How to get rid of subvocalization? When I read a text written in latin alphabet and I want to understand what it means I usually


transform each word into spoken word (internal speech) and
then I transform it into meaning.


I can't get rid of the first phase and reduce the reading process to the second phase only. In Wikipedia, this internal speech is described as subvocalization.

When I read in chinese I'm able to leave out subvocalization and go directly to the meaning. In many cases I learned only the meanings of symbols without knowing how to pronounce the symbol. I'm leaving out this mental burden and surf through the text without subvocalization. Reading is faster and my mind is in the relaxed state as if watching a movie without speech.

Are their some techniques I can learn to get rid of subvocalization when reading texts written in latin alphabet or cyrillic? Could you cite a few sources researching this skill?
The two legs upon which speed reading rests, in short, are chunking and seeking. Chunking is reading multiple words at once, while seeking allows you to find those chunks quickly and efficiently. The first exercise below will solve your subvocalization problems, but I recommend doing both in order to read text more effectively.

You'll need:


A computer with internet access for the first exercise
A stopwatch and notecards (or a flashcard system of any sort) for the second exercise


Practice Chunking with Spreeder

Many combinations of words can be comprehended simultaneously, which negates the need for subvocalization. Reading multiple words at once is called chunking. A useful tool to drill this skill is Spreeder, which breaks text into arbitrary chunks and displays them a chunk at a time.


Go to www.spreeder.com
Click to speed read the introduction
Click "spreed!"
At the bottom right, click "settings" and increase chunk size to 3
Increase wpm as desired


Practice Seeking with flashcards

After you are comfortable speed reading on spreeder at a high level, which should have solved your subvocalization problem, move on to seeking. Spreeder displays chunks right in the middle of the screen, which is predictable. Real world text, however, is not that convenient.

Still, Spreeder can be helpful.


"Spreeder" some text with chunk size 3
Write those chunks down on your flash cards
Pull up or print out the original text
Shuffle the flash cards and pull them at random
Identify the random chunk in the text as fast as possible
Use the stopwatch to time yourself after identifying 10 chunks


Doing this for 15 minutes a day will vastly improve your reading speed.


  This was the basis of the speed reading course I took at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I can't cite any research from this coffeehouse, but give it a shot and see for yourself. Personally, I read casually at 500wpm at 90% comprehension and I can read up to 800wpm at 60% comprehension. I've been able to read like this since before the class, though, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.