would kill a fictional experience for me. Maybe emails on my phone or something!
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