When you read silently what do you hear or in your head? see

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I've reading a book about dyslexia, which is proving quite fascinating.

Anyway it's thrown up this question for me and, as I've only one son around at the moment to ask, I'm asking MN.

What you hear when you read - if you hear anything - your voice, another voice, a mixture of voices; ate they different accents?

Also what do you see - if anything - does the image form as you read the sentence or do you think it after you've finished.

I hear my own voice for all words and only form images occasionally (if I'm trying to figure out text and I've just realised I pause reading to do so).

My son hears his own voice and pictures images for all words that have a possible image as he reads them (the picture comes together as he reads the sentence.)

So for the sentence:

The black swan silently glided across the lake.

I read it using my voice internally and picture it after. (All takes less than a second, so feels like it might be at the same time.)

DS hears each word in his voice but pictures them as he reads so nothing for 'The', sees black for 'black' and this forms into a black swan on reading swan, etc. (Again all done quickly. Not as slow as it might come across when described!!)

I would picture a lake with trees and houses along the bank, with a black swan serenely gliding along.

I think I probably attribute each character their own voice and I have a picture of how they look.

As I read it becomes a film in my head and I see and hear the characters speaking just as if I was there stood in front of them and the places described are around me.

I don’t see anything. Just hear the words read out. It’s not how my voice sounds aloud , but is a woman’s (probably why I get such a shock when I hear my own voice recorded)

Never see pictures...but I think that’s in keeping with the fact that I don’t have a ‘minds eye’. If you ask me to actively picture your black swan I can hold the image for a flicker, no more.

I tend to speed read (which is a mixed blessing) so I don’t read out loud in my head either...I don’t speak as fast as I read. I just know what I’ve read.

When first starting I hear my own voice and see the images like a film and the more I get into it the less I hear my voice and start to hear the characters along with the images.

That's so interesting. All I see is the setting, like a film in my head. The visuals almost dominate the words, which are 'spoken' in the voices of others when there's dialogue.

I think I tend to read a descriptive sentence first and then as I reach its end, a visual forms inside my mind. I'd have to read a page and observe myself to back up that statement.
But I tend to create a whole imaginary place that matches the descriptions in a story, but I tend to add snippets of places in real life. I mean, if it's set in Paris, of course, it's Paris as we all know it. But if it's rural Northern Sweden, a place I've never been, I develop my own idea of what this must look like. It's all incredibly detailed, down to the types of trees and the way the light filters through them. Even the sounds and smells come to life in my mind. I may have trees in there that don't even populate Northern Sweden. But my head throws up all sorts of visuals when I read.

I think it's my own voice with the image forming as I read.

I find this fascinating. I don't hear the voices in my head at all, unless it's dialogue with a particular accent. I think that's probably why I can read so fast, if you have to mentally sound out all the words that must take bloody ages! If there is a picture it would come pretty instantly I suppose.

Oh that's interesting Foxyloxy1plus1, you've added information to the sentence (the trees and houses and serene-ness of the gliding). Gives some idea of how people can interpret information in text differently.

Also interested in what you say DelurkingAJ. I have to hear all the words, and I'm not a speed reader (fairly slow to be honest).

Bit of a cross post there RedSheep73. Yes exactly, but the voice in my head reads quicker than I do out loud. (I also sound out what I'm writing - so not a speed writer either - hence two minutes between out cross posts.)

I hear my own voice and very rarely picture anything unless I need to for what I’ve read to make sense. However, if I later think about something I’ve read I can picture a room in a novel for example even if I didn’t picture it at the time.

I’m also a speed reader so even though I hear my voice it’s not like an audiobook articulating every word unless I’m deliberately reading carefully. For example I read through Redsheep’s post and it’s like I hear a jumble of words but with the odd one enunciated- probably, mentally, ^ages*. I have a good memory for things I’ve read and i suspect this is why - I’m sort of summarising and making notes as I go along in a way.

I hear my own voice and an image appears in my head as I read (e.g. I can picture a black swan swimming on a lake).

If reading a text or email from someone I know, I'll usually hear that persons voice.

Just hear my own voice.
No pictures.

I can't 'see' thing when I think of them either.

I don't sound out every word though. I just read the word immediately. I guess if it was a completely unfamiliar word I might but not generally. I still read pretty fast. So though I hear the words it's much faster than if I was talking, unless I'm deliberately trying to read something slower for emphasis.

What a very interesting question OP.

I get through about a novel every four days or so on average, and I read fairly rapidly. I think I "see" whole phrases all at once and don't hear the individual words. And for descriptive pieces of writing like the sentence you give as an example, I'd just visualise the scene.

For dialogue, I think I'd "hear" the words in my head though.

I'm going to give this some thought, and pay more attention when I'm reading my book later.

Oh, and not sure if anyone else does this? If I'm feeling distracted and half thinking about something else while I'm reading, I sort of process the text through my mind on a superficial level without really paying attention to the meaning. Hard to describe really, but I realise I'm at the bottom of the page and haven't really taken in the sense of the passage, and have to go back and reread.

Interesting thread op.

I hear my internal voice saying the words. My voice with my accent. I don't see pictures or images at all. The only time I'm picturing what I'm reading is if I've seen the film of the book, then I'm picturing the scene and the actors saying the words.

I don't see or hear anything. I comprehend the meaning of the words, but I don't "hear" a voice or see any images.

I don’t see anything. Just hear the words read out. It’s not how my voice sounds aloud , but is a woman’s

Exactly this for me too.

I hear my own voice but the accent changes if I've spent a lot of time with others with a different accent. This happens to the voice in my head too

I hear the words then see the picture almost at the same time, like you OP. I don't think it's my voice. As I am typing this I'm thinking the words in my head too.

Really interesting thread.

I hear my own voice, then form a picture. Unless it's an email, then I hear the sender's voice.

I can speed read but find it tiring, like running instead of walking, and if I want to enjoy reading I slow down so I can hear my voice. Sometimes, I'll pause to enjoy the picture, like stepping into the scene and looking around it.

This is fascinating. I don’t hear anything at all, which I think is quite unusual. I had a professor once who told us that if you watch most people read, you can see minute movements of their lips from time to time - I guess that tallies with them hearing the words in their head.

I see the text, like a PP it’s often in chunks. I read very quickly as a result - always have.

I think the words, I don't hear them. I don't visualise a picture either unless I make a conscious effort. It's the same when I'm thinking of a concept or trying to solve a puzzle, the words are just there in my head but I neither hear nor see them.

When I read or talk in my head in English I have my old childhood Pakistani accent. I am unable to picture anything in my head

It plays like a film in my head. The characters speak in their voices and I see everything I read. I'm not really aware of the words iyswim.