[madhavi]

sub-vocalisation has been a big hindrance to my reading speed. I was struggling really hard to overcome this problem.But I was unable to...I used to get drepressed whenever I check my reading speed which is MOST critical thing to CRACK CAT.

I saw an e-book posted in some of the PG threads, downloaded that and started implementing those techiniques. To my surprise I found a change...I could read without subvocalising....Thought people who cannot spend time in reading the entire book can atleast read from here and try to getrid of this problem.

Its just a cut and paste from that book


How to supress sub-vocalizing.....


The thought-stream will be experienced more in the top of the head, without

connection to the vocal organs or breath; it is a kind of thought awareness,

based on an understanding of the stream of words being read. Differentiation

between the two types of reading may be achieved through the following steps:

Step 1. Choose a page from a light novel. Easily understood material is

required because even when a good reader is reading something that he finds

difficult to comprehend, there will be a tendency to revert to subvocalisation,

when a phrase or sentence containing unfamiliar or foreign words is presented.

Unfamiliar words can only be held in mind either by having extremely good

powers of auditory visualisation or by rehearsing them subvocally.

Note: a reader using thought-stream, rather than subvocalisation, will find he is

able to detect misunderstood words more easily, because he will revert to

subvocalisation as he strives to give meaning to the unfamiliar. If you find

yourself suddenly subvocalising when you would otherwise use thought-stream,

this is a strong indication that you have just gone past a word that is

misunderstood, or a group of words forming a concept that does not make

sense. Misunderstood words should each be defined and then the concept reevaluated.

Step 2. Count out loud from one to ten repeatedly, whilst reading the page

silently using thought-stream. Counting out loud will occupy the motor-vocal

system, so that the mind is unable to subvocalise.

Step 3. When you are able to read silently whilst counting out loud, then begin

to read silently using thought-stream and to count silently at the same time

using sub-vocalisation.

An alternative method to counting is to say or subvocalise a repeated "Eee ...

eee ... eee ..." which has the same effect of occupying the vocal-motor system.

Get plenty of practice with Steps 2 & 3, so that this skill is fully acquired and

you can easily recognize the difference between 'spoken' subvocalisation and

the thought-stream.

Step 4. Once you can read silently whilst counting silently, begin to increase

your reading speed. When your reading speed exceeds 360 w.p.m., the two

types of subjective reading will become more differentiated. (Test). By using

thought-stream you can read much faster, whereas subvocalisation is limited by

the speed of motoric response.

Step 5. Now that you can easily read with thought-stream, leaving behind any

subvocalisation, it is time to add more character to the inner speech, so that it is

not just a silent stream of thought but is also a stream of visualisation. Image

the dialogue of the novel, adopting different voices in your inner speech to suit

the characters. This should further differentiate your thought-stream from

subvocalisation, which would always tend to be a reflection of your own voice.

At the same time, visualise the scenarios of the story, hear the environmental

sounds, smell all the various scents, and feel the emotions portrayed.

Continue with the above exercises until you have a reality about the two types

of reading (subvocalised and thought-stream) and can choose between them.

This approach is better than trying to suppress subvocalisation altogether.

By suppressing both types of subjective reading, one can learn to skim at more

than 2000 w.p.m., however, there will be very little retention of what has been

read. This type of reading is valuable only when one is searching for a

particular datum, or when one is doing this as a perceptual exercise.



Regards,
Madhavi

[2019caaf]

U have given very useful inputs for improving reading speed.

Reading speed is most essential thing to crack CAT. However there is difference between reading novel with dazzling speed of 1000+ and attempting verbal section with same reading speed, because in CAT we should be able to answer tricky questions as well.

So can somebody who have achieved good score in verbal, suggest the optimal reading speed for CAT ?

I feel it is 450+


cheers!

[amit_GNE]

Originally Posted by madhavi

<snip>do NOT quote huge posts in their entirety

thanks madhavi for giving tips on how to improve reading speed.

[supervish]

Originally Posted by 2019caaf

So can somebody who have achieved good score in verbal, suggest the optimal reading speed for CAT ?

Optimal? The more the merrier if you ask me

And yes... a good verbal percentile of 99.99 in 30 minutes ok by you ? If so....

By the power of Wayne's skull

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by supervish

Optimal? The more the merrier if you ask me

And yes... a good verbal percentile of 99.99 in 30 minutes ok by you ? If so....

By the power of Wayne's skull

I agree with Vish ...... There's nothing like a Optimal reading speed........ Keep improving

On a serious note...... I don't know my reading speed not have i tried to find out

The key to good reading according to me is

Don't read because you need to prepare for CAT or any other exam or for improving your reading speed for that matter.......... READ because you like reading or you find the subject intresting..... Doesn't even matter if your reading Pulp fiction or even Enid Blyton for that matter........ Read stuff because you like it and watch the reading speeds improve



Cheers,

Wayne

[pooza mishra]

So can somebody who have achieved good score in verbal, suggest the optimal reading speed for CAT ?

Cant agree with wayne and vish more

I personaly feel comprehension is equaly important. You may have a wonderful reading speed but if you cant comprehend what you are reading doesnt help you much in CAT

Comprehension comes easy when you are somewhat familiar with the subject of the passage. There fore read a variety of things now. Read about things you have no idea about and at the end see how much you could comprehend. With reading more and on varied subjetc not only does speed improve, you become more knowledgable and your associating abilities improve tremendously making comprehension easy.

And as they say instead of focusing on each and every word you target at a group of words and all. It will help you read faster. I have heard some didnt even read the entire passage in CAT nad just skimmed through it and found out the answers. See what helps you in finding out the answers. At the end, IF CAT is the sole target for improving reading speed then scores is what matters

[mr_quipster]

very valuable inputs indeed.

though i think there are umpteen thrreads already on this. Infact i had downloaded this book from which madhavi's extract is, from some other thread on RC here at PG only.

just a matter of time before the modz crack down and layeth the smacketh downeth on this thread.

quipster

[dhruvbhushan]

Originally Posted by madhavi

<snip>

Thanx a lot for this wonderful tip.
Could you please post the link for the ebbok or attacth it here.
It will be great help for all of us.

Bye BEST OF LUCK

[madhavi]

I attached the file.

Its a good book!!!

Originally Posted by dhruvbhushan

Thanx a lot for this wonderful tip.
Could you please post the link for the ebbok or attacth it here.
It will be great help for all of us.

Bye BEST OF LUCK

[MrAnderson]

Instead of just reading some instructions..buy the book..
"how to read better and faster" by norman lewis....i feel a must for preparing for cat...
lots of us have good reading speeds...ie abt 400 wpm range...i used to enjoy reading whn
i was in school/college ...but this book made me realize tht there is somethig called speed reading as opposed to just reading and if u have to perform well in an exam like cat thts
wht u hv to do...after going thru this buk..ive formed the habit of quickly going thru material to get a basic idea of wht an article is talking abt ..and main point mentioned..(unless the topic is of extreme interest to me..) for instance ..editorials..i generally set myself a time of 2-3 mins..to quickly understand wht its abt...if it really intersts me ..then ill slow down to take in all details....it is important in cat not to get too interested with the content and read with the sole purpose of getting a good score...
first yr i took cat i attempted 4/5 passages..this time all 5 passages...with much better accuracy levels ..(99.85%tile in 40 mins)

biggest plus abt the book ive mentioned is..if u start now..u can proceed step by step and finsh working out the whole thing..abt 2 mnths b4 cat...wht i did last yr..
andy.