How I Read Over 100 Books a Year (Speechify)

[@humanalltoohuman]

I read fast as well. I use audiobooks and I listen to them with 2x speed, while taking notes. No, I do not forget most of what I read. The reason is because of the notes. Listen fast, take notes, go through the notes when you finish, do a monologue where you explain what you wrote on your notebook and you should be fine. :)

[@selihom]

Selam fellow habesha!

[@humanalltoohuman]

@@selihom - Selam Sister!

[@woodyyyy3386]

must be the shttiest note

[@fishertheadore6095]

You are not Human.

[@KoiAcademy]

the ability to highlight what you just heard is so underrated

[@julianduqueg]

I've read 4 books since watching this video. I hadn't read a book in a while. Thanks!

[@elizabethfilips]

Amazing 😆😆

[@karas7963]

@@elizabethfilips had to check my playback speed while listening to this video. You talk so quickly! Is that normal for you or by-product of listening to books on 4x speed? Hehe😅

[@zackxmagz6343]

This app has subconsciously changed the way you talk. You normalized such speeds. Do you not realize you talk extremely fast as a result?😂 great vid btw

[@yosmuc]

What a great review! Thank you! Especially the part about Audible and the price and the fact that seeing the text in front of you while hearing it speaking enhances the understanding, and it is easier to take up notes. I wish Apple would buy them and integrate their technology as a standard in every device and platform. This is a true game-changer, especially for people with learning, reading, comprehension disabilities.

[@grousset]

Please God no. Keep away Apple from a technology that can be used by everyone. If they buy them (or steal their idea) it will stall the improvement.

[@Drivabletree]

You don’t listen to books at 900 words per minute, just tried it and it’s absolutely incomprehensible

[@CrackHeadDaddy]

Facts. Even 350 wpm is too fast for me.

[@ThadySenior]

Do you think listening to audiobooks so quickly has increased the speed at which you talk? Or did you always talk faster than concord?

[@ThadySenior]

@@elizabethfilips 😂 No need to apologise, it meant listening to you was very time efficient. I was just worried that between Speechify and Ali you’d been sped up!

[@gitarremitmarkus8834]

i honestly thought it was on 1.5x haha

[@Muzicboy3]

@@gitarremitmarkus8834 I had to check my playback speed lol

[@KennethAYoung-bn4yc]

😂Hey Thady I love your reply to her, cause she do talk fast. I used to work to the Airport... and not only she read fast, she talk "Faster Than a Concord" 😂

[@enessaidsezer898]

this video really confirms the phrase : “there are no unique messages, only unique messengers” for me. i must’ve heard speechify being mentioned tens of times before, but this video was the one to resonate with me the most and i convinced myself to start using it. especially the comments on your mum’s comment. btw, as an econ student, i really wonder how many people ali abdaal will convince to start a youtube channel, and how this will impact the traffic per youtuber (supply goes up but demand stays the same). i guess i’ll worry about it AFTER i start my channel.. keep up the good work!

[@EB-pi9dt]

I tried the app and when I blasted through 3 books in 2 days (100k words) I was informed that I ran out of "HD words" I was so disgusted. It's a really sneaky way to hide the true pricing model so if you are planning on working through a lot of books watch out.

[@khanji5233]

No wonder I can’t catch up your speaking speed even 😄

[@elizabethfilips]

I'm sorry 😅😅

[@rerere7702]

I wish I could listen to quantum physics at 900 wpm. 😭

[@faizanali6101]

So damn relatable 😭

[@idrk1507]

@The Golden Remnants ?

[@carolinaboii1]

@@idrk1507 going through that type of material at those speeds are impossible to process. Lol think of a teacher who went too fast in a rigorous & very challenging course.

[@forgoroe]

