So you say that books are dumb because they take so long to read? Well, now is your chance to change that. Enter Spreeder, an online speed-reading thing that helps you read speedier.

Speed reading is the art of silencing subvocalization. Most readers have an average reading speed of 200 wpm, which is about as fast as they can read a passage out loud. This is no coincidence. It is their inner voice that paces through the text that keeps them from achieving higher reading speeds. They can only read as fast as they can speak because that’s the way they were taught to read, through reading systems like Hooked on Phonics.

However, it is entirely possible to read at a much greater speed, with much better reading comprehension, through silencing this inner voice. The solution is simple – absorb reading material faster than that inner voice can keep up.

It’s about as simple as that. Basically what happens is the program flashes single words or two at a time at a speed that you set. The words fly by so fast that you really don’t have time to internally “read” them, you more or less absorb them. To read the passage, you have to focus twice as hard to keep up with the speed, so at the same time your comprehension generally improves. I have attempted a few passages myself using the service and even in that short amount of time I feel like I have improved my reading speed.

What’s the fastest you’ve reached without being overwhelmed?