B1–B2 Reading:
The 250–350 WPM Goal
At the intermediate level, your goal is to move from "translating" to "processing." Reaching 300 WPM allows you to handle university-level workloads without burning out.
Where Your Speed Fits
| Level | WPM Range | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| High School Average | 180–250 | Good for exams and stories |
| University Entry (B2) | 250–350 | Comfortable with textbooks and lectures |
| Advanced Academic (C1+) | 350–500+ | Fast reading of research papers and dense texts |
| Native Speaker Average | 200–300 | Everyday reading (novels, news) |
Your target (250–350 WPM) puts you at university-ready speed — keep going!
01
Strategic Skimming
Don't start on page 1, line 1. Give your brain a map of the text first.
- The 30-Second Glance: Read only the title, subheadings, and the last sentence of the intro.
- First-Line Focus: Read only the first sentence of every paragraph. This usually contains 80% of the meaning.
- Keyword Scan: Look for capital letters (names) and numbers before you start.
02
Contextual Guessing
Every time you open a dictionary, your reading speed drops to 0. Use the "Surrounding Evidence" rule.
- Identify the Part of Speech: Is the new word a verb (action) or an adjective (description)?
- Look for Synonyms/Antonyms nearby: Authors often explain difficult words in the next sentence using a simpler word.
- The "Ignore" Rule: If the word isn't essential to the main idea, skip it and keep moving.
03
Visual Chunking
Stop reading word-by-word. Start reading 3-4 words at a time.
- Soften your focus so you see "phrases" rather than individual letters.
- Use a "pacer" (like a pen or your cursor) and move it smoothly across the line without stopping for hard words.
- Your eyes should move twice per line, not ten times.
The Next Level