To people's question about "surely you just forget everything": I remember that some of the best times of my life (times in which I also read the most, most regularly) were had when I would read consistently for its own sake. It would eventually bring me the highest amounts of confidence, creativity and flow I ever felt growing up and... I wasn't looking for any of those effects/outcomes either. Nor was I attempting to retain any particular piece of knowledge. Okok- except perhaps in some of my later teenage years cause, "Oooh fluency; oooh clear thinking; ooh quick witted (felt like I had a response for everything)", but all of that still had come only as a consequence of my interest in reading in the first place, and the sense of "peace" experienced after pushing myself to read a little more than I was comfortable with. It didn't follow from conscious attempts made to absorb any kind information or reaching any particular goal. All in all, it was stemming from some kind of hunger for the words themselves and the wonder I felt in having it all appear easily in my mind's eye. And a feeling that "I got this" (understood it) and that what I read could almost always be connected to some parts of my life I either experienced or were at least somewhat parallel to them, no matter the genre. And yet, somehow, without any goal in mind I got everything, and a little more, than I could have possibly gained from the activity had I had a specific rigid memorisation goal or whatever in mind while reading (I believe). My point is: try reading for reading's sake from time to time. Rinse and repeat. Trust your mind and enjoy yourself. You'll be surprised Aside: There's a really good video that this "avid reader on video" up here published, which details pretty perfectly (imo) how to take notes/memorise what you read more effectively. If reading for reading's sake sounds too extreme, that is. I forget what the video's name is... Pretty meta. But should be easy enough to find. Would recommend (am recommending it).

[@jennifer9902]

girl thank you, you inspire me to read books. God bless

[@T800-theRealOne]

More specifically you listened to over 100 books in a year. Usually reading is done with your eyes not ears.

[@Rekonstructio]

I’m using Libby and I am reading a book a week, but if I really want to read a book a day, I think I can... but I have to work too! Since I gave up on Facebook and other useless apps, I have read over 20 books in the last 6-7 months. I read the first 4 books of Harry Potter and still going, read the books of Yuval Harari, Feynman, Napoleon Hill, Stephen Hawking etc... listening is the best way of reading now... I don’t remember who said this: “Culture is what’s left after you forget everything you ever read”. Your speech speed is very good. I’m glad I discovered your channel 👍👍 You just one new subscriber 😊

[@buddhabillybob]

I was a political philosophy major in college, and I read VERY slowly. It's a good habit for philosophical texts, but I am trying to retrain myself for other types of text. It's been a lifelong struggle for me. Thank you for this method: I shall try it.

[@brandonten-fah782]

Some Audible books can have text on the screen but it would have to be a Whisper Sync enabled title. The drawbacks to this are (1) You have to buy both the kindle and audible versions so it can be quite costly and (2) not all titles are Whisper sync enabled (Harry Potter most notably comes to my mind). I do quite enjoy text and audio, it's quite relaxing but it looks like Speechify wins out for versatility and cost. Will definitely have to give it a try sometime!

OMG! You changed my life!! Thank you!!

[@drivers99]

I like to combine the audible narration and the kindle ebook. You can read, then switch to audio, or even do both at the same time (kindle or the kindle app will highlight the sentence while it’s being read and turn the page automatically). That helps me get through a book quickly because I can still listen when I’m busy. The physical kindle can also read just the ebook electronically out loud. Didn’t know about speechify. That’s cool especially since it would work for non-kindle stuff.

[@sgchanda]

That point about forgetting is golden. Great review, thanks.

[@FilmyReact]

I will always prefer to read slowly. I enjoy the journey of it rather than seeing The End.

[@marcomontecino5161]

Good, informative video. A couple of things I might add. There is a difference between readying for speed and reading for comprehension...Stephen Hawking, the famous theoretical physicist, was known to read somewhat slow, but he remembered everything he read. Also, when reading a book, it is a going technique stopping once in a while and ask oneself what was just read, thus stopping to repeat in one own words the content that was absorbed; this helps strengthen the memory and the pathway where that information was saved. Regarding Audible, one can make a bookmark and inside of them take notes, which stay with the books you purchased for as long as you have an account, whether you are still paying for the service or not.

[@johanna4456]

Thank you! They should definitely sponsor you. I just downloaded the app and so far it’s great. I think I’ll only use it for academic reading. I’m in law school so it’s also quite a lot and I always feel overwhelmed since I’m quite a slow reader 😅

[@elizabethfilips]

You're welcome, and I love it for academic reading too, love to hear it 😆

[@unknownboy816]

@@elizabethfilips you are so beautiful

[@av.ismailgurbuz192]

How it helps law school?

[@agarwaldo]

Didn't know about Speechify, thanks for the rec, and great video!

[@aaronv7820]

If I'm buying books via kindle/amazon how do I use speechify?

[@Moreh17]

Super helpful! Just found out about this app and your description has me sold! This will save me so much time with my masters degree work

[@MrStatix69]

Never studied as a kid, now old going to Uni soon and I’m a massive over noter. Simply trying this at 300wpm helped me cut down on skim through notes after. Defo gotta try and build this up. You’re a legend

[@alexandrotheodorou]

Never knew this app existed! Looks so awesome!! Will definitely be trying this!

