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Timing has always been an issue with reading comprehension, and I think I can cut my time down significantly by practicing speed reading. I always sub-vocalize when I read a passage, and that could take me anywhere from 3:45 to 4:30 on some of the more difficult passages. I've read that being able to finish reading the passage within 3 minutes is a good benchmark. I believe that learning to speed read is the key to improve on this.

Question for those who average -0/-1 on RC - how do you read passages (speed read vs sub-vocalize)? If you speed read, do you think it jeopardizes your understanding of the passage even slightly? I'm hearing from some people that speed reading isn't good for detailed-oriented passages like the science passages, what is your opinion on this? Learning to speed read involves more than to simply read more because I have to change the way I read things, and that will take some time to adapt (months). Is it worth doing this if I'm sitting for June 2016 exam?

P.S. I average -5/-6 on RC (that is per section, not per passage), and I find this mostly due to time constraint.

Speed reading in general makes me nervous as a strategy to improve RC on the LSAT. First, to learn how to "speed read" will take you away from what's going to make you stronger on the LSAT--practicing the LSAT. Second, how are you certain that your speed in reading the passages is what's causing you difficulty? Are you able to read the entire passage in one sweep or are you going back and re-reading at any point? Also, you say timing is an issue, but how do you know that? Are you not able to get all the questions in RC done with say a minute to spare?

I ask these questions for a couple of reasons. The first is that reading is a very sticky skill...you develop it over a very long time and even if you fully grasp a whole new way to read, reading is actually multiple things going on at once, at the basic level you're decoding and you're comprehending and if you skew one (decoding), it will take more time for the other (comprehension) to catch up. The second is that getting bogged down in RC could be a sign that your strategy/proficiency in arguments is not as strong as it could be.

Let me get to the point--I'd avoid learning to speed read and instead look to make minor adjustments to how you read that can help you be a little more efficient. By small adjustment I mean using your pencil to follow along, or developing some reflexive habits that you do while you're reading, like underlining the topic sentence of each paragraph you read for instance. I'd also make sure you are 100% comfortable with how to spot a conclusion and draw an inference.

I've seen a lot of students approach RC this way, but I've never seen it work. You get better by practicing and learning how to anticipate what's going to be important, by working on retention so you stop referencing back to the passage pretty much ever, and by figuring out strength and scope so you stop falling for tricky answer choices.

I think it helped me. IMO, speed reading isn't about learning to gloss over texts, it's about learning to stop pronouncing each word in your head as you read (sub-vocalizing), so that you read faster without absorbing less information.

I didn't invest a ton of time in it while I was studying, but while I was reading articles, reddit, etc. on breaks, I would just copy text into this website (spreeder.com) and speed read what I was already going to be reading anyway.

I agree with the other posters that there are many more important things to focus on for the LSAT, but the way I did it, I didn't sacrifice study time to practice speed reading, and I think it ultimately allowed me to spend more time on the questions than the passage.

Mrs Featherbottom wrote:I think it helped me. IMO, speed reading isn't about learning to gloss over texts, it's about learning to stop pronouncing each word in your head as you read (sub-vocalizing), so that you read faster without absorbing less information.

I didn't invest a ton of time in it while I was studying, but while I was reading articles, reddit, etc. on breaks, I would just copy text into this website (spreeder.com) and speed read what I was already going to be reading anyway.

I agree with the other posters that there are many more important things to focus on for the LSAT, but the way I did it, I didn't sacrifice study time to practice speed reading, and I think it ultimately allowed me to spend more time on the questions than the passage.

Score from speed reading: 160
Score from actually reading: 170

iamapipersson wrote:

Mrs Featherbottom wrote:I think it helped me. IMO, speed reading isn't about learning to gloss over texts, it's about learning to stop pronouncing each word in your head as you read (sub-vocalizing), so that you read faster without absorbing less information.

I didn't invest a ton of time in it while I was studying, but while I was reading articles, reddit, etc. on breaks, I would just copy text into this website (spreeder.com) and speed read what I was already going to be reading anyway.

I agree with the other posters that there are many more important things to focus on for the LSAT, but the way I did it, I didn't sacrifice study time to practice speed reading, and I think it ultimately allowed me to spend more time on the questions than the passage.

Score from speed reading: 160
Score from actually reading: 170

If we want to get all anecdotal with this, I scored above 170 while speed reading, so it's obviously not a recipe for disaster. Not saying it'll work for everyone though.

You don't have to speed-read to do well on RC. You can't be super slow, but remembering the important points is more important than racing through the passage. When the adrenaline is flowing, it's actually easy to go too fast... I think I finished like 5 minutes early and went -2.

