Eliminating Sub-Vocalization

Sub-vocalization is one bad habit that limits your reading speed severely. From childhood, we are trained to vocalize everything we read. In classes, children are asked to read aloud. The purpose is to correct errors in reading. It is necessary as childhood is an intense learning phase, and learning anything new involves numerous mistakes. But if you have learned how to reading, you no longer needs sub-vocalization as it now only hinders your reading speed. Sub-vocalization is like your bicycle’s support wheel, and you don’t need it after you have started riding a bicycle well. Sub-vocalization caps your reading speed at 250-300 words per minute. So First and foremost thing you can do to drastically improve your reading speed is stop sub-vocalization in your mind. You just don’t need it anymore. Information can be processed well without using sub-vocalization.

You can first practice reading without sub-vocalization on easy texts. You can chew gum or eat nuts while reading to stop sub-vocalization. The best method is to just stop it with your willpower. It is hard but achievable. Just try to process what you are reading without sub-vocalizing it in mind.