Use prime words and raise your effective reading rate (ERR)

Efficient readers see, read and process more than one word at a time with each eye fixation. Inefficient readers see and read just one word at a time, and usually vocalize each word as it is seen and read. That limits the inefficient reader to a reading speed of roughly the same rate at which they speak— and that’s too slow to keep up with current reading demands.

Research shows that only about 2,500 “prime words” comprise about 90% of all words in the English language. IER has built on the research that created the speed reading industry, and created a series of two– to eight-word phrases that constitute reading “thought units.” These groups of prime words have three beneficial characteristics:

• They are immediately recognizable. 
• They do not need decoding. 
• The eye does not fixate on them. 

While improved reading speed is a welcome side benefit of increased comprehension, retention and recall, WPM alone (words per minute) is not the goal. Improved ERR is the ultimate goal because it considers both the speed of reading and the accuracy of the reader’s answers to a comprehension test. If a person reads at 300 WPM but scores only 80% on the comprehension test, for example, the ERR for that person would be 240.

The “Efficient Reading” workshop uses prime words to enhance the students’ ERR.

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