How do I improve my reading comprehension?

These are pertinent questions not just to those appearing for the CAT, GMAT or some other competitive exam, but also to those attempting to satiate their appetite for reading.

Recently, I ‘indulged’ myself in one ‘challenge’ posted by a friend on Facebook. Consecutively for seven days, I had to post names of books that I have read. I also had to tag my friends so as to continue the chain. Well, it was a major fiasco that revealed to me, as much as to the world, two of my vulnerabilities:

a) I did not have the discipline to do this simple act as required – for seven consecutive days

b) I have smarter friends who could clearly differentiate between ‘indulgences’ and ‘challenges’ – and successfully remained ‘untaggable’

However, one random call from a dear friend, who saw my post and wanting to know how to increase his reading speed and comprehension, inspired this post.

“I want to read more,” he said.

‘So do I.” I wanted to say, mentally admonishing myself for not reading as much as I want to.

I can hear the echoes of ‘So do I’ from those who have read this post so far. 

Now, I have been a voracious reader and I also consciously worked on improving my reading speed. Thanks, partly to the above-mentioned exams. Thanks, also to the complicated books ‘supply chain’, that existed during my growing years (The ‘books supply chain’ seems like an interesting topic for a future post!)

So, before I share some tips on how to read fast, let me share some insights.

1. An average reader can read and comprehend between 200 to 250 words per minute.

2. Although it might vary upon the genre, let us assume an average book has about 60,000 words, in which case the following two scenarios are possible:

a. @ 200 words per minute this book with 60,000 words will take 4 hours

b. @ 250 words per minute this book will take 5 hours

If we somehow manage to spare 4 to 5 hours out of the 168 hours that we have in a week, we will be able to read one book per week. This is not bad! Not bad at all. 52 books in the year!

Easier said than done.

Why? We never get uninterrupted 5 hours owing to various distractions, competing priorities and other substitutes available for reading.

Thus, we end up with many half-read books and many more un-read books. (Fret not, for these books now serve as delightful and colorful backgrounds for our virtual meetings!)

If we are able to read faster, even though they be interrupted reading instances, we would still end up reading more. Consider the following:

1) An increase of reading speed by 50 words can bring down the total time required to 3.3 hours and if increased by another 50 words we can bring it down to well less than 3 hours.

2) Reading for just one hour three times a week can also help complete that book.

It is here that you may want to consider the following tips:

Step 1:

(Caveat – It may be a bit difficult in the beginning, but this can certainly be developed over time. Just don’t give up!)

Don’t read every word. Read chunks of words. Then group of sentences. Soon you will find that you are able to grasp the message from the entire paragraph in just one glance.

The trick here is to not let your eye rest on a particular word. Don’t move from one word to the other. Try to take in the entire sentence with your left and right peripheral vision.

For eg.: If the sentence reads:

“Mary had A little lamb.” (this has nothing to do with the recent Bakrid)

Look at just the ‘A’ and you will see the preceding and succeeding words too. This is a short sentence hence it was easier but with practice this can work on longer sentences too.

Step 2:

Quite often, in some genres, you will notice that the first sentence and the last sentence of the paragraph are enough for you to understand the essence of what the author is trying to say.

Sometimes the opening sentence may be followed by supporting information which will lead into the closing sentence. You may choose to skip over the details, unless you are trying to poke holes into the author’s argument (in which case you should keep aside the book and go for a debate contest)

Ok…ok…let us be nicer to the writers and let us read the first couple of sentences and also the last couple of sentences of the paragraph.

Even then, you would find yourself finishing the book faster than you thought you could.

Remember, even Francis Bacon had said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested”

Step 3:

Most people rely on a contextual understanding of what they read when challenged by an insufficient vocabulary.

This contextual understanding can be inaccurate or even inadequate, thereby impacting both speed and comprehension.

So, keep building your vocabulary and I like to quote Ludwig Wittgenstein, “The limit of my language is the limit of my world”

Keep reading!

Happy reading!