Three speeds, three jobs
Good readers don't have one speed, they shift gears. The typical adult reads non-fiction silently at around 240 words per minute.
For material you need to learn and remember: textbooks, contracts, instructions.
Normal pace for articles and books. Full understanding, comfortable speed.
For getting the gist or finding a fact. Faster, but you’ll miss details, use it on purpose.
Find your sweet spot
Each dot is one passage you've read. Push the speed up and understanding usually drops. The sweet spot is the fastest pace where you still get at least three of four questions right.
Your eyes jump, they don't glide
Reading feels smooth, but your eyes hop from word to word, stopping for about a quarter of a second each time. Skilled readers make fewer stops and fewer backward jumps. Compare the two.
Eyes, letters, meaning
Reading is recent in human history, so the brain repurposes older systems to do it. Pick a region.
The average silent reading rate for adults reading non-fiction in English, pooled across nearly 200 studies.
Brysbaert, 2019A typical eye fixation during reading, with jumps of about seven to nine letters between stops.
Rayner, 1998Reading one word at a time
Words flash in the centre of the screen at a set pace (RSVP). It removes eye movements, so you can find how fast you can read and still understand.
Where you'll notice it in everyday life
More word games
All 40 games →Read a story, recall the details.
Name items as fast as you can.
A is to B as C is to…?
Unscramble words against the clock.