My problem with fast reading...

[u/Haunting-Pipe7756]

Sorry if I make any orthographic mistake, English is not my first language.

I started talking before it would be expected, when I was in kindergarten (2 years old) not only I did start having trouble to communicate because I had an advanced vocabulary, but I started to being able read.

Now, when I entered childhood education (here in my country is a period that ranges from 3 to 5 years of age) I remember I could read, the thing I don't know is how good did I do it because at that ages there isn't too much pressure, the vast majority of kids start reading at 5-7 years old so we would only read simple sentences.

The thing is that when I enter primary school (6-12 years of age) with only 6 years I could read like an adult would do it, and at first it was cool because I didn't have any trouble and that was one of the numerous facts that made me get evaluated to know if I was gifted or not.

When I read to the class and our teacher gave us feedback, I would usually get the same advise, read slower.

At first I didn't understand why, because I didn't read extremely fast, I was just a 6 years old hyperlexic kid :p.

Turns out that later in my life, my ability of reading has increased instead of just stopping at that point (the thing that my 6 year old brain thought would happen), and know I can read extremely fast, and even though being able to read 450 words per minute can be impressive and useful, it has taken me to a point where I can't read out loud without "having the speed of a motorbike" (as people will tell me).

Has anyone gone through the same experience or something similar?? Can anyone give me any tips??

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[u/Paerre]

I’ve experienced the same thing as you. But I’m 2e and sometimes skip words altogether lol, 3 weeks ago in full confidence I marked an alternative on a multiple-choice test that said pre-historic men would use watercolour ink. WATERCOLOUR. I didn’t see the word watercolour there and I’m still pissed by it.

[u/Kind_Complaint695]

I know what you mean. I read extremely fast as well and received the same feedback. The best advice I got came from my mother who is an actress.

She taught me to read like an actress. You don't only say it out loud, you have to interpret it, express it in your body. The time you take to do this is enough to slower you down which will help people to understand better what you say.

[u/Logical-Frosting411 → u/Kind_Complaint695]

I agree with this. Reading out loud is a performance, not an information gathering expedition. You don't have to slow down to a set speed or read any slower, you instead focus on how you're delivering the information. I recall in the story "cheaper by the dozen" the mother would read out loud to the children but shed have them go play while she pre-read the page to herself and then call them back to read it again out loud so that she was prepared to put the perfect emphasis and expression and storytelling touches. Someone who can read very quickly could develop the skills to have that type of delivery without needing to pause to pre-read.

[u/Less_Breadfruit3121]

Ah! I’m also a pretty fast reader and when I had to read (in church or school for example) I also was also very fast and people told me to slow down.

Even now, in presentations at work, in my notes every other sentence says SLOW!!

It’s really hard to slow down because I don’t really think I speak too fast to start with 😎

[u/llijilliil → u/Less_Breadfruit3121]

Nah, you are just blasting through the words as rapidly as possible without bothering to actually "present" that information. Words have meaning, its not enough to just say them and rattle on, the take time to piece together and consider.

Do you watch youtube at time 10 speed, you can certainly do so if you want and get the gist of the story etc, but that's not the same experience as the one intended by the creator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W31e9meX9S4

[u/Less_Breadfruit3121 → u/llijilliil]

Actual presenting happens very rarely. The vast majority of ‘presenters’ -including those you’d expect to be able to actually present, are just reading notes out loud from a screen … and they read those notes too slow for my liking

Also, YouTube speed isn’t standardised so ‘time 10 speed’ means precisely nothing

[u/Overiiiiit]

This makes a lot of sense, I talk quickly because my brain works quicker than a mouth ever could. According to my parents I was saying computable words (to them) at six months. I’m not sure how that is possible. It is what I’m told.

[u/DarknessSOTN]

It happens to me too. When I was little and not so little I was unable to slow down, now I can control it a little but I still read sometimes too fast.

[u/RnbwBriteBetty]

Read like you're reading to a child-slow it down to where others can understand you. Imagine you're reading a book to a bunch of 5 year olds who wont be able to keep up with you,slow and steady wins the race. If they can't keep up, they wont get it. It's fine to read fast in your head, but when reading information to others, you have to slow down to give them time to grasp the information you are trying to impart.