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

43 replies

RedForShort · 14/07/2019 10:14

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!!)

OP posts:
PerspicaciaTick · 14/07/2019 13:12

I don't hear or see anything. The information lands in my head like a memory, so I simply know that there is a black swan on a lake like any other fact. I read very fast, if there is a scene I particularly want to imagine (perhaps because it is beautifully written, or a complex part of the plot) then I reread and make an effort to visualise details.

FindaPenny · 14/07/2019 13:53

I can't really hear my voice but sort of like a shadow of my voice. If I want to imagine images I can but mostly don't. If I was to read in a French accent for example I can hear it.... but again I'm almost hearing where the words should be... Not my actual voice.

SingingLily · 14/07/2019 14:05

Speed reader here too. In fact, if I try to slow down, I lose the sense of what I'm reading because it all becomes disjointed individual words with no connection to each other, instead of a fluid sentence or paragraph propelling me forward. I read too quickly to hear a voice most of the time but when a voice is there, sometimes it speaks in different accents in keeping with the character or the author.

Interesting question, OP, and not something I've had to analyse before!

celtiethree · 14/07/2019 14:20

I see the words often whole sentences, no voice or pictures. Same as others who read like this I’m a speed reader. Typically read about 5 books a week. This question throws me though as I then start thinking about it and my reading becomes jerky and disjointed. Weird spacing throws me and upsets the rhythm of reading.

vampirethriller · 14/07/2019 17:42

I hear the words and see the picture like a film.

greatvengeanceandfuriousanger · 14/07/2019 17:51

When reading something short like the black swan I hear a voice but it's not specific. For proper reading no voice or pictures, just comprehension. I know I'm enjoying what I'm reading when it moves up to this level iykwim?

My oh is like your son and I only realised there were different ways when we were reading the same book at the same time and he was taking fecking ages.

greatvengeanceandfuriousanger · 14/07/2019 18:03

This is interesting and suggests subvocalisation is a learned habit. www.irisreading.com/speed. I definitely read at the speed of thought rather than sound.

"Subvocalisation (also known as auditory reassurance) is a very common habit among readers. It involves saying words in your head while reading and it’s one of the main reasons why people read slowly and have trouble improving their reading speed."

I read early by memory and have difficulty with pronunciating words I've only read. DC learning to read and write using phonics was a revelation.

TheFirstOHN · 14/07/2019 18:18

I don't hear any voices in my head. My reading speed is much faster than normal speaking speed, so they would sound ridiculous anyway.

When I see a group of words, my brain decodes all the words and the meaning without it being any kind of conscious action. I cannot look at a sentence and not read it; the reading already happened involuntarily and instantaneously as soon as I saw the words.

TheFirstOHN · 14/07/2019 18:27

I just wish I had the same ability with directions

PlainJane007 · 14/07/2019 18:59

I'm another speed reader and don't 'see' images. What really trips me up is a name or location that I don't know how to pronounce. It stops me in my tracks each time I come across it which is very frustrating when it's the main character!

RedForShort · 14/07/2019 19:56

Just came to a part in the book that informs that non-verbal conceptualisation is 400-2,000 times faster than verbal conceptualisation (that's thinking with the sound of language). Which goes a long way to explain the speed reader who don't sound out words in their head!!!

OP posts:
Equatoria · 15/07/2019 03:18

I don't hear a voice reading the words. I do have various other things in my head though, as well as whatever I'm reading. Phrases, words, music, whatever. Like background noise I suppose! Anyone else have this?

Broken11Girl · 15/07/2019 03:29

Another one who reads faster than people can speak. Like a pp I kind of hear some words though. The voice is very generic southeast mc accent. I see basic images of key scenes, saw the black swan swimming but no other detail. Eg reading a novel I might visualise the protagonists' home, based on a past home of mine or someone's I've visited.

BananaRama99 · 15/07/2019 03:50

I read it internally in my own voice and the sentence forms word by word as a read it.

Rachelover40 · 15/07/2019 03:55

I see the characters and their surroundings, hear their voices including accents. Feel emotions - joy, pain, fear.

miaCara · 16/07/2019 16:34

I had to take this slowly so that I could understand what was going on.
Like Pps I have an internal womans voice ( not my own - she has an RP accent and I definitely do not) that speaks the words that I concentrate on. I dont think the voice enunciates every word though as when Im not concentrating so hard I read much faster. Im not a speed reader as I literally lose the plot when i go too fast so have to reread pages again.
When I read the phrase I saw the whole scene at once . I read on a split second before I actually read the word so I see the whole sentence at once then again as I read the individual words. This is instantaneous though so Im not slowly reading each sentence. Sometimes my eye will catch a bit lower down the page and include that in the sentence which takes a bit of unpicking. But that usually only happens when Im tired.

isseywithcats · 16/07/2019 17:12

in my head i become the main narrator person and its as if i am standing there being them seeing what they see especially if the writer is good as a descriptor of surroundings

rockingthelook · 16/07/2019 19:39

I read very quickly and am not aware of an internal voice, I just enjoy what I am reading,however, I do struggle with imagining people with foreign /unfamiliar names, such as the scandinavian novels and sci/fi, plus Lord of the Rings, hence not enjoying them, weird, I know?

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