Wordema Open the library

What is RSVP reading?

RSVP stands for rapid serial visual presentation: words are shown one at a time, in sequence, at a single fixed point on the screen.

The short answer

When you read normally, your eyes do not glide along a line. They jump — roughly four times a second — pausing briefly to take in a word, then leaping to the next. Those jumps are called saccades, and the pauses between them are fixations. Every jump is a small opportunity to lose your place, re-read a line, or drift off.

RSVP removes the jumping. Because each word appears in the same spot, your eyes stay still and the text comes to you. What is left is the reading itself.

How Wordema does it

Wordema is an RSVP reader for public-domain classics. Three things are yours to set:

Pace

How many words arrive per minute. Swipe up and down while reading to change it.

Dissolve

How softly each word fades into the next, from crisp to dreamy. Swipe left and right.

Tone

How long the reader breathes at commas and full stops — the rhythm of the sentence, separate from its speed.

There is also a gold anchor letter in each word. Resting your eyes there lets the word build itself around a single point.

Common questions

Does reading one word at a time improve comprehension?
It removes the eye movement that causes people to lose their place, and many readers find it easier to stay with a text. Comprehension still depends on the pace you choose — a speed that is comfortable for a novel may be too fast for dense philosophy. That is exactly why Wordema puts the pace in your hands rather than fixing it.
Is this speed reading?
Not in the sense of skimming or skipping. Every word is shown. You can read slowly with RSVP if you like — the point is that your eyes stay still, not that you go fast.
What is a saccade?
The rapid jump your eyes make from one point to another while reading. Typical reading involves several per second.
Do I need an account?
No. Wordema needs no account, no email and no installation. Your reading position is kept on your own device.

Try it on a book

Go deeper