When you read a book or text on the Internet, is it voiced by your inner voice? Or maybe it seems to you that words are spoken by a tiny creature that lives in your skull? If the answer to at least one of the questions was positive, there is no need to be scared – you are not crazy. According to one study, approximately 82% of people hear a voice in their head while reading any text. Some men and women have their own voice in their heads, while others have the text voiced by someone else. Mentally speaking a text while reading silently is called subvocalization, and this phenomenon has long been the object of scientific study. Some people believe that you need to get rid of mentally speaking text out loud as soon as possible, and life will become easier.
The voice that speaks to us the text we read to ourselves is called subvocalization
< h2>Inner voice when reading text
Hearing an inner voice while reading a book or any other text is normal. To see this, you can look at the results of a study conducted by American psychologist Ruvanee Vilhauer.
In 2015, he studied online posts in which people discussed their experiences of reading books. Based on a series of 136 messages, the researcher concluded that 82.5% of people hear their inner voice while reading. This voice is almost always gender specific and has a unique pitch, emotion, and volume.
Some people know how to change the voice that sounds in their head when reading
Half of those who heard the text spoken in their heads had their own voice in mind. But the other half of the people said that they heard the voice of another person – the narrator. Sometimes the characters' lines from the books are even voiced in different voices. Some people said that, if desired, they can turn on and off the voice acting of the text in their heads. Also, some people find it easy to change the voice in their head and control its volume.
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What is subvocalization
The fact that many people hear a voice while reading is not surprising – this phenomenon has long been known to science and is called subvocalization. Scientists believe this is a natural process in reading that helps readers recognize words quickly without taxing their brains. Subvocalization also helps us better understand and remember information from books and articles.
Scientists believe that subvocalization is very important for understanding and memorizing text
< p>It is believed that pronouncing words to oneself while reading begins in childhood. When a child learns to read, he associates each word with the sounds of its pronunciation. We retain the habit of pronouncing words to ourselves throughout our lives, so scientists believe that it is impossible to get rid of the inner voice.
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How to learn to read quickly
Speed reading experts disagree with the scientists. They believe that subvocalization only slows down reading and does not bring any benefit to a person. Pronunciation of the words being read to oneself is especially disruptive if a person moves his lips while reading – this really happens. But scientists believe that with subvocalization, a person naturally, without noticing it, makes weak movements of the muscles involved in oral speech.
Speed readers believe that subvocalization is bad
To start reading quickly, a person can learn to turn off his inner voice. This can indeed significantly increase reading speed, but comprehension and retention of the text may suffer. There are many ways to get rid of subvocalization – for example, while reading, you can distract yourself from your inner voice by speaking poetry out loud so that only your eyes run over the text. Over time, a person can begin to quickly read books even with distractions. That's what speed reading experts say, at least.
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So, reading and pronouncing every word to yourself is normal, and even good. No matter how a person reads, slowly or quickly, it is a very useful activity that broadens one's horizons, helps develop skills and improves imagination. In addition, reading before bed helps to relax, and some people fall asleep after just a couple of pages of the book. On the topic of reading, my colleague Lyubov Sokovikova has an excellent article “How to make reading a daily habit?” Be sure to check it out if you missed it!