Reducing subvocalisation
Four techniques to occupy the phonological loop, and why you should not try to remove it.
The right objective
A reminder from lesson 1.2: you do not remove subvocalisation, you make it selective. The aim is to stop pronouncing function words and easy passages, while keeping it for dense ones.
An expert reader subvocalises about 20% of what they read. A beginner, 100%.
Where to start in English: the closed set of function words. The, of, and, to, in, that, is, it, for, with, as, on, at, by, from make up a striking share of any English page and carry almost no meaning alone. Silencing that set is the single highest-yield move, and it is the one your eye will accept first, because those words are short, predictable and almost never the point of the sentence.
Technique 1: occupying count
While reading, count one, two, three, four mentally on a loop, or repeat a neutral syllable.
Mechanism. This occupies the phonological loop in working memory, which can no longer pronounce the text. The meaning goes through a different circuit.
Duration. Three to five minutes per session, no more: it is tiring. Use it as a de-automating exercise, not as a permanent reading method.
The rest is part of the Speed Reading module
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