I don't speed read, per se, but I read fast. It would take me about 45-90 seconds to skim-read a passage. I wasn't absorbing 100% of the info needed to answer all questions on that first read. That got me a general idea of the subject, the overall thesis, and a mental image of where certain things were mentioned within it. But I could usually answer any questions on the overall topic, and I could quickly locate specific things to re-read a paragraph ("where did it talk about painting X?" or "where were they contrasting Y with Z?" without having to search. I would typically finish RC sections with ~10 minutes to spare.

I don't know if this is a technique that can be learned or taught, but it was kind of just how my brain works on that kind of reading already, and it happened to work ok. I don't remember my score breakdown anymore, but I had a 171.

Mrs Featherbottom wrote:

iamapipersson wrote:

Mrs Featherbottom wrote:I think it helped me. IMO, speed reading isn't about learning to gloss over texts, it's about learning to stop pronouncing each word in your head as you read (sub-vocalizing), so that you read faster without absorbing less information.

I didn't invest a ton of time in it while I was studying, but while I was reading articles, reddit, etc. on breaks, I would just copy text into this website (spreeder.com) and speed read what I was already going to be reading anyway.

I agree with the other posters that there are many more important things to focus on for the LSAT, but the way I did it, I didn't sacrifice study time to practice speed reading, and I think it ultimately allowed me to spend more time on the questions than the passage.

Score from speed reading: 160
Score from actually reading: 170

If we want to get all anecdotal with this, I scored above 170 while speed reading, so it's obviously not a recipe for disaster. Not saying it'll work for everyone though.

can you say what your section wise scores were? how much time would you take to read the passage and how much to answer questions?

CPAlawHopefu wrote:Timing has always been an issue with reading comprehension, and I think I can cut my time down significantly by practicing speed reading. I always sub-vocalize when I read a passage, and that could take me anywhere from 3:45 to 4:30 on some of the more difficult passages. I've read that being able to finish reading the passage within 3 minutes is a good benchmark. I believe that learning to speed read is the key to improve on this.

Question for those who average -0/-1 on RC - how do you read passages (speed read vs sub-vocalize)? If you speed read, do you think it jeopardizes your understanding of the passage even slightly? I'm hearing from some people that speed reading isn't good for detailed-oriented passages like the science passages, what is your opinion on this? Learning to speed read involves more than to simply read more because I have to change the way I read things, and that will take some time to adapt (months). Is it worth doing this if I'm sitting for June 2016 exam?

P.S. I average -5/-6 on RC (that is per section, not per passage), and I find this mostly due to time constraint.

Are you using The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim? That's the best use of your time right now. He answers all kinds of questions like this. There's no secret or magic to it. Common sense dictates that, the faster you can read while still maintaining comprehension, the more time you'll have to work on questions. So if you have time in your study schedule, it's definitely a good idea to try pushing your reading pace. I used to be a TERRIBLE subvocalizer—in fact, I was a lip mover. It took me a while to get my mouth to stay shut, and then a while longer to silence the inner voice. In the end I was still subvocalizing a little bit, but more quietly, maybe only every few words. Push yourself to read faster than you're comfortable with and see if you can do it.

Also, I think the biggest benefit to reading fast is not just so that you can get through the first read quickly. It's so that during the questions, you can go back and forth rapidly and repeatedly between the questions and the passage. The best thing you can do during your initial read is to understand the main points and to remember physically where different things are mentioned in the passage. Then, and this was probably the biggest thing that allowed me to get -0 on the section, you need to fearlessly dive back into the text again and again as required by the questions. I can't tell you how much time I used to waste THINKING about questions rather than simply looking through the text. It was because, at that point, I wasn't a fast enough reader (or just not comfortable pushing myself to read faster than I thought I could).

Remember, this section is about reading, not thinking. There was probably one question on my LSAT that was legitimately tricky. The rest was just stupid shit that you had to find in the passage. In general, I think the biggest challenge for any smart person on RC is overthinking. 9/10 questions are simple. But you get paranoid and think they are trying to trick you. 9/10 times they're not. So err on the side of assuming the question is simple.

TL;DR Get a big-picture understanding of the main points first, and then be ready to dart your eyes around constantly looking for shit as required by the questions. That's where speed reading really helps.

Also wait, if you are sitting in June, you shouldn't really be doing full timed sections now. You should be working through a prep book—again I recommend Mike Kim—and working on your form. Work on technique, the steps you should go through as you read a passage and approach questions.

Then, once you get your form down, you need to just practice incessantly and zero in on your specific mistakes. I did every released RC section (1–74, A, B, C) at least once.

One more thing, I should clarify that they actually do try to trick you a lot with tempting wrong answers. What is rare, however, is a RIGHT answer that required complicated thought to arrive at. You will often find an unsatisfying right answer—unsatisfying because it seems stupid and simple—and then think that some other answer must be right because of a complicated chain of thoughts that you start running through. That is a sure sign you are overthinking.

clovis wrote:

CPAlawHopefu wrote:Timing has always been an issue with reading comprehension, and I think I can cut my time down significantly by practicing speed reading. I always sub-vocalize when I read a passage, and that could take me anywhere from 3:45 to 4:30 on some of the more difficult passages. I've read that being able to finish reading the passage within 3 minutes is a good benchmark. I believe that learning to speed read is the key to improve on this.

