Journalists need approximately 5 seconds for a distinctly pronounced line of text; the fastest pupils managed to read a text on whole two typed pages during that time, or even sooner.
"I read the first text in eight seconds, the second in one, and the third in three," Luka Drenik from Dragomelj Elementary School explained. Gašper Dimnik from Tabor 1 Elementary school said: "a longer text can be read even faster, you just need to catch the pace." And Gašper did, as he set a new national record with 8,523 read words in a minute, thus improving the absolute national record set last year by Brina Poropat of 3,928 words in a minute.
"The key element of this achievements are our teachers; they tutor mind clubs and train us, and there are several techniques which make speed reading possible. But comprehension is important above everything else," Peter Cokan, Secretary of the National Competition Commission. The results are valid only if a competitor comprehends at least 60% of the content of the read text. Speed reading must be trained. "It is about the finger – you read with the speed with which you move your finger. And to capture at once as much text as possible with your eye," one of the mentors explained.