[@marcusdavenport9847]

I'm listening to this video at 2.4x speed by using Video Speed Controller. So Speechify sounds great. Typically I can listen to videos at 3.8 - 4.4 or so

[@elizabethfilips]

Sameee!!

[@hardeek1126]

can you make a video explaining how you make your notes from the books you read 🥺

[@Stephanie-Bonnet]

I didn’t know about that app. Really happy you made me discover it

[@Gthefray]

This is brilliant! Thank you! I've recently been trying to find my way around this problem as well & browser extensions & text-to-speech options on iOS were simply not enjoyable enough. So this seems like the perfect solution. Great video - super helpful ✨

[@ananthapadmanabhanss4553]

Awesome Elizabeth. Listening to your videos its refreshing and insightful. Kudos! :)

[@elizabethfilips]

Thank youu

[@ananthapadmanabhanss4553]

@@elizabethfilips Take care buddy :)

[@nataliaguimaraes3233]

Hello! I am Brazilian and I loved your speed when speaking! ^^

[@CliffWeitzman]

yes

[@_Username__]

In my whole YT life, I never had to play at slower speed, until now

[@Muzicboy3]

I bet you thought you turned the speed up and forgot to adjust it back at first

[@elisabethjean]

I hope your channel really grows!! Congrats on the growth thus far!

[@blindship5792]

the minimum plan is $139 a year not 40 a year!

[@yathprem]

I've gotta download Speechify after watching this!! 😎

[@Introvertgirl2023]

Gonna download now. 🤝

[@MelloZoe]

You are brilliant. This app is a game changer for me. Thank you!

[@nadiaolsen7196]

This is a really good advice, I could never afford audible. Thank you so much!

[@imamangoo8632]

Ohk yess this app seems good I'm a student and will found this more useful in time of my exams where I have to revise every -word

[@discotramp1360]

also if your school gives you microsoft word, or you just have it, you can copy paste text in there to have it read it out to you. it doesn't do it as great as speechify but just another option if you need it

[@tatah678]

As always- consistently neat and careful work.!

[@therescuer9411]

I just can't stop seeing you when you speak because you speak non stop congratulations for KZbin journey..

[@Naiemaa]

been a few months, surprised that Audible hasn't acquired Speechify, or outdone them yet!!

[@itssuhaibalrumi]

In fact the iPhone has a feature in accessibility call spoken content . You can choose any sound , language, speed {0 to 2x} and highlight the sentence and the word is being pronounced. It’s quite similar to speechify

[@Eg__26]

I don’t know if im the only person that thinks that you speak so fast but very clear, thanks for your review and the most beautiful student, greetings from Mexico 🇲🇽

[@優さん-n7m]

The video has been speed up by her

[@DiamondStylz]

When I'm using Speechify on Kindle.I have to keep pressing play on each page.Which ruins the audio experience...because it just doesn't continuously read.....And I can't figure out the settings to make it just read the book

[@divinesilence]

Highlighted can get your physical book highlights to digital format, and then export to Notion.

[@lambdafunctions9648]

Im using it for a Math Text, I use it to play the paragraphs while I stare at the Equations. I like it.

[@clif.c.2906]

I agree. I am developing sight issues that are difficult to correct. I was buying paper books but not reading them. They clutter my apartment. My girlfriend was getting angry at the waste on money and wasted space. I switched to audible which is lovely. I then began to use kindle text to speech which helped and saved money with no clutter. Speechify is the best as it reads newspapers-emails-google searches online and even the criminal code of Canada and updates online for free which I need to know. I need to read legislation-upcoming bills and legal text. There are so many uses and a reasonable price considering the freedom it gives. This British woman is so lovely in her voice-so easy to look at and so smart. She would be great to know as she would converse on many subjects having a keen interest in aquiring knowledge. She reminds me of a Brit doctor I used to work with in Canada who I admired.

[@jess5085]

how are you doing this on speechify with the 150k character limit?

[@burgervonhindenburger6254]

I literally love your content :)

[@elizabethfilips]

Thank you!!

[@isadorarorique4567]

I tried 900 WPM and I only hear chirps. Can you actually understand the words being said or do you use this just to make the text in front of you go by?