Question for those who average -0/-1 on RC - how do you read passages (speed read vs sub-vocalize)? If you speed read, do you think it jeopardizes your understanding of the passage even slightly? I'm hearing from some people that speed reading isn't good for detailed-oriented passages like the science passages, what is your opinion on this? Learning to speed read involves more than to simply read more because I have to change the way I read things, and that will take some time to adapt (months). Is it worth doing this if I'm sitting for June 2016 exam?

P.S. I average -5/-6 on RC (that is per section, not per passage), and I find this mostly due to time constraint.

Are you using The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim? That's the best use of your time right now. He answers all kinds of questions like this. There's no secret or magic to it. Common sense dictates that, the faster you can read while still maintaining comprehension, the more time you'll have to work on questions. So if you have time in your study schedule, it's definitely a good idea to try pushing your reading pace. I used to be a TERRIBLE subvocalizer—in fact, I was a lip mover. It took me a while to get my mouth to stay shut, and then a while longer to silence the inner voice. In the end I was still subvocalizing a little bit, but more quietly, maybe only every few words. Push yourself to read faster than you're comfortable with and see if you can do it.

Also, I think the biggest benefit to reading fast is not just so that you can get through the first read quickly. It's so that during the questions, you can go back and forth rapidly and repeatedly between the questions and the passage. The best thing you can do during your initial read is to understand the main points and to remember physically where different things are mentioned in the passage. Then, and this was probably the biggest thing that allowed me to get -0 on the section, you need to fearlessly dive back into the text again and again as required by the questions. I can't tell you how much time I used to waste THINKING about questions rather than simply looking through the text. It was because, at that point, I wasn't a fast enough reader (or just not comfortable pushing myself to read faster than I thought I could).

Remember, this section is about reading, not thinking. There was probably one question on my LSAT that was legitimately tricky. The rest was just stupid shit that you had to find in the passage. In general, I think the biggest challenge for any smart person on RC is overthinking. 9/10 questions are simple. But you get paranoid and think they are trying to trick you. 9/10 times they're not. So err on the side of assuming the question is simple.

TL;DR Get a big-picture understanding of the main points first, and then be ready to dart your eyes around constantly looking for shit as required by the questions. That's where speed reading really helps.

from all the research lit i've read about subvocalizing seems to suggest that it's nearly impossible to not subvocalize. how much time on average were you taking each reading the passage and answering questions? which test did you take and did you face the timing issues in lr also?

appind wrote:
from all the research lit i've read about subvocalizing seems to suggest that it's nearly impossible to not subvocalize

Seconding this. It seems like you get faster by subvocalizing fewer words / reading more words together as chunks, but you're still going to subvocalize at least a little. If you totally eliminate subvocalization, comprehension goes too.

appind wrote:

Mrs Featherbottom wrote:

iamapipersson wrote:

Mrs Featherbottom wrote:I think it helped me. IMO, speed reading isn't about learning to gloss over texts, it's about learning to stop pronouncing each word in your head as you read (sub-vocalizing), so that you read faster without absorbing less information.

I didn't invest a ton of time in it while I was studying, but while I was reading articles, reddit, etc. on breaks, I would just copy text into this website (spreeder.com) and speed read what I was already going to be reading anyway.

I agree with the other posters that there are many more important things to focus on for the LSAT, but the way I did it, I didn't sacrifice study time to practice speed reading, and I think it ultimately allowed me to spend more time on the questions than the passage.

Score from speed reading: 160
Score from actually reading: 170

If we want to get all anecdotal with this, I scored above 170 while speed reading, so it's obviously not a recipe for disaster. Not saying it'll work for everyone though.

can you say what your section wise scores were? how much time would you take to read the passage and how much to answer questions?

-2 for RC and both LRs, -3 for LG.

I can't remember the approximate time spent on passages vs the questions, but the general strategy I used was to read through the passage fairly quickly to understand the structure, then go back and skim through a second time to re-read the denser portions.

Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

clovis wrote:
Then, and this was probably the biggest thing that allowed me to get -0 on the section, you need to fearlessly dive back into the text again and again as required by the questions. I can't tell you how much time I used to waste THINKING about questions rather than simply looking through the text.

TL;DR Get a big-picture understanding of the main points first, and then be ready to dart your eyes around constantly looking for shit as required by the questions. That's where speed reading really helps.

Damn I liked this. I felt inspirational music playing in my sub-conscious as I read. Did reading the Trainer make you conclude this, or did it just develop over time? This is what I've wanted to tell myself is a good strategy but I've never been able to put it into a sentence.

