Link of the Day: Spreeder

Spreeder is a useful little web application that you can use to train yourself to read faster and more effectively. It does so mainly by doing what it calls “silencing subvocalization.”

“Most readers have an average reading speed of 200 wpm,” the site explains in its introduction, “which is about as fast as they can read a passage out loud. This is no coincidence. It is their inner voice that paces through the text that keeps them from achieving higher reading speeds. They can only read as fast as they can speak because that’s the way they were taught to read…

“However, it is entirely possible to read at a much greater speed, with much better reading comprehension, through silencing this inner voice. The solution is simple – absorb reading material faster than that inner voice can keep up.”

Spreeder allows you to copy a block of text, and then paste it into the application. Once you hit the “play” button, it displays one word at a time at a rate you’ve chosen. Give it a try and see how fast you can go.

Posted in Link of the Day