[@realitymentalhealthrmh]

This is great for psychology books

[@fabricejoseph9214]

Recently found about Speechify - I am on the free plan but your video definitely inspired me to get the premium plan. And I just love the phrase "Don't believe everything you think"

[@zabrina3716]

Hi! Could you please do a ‘books I recommend for high school students interested in medicine’ video? Thanks!

[@DanHazy]

I watched your video - thank you , You made the app sound so wonderful, I put your video on pause while I downloaded the app. I wanted to see it and play it as I was learning with you. Immediately I was offered an upgraded trial.. well I said no. I wanted to pick a voice and play with it first then as I learn more and feel the limitations I am sure I would consider the upgrade, Hopefully they will offer it again. Tell them to wait a week then offer the upgrade. Thank you so much, I love it!

[@whatabouttheearth]

It is not reading unless it's only reading. The act of reading with no assistance is very different psychologically. Listening while reading, and especially just listening IS ABSOLUTELY NOT reading. But this is essentially a commercial isn't it

[@stephmacleod]

Hi. You mentioned importing iBooks into Speechify? Any suggestions on how to do this? Thanks.

[@elizabethfilips]

I airdrop them to speechify on my phone :)

[@kevinhughes9801]

Excellent video thanks for tips. Keep up great vids

[@CamsCampbell]

Wow. You have levelled up! You seem so relaxed and comfortable. Good topic too. I would like to have heard a little about how you rate the reading voice and maybe with a sample? And oh, Virginia Wolf? I feel like we can definitely be friends!

[@sanketagarwal2633]

Great video. Can you make a video on how to make notes while listening at high speed?

[@elizabethfilips]

I'd love to! Added to the list :)

[@douglasdrumond]

That would be great!

[@JoeGannon]

Amazing video, Speechify for the win!

[@kevinriverareyes743]

Hola, super genial tu vídeo. A veces leo de manera física pero son muy caros los libros, pero la mayoría de libros que leo son digitales y estoy tratando ahora leerlos en inglés también, de manera que también pueda adquirir poco a poco un idioma. Muchas gracias, saludos desde Perú, y por cierto eres muy linda. Exitos!!!

[@Ssaidak]

La mayoría de libros los puedes encontrar en la biblioteca.

[@whatisahandleeee]

I don't know how I got here but I'm glad I did

[@No_body781]

Very informative and helpful... thank you

[@RainaOnTheCusp]

I've been using audible but I agree with you about the hassle with taking notes from it! Will have to look into Speechify thanks! :)

[@sivadyert]

"Don't believe everything you think." Priceless.

[@torio9007]

The most important thing is to read and enjoy books. That search for productivity in each segment of our lives is kinda scary. At least you made a point about books for fun

[@elizabethfilips]

100% agree, I’m only trying to be productive with things I “have to do” so I have more time to do things I enjoy

[@roland_maverick]

Did you increase the speed of your audio or that's how fast you can speak, please?

[@seanpi]

“Read a book and can't remember anything” why waste time reading it in the first place. I would prefer to read 25 books slow and understand what I've read instead of 100 books in a year and remember nothing, what a waste of time. Although I've read over 60 books a year for the last three years, I read at my own pace with no rush.

[@PoetryFilms]

Thanks for the video. Very interesting. I'm trying to compare TTS (text to speech) reader apps at the moment and there are so many to investigate. Perhaps it's the advent of AI, but it's worth pointing out that the subscription you mention of 'about £40' is, as of Nov 2023'' in fact €187, or more than 4 times the 2021 price. Hence the fact that I'm still comparing!

[@Snoozler]

I'm trying Speechify right now, but find it a bit frustrating that all the books i've uploaded seem to end up weirdly formatted in the app. I've tried both epub and pdf files. But it ends up with weird random spacing that shouldn't be there, or random words mashed together. Is this something you noticed? How to get around this?

[@NomosCharis]

I’m having the same issues. Wish I could find some help with it. Considering getting rid of the app

[@serahmasiello]

Hi Elizabeth! Thanks for this video. Would you make a video on how you take notes for books that your read? :)

[@elizabethfilips]

I'd love to, hopefully at some point!

[@johnroy4424]

How do you read books with speechify? For me speechify works with websites, pdfs, etc., but not for Kindle or ebooks.

[@joherbert-james]

I’m looking for an answer to this too!