MAPP wrote:

clovis wrote:
Then, and this was probably the biggest thing that allowed me to get -0 on the section, you need to fearlessly dive back into the text again and again as required by the questions. I can't tell you how much time I used to waste THINKING about questions rather than simply looking through the text.

TL;DR Get a big-picture understanding of the main points first, and then be ready to dart your eyes around constantly looking for shit as required by the questions. That's where speed reading really helps.

Damn I liked this. I felt inspirational music playing in my sub-conscious as I read. Did reading the Trainer make you conclude this, or did it just develop over time? This is what I've wanted to tell myself is a good strategy but I've never been able to put it into a sentence.

Glad I could help. Inspirational music > subvocalization. I think it was part Trainer, part hard-earned experience focusing in on my mistakes.

RZ5646 wrote:

appind wrote:
from all the research lit i've read about subvocalizing seems to suggest that it's nearly impossible to not subvocalize

Seconding this. It seems like you get faster by subvocalizing fewer words / reading more words together as chunks, but you're still going to subvocalize at least a little. If you totally eliminate subvocalization, comprehension goes too.

It's hard to say exactly what goes on in one's head while reading. Suffice it to say that the more quickly, or nimbly, you can read, the more time you will have to work on questions. Also I would say that there are different speeds at which I read during the section. For instance, my first read is quick but comfortable. Then as I scan for specific things or to refresh my understanding, I might go much faster. I'm speaking as someone who was a relatively slow reader and who improved my speed a lot through practice.

clovis wrote: It's hard to say exactly what goes on in one's head while reading. Suffice it to say that the more quickly, or nimbly, you can read, the more time you will have to work on questions. Also I would say that there are different speeds at which I read during the section. For instance, my first read is quick but comfortable. Then as I scan for specific things or to refresh my understanding, I might go much faster. I'm speaking as someone who was a relatively slow reader and who improved my speed a lot through practice.

quoting the other question also

how much time on average were you taking each reading the passage and answering questions? which test did you take and did you face the timing issues in lr also?

appind wrote:

clovis wrote: It's hard to say exactly what goes on in one's head while reading. Suffice it to say that the more quickly, or nimbly, you can read, the more time you will have to work on questions. Also I would say that there are different speeds at which I read during the section. For instance, my first read is quick but comfortable. Then as I scan for specific things or to refresh my understanding, I might go much faster. I'm speaking as someone who was a relatively slow reader and who improved my speed a lot through practice.

quoting the other question also

how much time on average were you taking each reading the passage and answering questions? which test did you take and did you face the timing issues in lr also?

I can't remember specific timing. As for LR, timing is of course huge there too and it certainly helps to read quickly. But your reading will generally need to be slower there than in RC.

Clyde Frog wrote:Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

iamapipersson wrote:

Clyde Frog wrote:Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

clovis wrote:

iamapipersson wrote:

Clyde Frog wrote:Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Speed reading would be considered finishing a passage in 1:30 or less when it takes you 2:30 or more to understand it fully. Some of the toughest passages can take more than 4:00 to get through like maize and water bugs. With a solid understanding of the passage you will probably only need to refer back to the text on one or two questions. You can easily complete two passages in 7:00 or less which leaves you 10:30 each for the last two.

Clyde Frog wrote:

clovis wrote:

iamapipersson wrote:

Clyde Frog wrote:Speed reading is a good way to kill your RC score

This. So hard.

I honestly don't know what you guys mean by this. Do you mean: "Trying to push your reading pace to the point where you are losing comprehension is a good way to kill your RC score?" or "Wasting time with fancy speed-reading techniques is a good way to kill your RC score?" or something else?

Obviously it is an advantage to read faster. Unless you believe that there is literally nothing a person can do to increase their reading speed, there is something to be gained by trying to push yourself. I'm not proposing any specific techniques, but I believe it is possible to become a more nimble reader, and that this especially important when moving back and forth from the questions to the text, as discussed above.

Speed reading would be considered finishing a passage in 1:30 or less when it takes you 2:30 or more to understand it fully. Some of the toughest passages can take more than 4:00 to get through like maize and water bugs. With a solid understanding of the passage you will probably only need to refer back to the text on one or two questions. You can easily complete two passages in 7:00 or less which leaves you 10:30 each for the last two.

I suppose it depends on one's style and strengths. I found it relatively easy to read the passage quickly the first time and retain everything I needed, i.e., the main points and a layout of where things are located. However, I strongly disagree that it would be enough to refer back to the text for only one or two questions. A big-picture understanding is necessary, but not sufficient, to feel secure on most questions. Speed reading allows you to quickly scan the text in a targeted way to check things and be more secure.

At least, that's what worked for me, but your approach obviously worked as well.