Britain is a nation of avid readers, with 92% saying they enjoy or love reading according to our recent survey.
The pandemic also encouraged and enabled us to read more, with one in four (26%) Brits getting stuck into more books during the lockdowns.
But not everyone has much time for reading now things are back to normal, in fact, one in eight (13%) told us that they’re rarely reading atm due to having limited free time. This in turn could explain why 6.2 million Brits can’t remember the last time they picked up a book and read for pleasure!
As with anything, if you don’t practice it then you could find your reading pace slows down or your vocabulary is less extensive.
If you’re wondering whether your reading skills are up to scratch, this five-minute, ten-question quiz will test whether you can read as well as a 10-year-old can. The test will look at your reading speed, as well as your reading experience and comprehension (how much you take in when you’re reading) At the end of the quiz, you’ll get a score out of 100, along with your reading age and a pass or fail, based on whether you can read as well as a ten-year-old. Why not see how you do?
https://poll-maker.com/QAWJL75K7#fr=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lenstore.co.uk%2Feyecare%2Freading-test&frk=0Powered by Quiz Maker
How did you do? If you didn’t get the result you were hoping for then don’t despair – there are things that can help.
Poor eyesight could be affecting your reading
According to our survey, 1.6 million Brits struggle to read due to poor eyesight. Poor eyesight can cause reading difficulties, whether you’re straining to see a restaurant menu or struggling through your favourite book. If your eyes are having trouble focusing on objects up close, this could be because the muscle surrounding the lens of your eye has become more rigid – a phenomenon called‘presbyopia’. When you are younger, your lenses are more flexible and softer, so can focus on things more easily. As the muscles become more rigid with age, this becomes more difficult.
So, if you’re not able to read as quickly as you used to, your eyesight may play a part in this. While there’s no way to turn back the clocks, booking an eye test to see if you might benefit from contact lenses with a prescription or glasses may help with this.
Get back into a regular reading routine in 2022
If you’re interested in reading more in 2022 then you’re not alone! One in five (19%) told us that they’re planning on setting this as a resolution for next year. Some people find that setting themselves a monthly or an annual reading ‘challenge’ – such as dedicating a certain amount of time each week, or trying to read a specific number of books – can really help them get back into a regular reading habit.
Everyone enjoys slightly different reading materials too, but whether you like to flick through the latest fashion magazine, or prefer to get stuck into a sci-fi novel, there are countless options out there for you to enjoy. Diversifying the types of books you read can help expand your language as well, which is something to consider if you struggled with the first two sections of our test.
We prepared our test using information from…
https://toe-by-toe.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Reading-Test-V3.pdf
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/children/2017/9-must-read-classics-for-9-to-12-year-olds.html
https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/blog/collections/50-classic-books-every-child-should-read-6074
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27805/27805-h/27805-h.htm
http://www.freereadingtest.com/
https://sedl.org/reading/framework/assessment.html
About our survey…
- 2,000 UK adults
- Three questions were asked in total
- Run in November 2021
- Data split by respondent age, gender and nearest city
- Population stats from – https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/uk-population/