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.

现在这个时代，书籍和其他书面作品的数量要比以往任何时候都多。明天又将是创纪录的一天，就像以后每天一样。想要阅读所有的书面材料几乎是不可能的，但与此同时我们期望要摄入的文字数量却持续地增长着。这就意味着快读阅读将是一件很好的工具，我们可以以此来武装自己的头脑。

快速阅读并非等同于简单的加快你眼睛扫视页面的速度，尽管会有很多种方法让你这样做。同时我们也应该看到，不同的阅读方式都有各自的优缺点。总而言之，使人们快速阅读的方法并不总能保证同等程度地理解原文意思，而慢读倒是可以。
快速阅读的障碍

现在有些快速阅读方法宣称能够使您达到2万字每分钟的阅读速度（约300字每分钟就可达到典型大学生的读速了，而他们没有经过任何速读训练）。此2万字每分钟的说法充其量也只够进行略读。这种做法可能很少能做到理解原文－因为很难奏效。还有很多较实际的速度，即每分钟从600字到2000字：以这样的速度一个读者是可以做到理解书面文章的。

无论一个具体的速读体系采取哪种方式，大部分体系都是先从改掉坏的阅读习惯进而通过一系列练习以加快阅读速度开始的。坏的阅读习惯包括：

# 阅读时出声－或默读
# 回视已读段落
# 阅读时眼睛来回扫视
# 以同样的速度阅读所有的材料

默读被视为速读的最大障碍。正因为几乎所有的学校都教习阅读－学生们学会了读出声来而不是辨认字形－所以大多数读者在阅读时都很自然地出声了，尤其对于那些不够基本阅读词汇的读者们。默读，先不论它在最初学习阅读时的价值如何，却降低了大多数读者的阅读速度。这是因为要把一个字读出来，不管是出声的还是默念的，都要比辨认这个字多花一点时间。
学习速读

现在社会上有数以千计的速读教材、体系以及软件。大体上这些速读体系都可以同样见效。与此同时，如果您在网上寻找素材来对自己进行速读训练也是可行的。不管您如何进行速读学习，您会发现您需要完整地（同时也会重复地）进行一系列练习。大多数方法依靠一套简要的练习设置来进行，即反复训练眼睛以及大脑摄入和转换信息的能力，以提高阅读速度。

一些可用于速读的材料包括：

# Wikibooks’速读教材
# 怎样使您成为一个速读者？（包括一些指导意见）
# SQ3R阅读方法

现在也有数以千计的关于速读题材的书籍有售，但我却不建议您到当地书店里去购买任何关于速读方面的书籍，因为大多数图书馆会存有至少一套或两套不同的速读书籍，使您有机会事先在这方面做一些自我方案以及进行练习。
速读软件

现在有很多商业速读软件，它们承诺会让您的阅读速度提高到一个很高的层次。这些软件的价格差异很明显：您可以发现有些合格的软件价码竟低于20美元，而另外很多却是高于200美元。

这些商业软件使用几种普通的速读方法。作为速读软件的先驱，Vortex速读软件在操作的时候通常一次只给读者显示一些单词－这种方法促使读者把注意力集中在书页的一个点上，而不是来回移动他们的眼睛进行阅读。现有的一些速读软件正遵循了Vortex的这种模式。

其他软件的做法就是显示一连串一连串的文字。另外也有一些软件操作会指导读者以特定的速度阅读每行文字，而且经常突出某些单词以训练读者把注意力集中在书页中央的能力。

这些软件操作能够让您起步学习，而您需要有这个兴趣按照它们的步骤进行下去。

SpeedRead.org
RocketReader
The Literacy Company
eyeQ
电脑速读

在很多情况下，您阅读一本书的速度，与您在电脑上进行阅读是相同的，但是一些读者却反映他们进行屏幕阅读时的速度达不到每分钟1000字－无论他们如何加快阅读速度。这个问题似乎与CRT屏幕的刷新频率有关。当一个读者进行阅读的时候，电脑屏幕的重影会随着屏幕的刷新而显现。这是一种造成眼睛与大脑之间信息中断的现象，它能够使得电脑快速刷新的图像叠加成重复的影像，而使用LCD显示器的读者则不会有这样的问题。

也有一些读者发现大尺寸电脑显示器会妨碍他们进行速读，而大多数速读体系则建议这些读者利用眼睛的余光来阅读，而不是眼睛在书页上扫来扫去地读。然而对于大尺寸电脑屏幕来说，要看到屏幕边缘的内容却是困难的。不过简单调试一下能够减小您进行速读的视窗尺寸。