[@johnroy4424]

@@joherbert-james Hi Jo, after writing this comment a few months ago I ended up figuring out how to read books with speechify. There is a scanning/taking pictures feature on the app that works pretty well! You can do a search on how to scan books with speechify. Its meant for physical books where you can scan each page but I've found it works best with ebooks. With physical books, the scanning feature worked well for me for a while, but as I got to the middle of the book the pages were too hard to get flat (a large paperback) so the scanner had a hard time reading them or reading them well. But the Speechify scanning feature does very well if you take pictures of your computer screen. I know there are other options out there if you dig into it, but for me, the best option I have found for reading books with speechify is to scan them, and this works particularly well for ebooks on your computer screen rather than physical books although it may work with the physical book depending on various factors.

[@dataecstasy]

Be kind to yourself and to others. good point/

[@harbin88]

I love the app, however recently I have had issue with the app that its sand glass just spinning and turning, and I have to twait and wait for it to stop so it starts to read for me. Many times, it wont start to read at all. I tried to close the app and restart or clear cache etc. The results were working again, or still not working. it became unpredictable and frustrating. I hope they can look into it and make improvement. Did you ever have.this problem? Thanks! One interesting thing is that when I set the speed at 3 in English, I could hardly comprehand the reading, but in Chinese @3x, I actually understand the materials pretty well, maybe at 80%. It shows my English is still not that good.

[@Pameliux23]

Hi Elizabeth, I love your content more each time. I saw on one of your answers to the comments that you are able to upload kindle books. I found their location on the Mac and everything but they are all incompatible with the app. Do you convert them? Thanks again!

[@CharlesKerr]

Nice one Elizabeth!!

[@christianjackson9298]

I'm a big audiobook fan and I've been able to work my way through entire author's catalogues, plus companion pieces and commentary works. These are things I would never have been able to achieve with conventional reading. I love it, especially since authors like Stephen King really endorse the process and even narrate some of their own works. The only problem is that to me, educational and instructional books don't really sink in in audio form, as there is simply too much technical information to take in at once. I find physical reading more insightful in that way, albeit time-consuming. But I would love to be able to absorb professional material in audiobook form. I have taken the free trial of Speechify and I really liked what I saw, I just couldn't justify the expense at the time. If anyone has any suggestions in this area I'd love some guidance. ;)

[@acaciajocelyn8369]

Wow great video, thanks!

[@damongreen6433]

Thank you so much for this info, do you study medical text books with this app? That must be incredibly hard to keep up!

[@junhanchin]

Amazed to find this! Thank you Elizabeth! Bummed that they don't have an android app though

[@m-agirard3059]

Question : when I download scientific article, it’s a bigger. It reads the top and bottom margin all the time. Can you program Speechify to omit this part of the text?

[@09BRWNSUGA]

Thank you. just downloaded speechify

[@abhineetkumar2672]

Bang on logic! Switching to Speechify for informational books. It would be great if in another video you could do to Notion what you did to Speechify in this one (preferably in more detail)

[@steveknight575]

@@elizabethfilips do it! More Notion please. 😊

[@tabassum7823]

Wow 😲😳 you are soooo amazinnggggggg! I am ur fan ❤😂😊

[@SoroushTorkian]

I use Apple and Android accessibility on screen reader to do the same things as speechify… Their audio sounds more natural tbh

[@user-fi3cd3ig6l]

This video feels like watching at 2x even though its not🤣

[@Introvertgirl2023]

🤣🤣🤣.... Faster than my internet connection.

[@jeffreyharrison4045]

Wonderful review! Thanks

[@elizabethfilips]

Thanks for watching :)

[@Veziahh]

Thank you for sharing… I agree with you I have changed the way I’ve read using this app. It’s incredible.. but expensive :,)

[@z-man7883]

Your voice sounds like one of the premium voices in the app

[@Yahya-Khan]

Awesome video!❤️

[@pearl4177]

"Listening book is like drinking food.."- Naval Ravikant

[@AliexpressSaving]

Hello Elizabeth, any advice for the best philosophy Books ??

[@tspark1071]

Thanks for information on speechify

[@musiconetoone7377]

Thanks. Well deserved thank you.

[@elizabethfilips]

Thank you so much for the superthanks!!!

[@miyuzuki4392]

Did you try the highlighting and note taking features in Speechify? How do you find it?

[@NathanHesselman]

Awesome video! Super interesting!