Is it normal to have trouble reading texts w/out paragraphs?

Привет, it’s KholatKhult, and English is HARD

Every time I try to read articles, posts, comments on social media, or even some books, I have an incredibly hard time following what I’m reading if it isn’t spaced out into paragraphs or sections.

I’d much rather a bunch of small and strict paragraphs than large text blocks. But, I also have very poor English skills, and the Latin alphabet isn’t my native tongue, so the letters don’t translate as “real letters” to me.

Even in my own language, text blocks trip me up, but not nearly as bad as English does.

Do native English speakers struggle with this too? Or am I too foreign?

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88% Normal
Based on 16 votes (14 yes)
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Comments ( 8 )
  • Boojum

    Just about everyone finds walls of text difficult to read. I suspect that's because paragraph breaks make it easier for our brains to navigate our eyes smoothly across a line of text when there are landmarks just outside our central field of vision.

    Fast reading relies on our brains being able to recognise the patterns of whole words (and even short phrases) with a fleeting glimpse, and the speed of reading rapidly falls if we can't track our eyes smoothly along the line of text. This is also why text in all-caps or italic is difficult to read: the words don't form the usual pattern, and so we have to focus on each word in turn and read it individually.

    Using paragraphs in the conventional way to separate the ideas or points the author wants to convey also makes it easier to comprehend a text since our brains can sequentially deal with each concept in turn. This is why text where each sentence is an individual paragraph can be almost painful to read as a wall of text.

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  • Anoverthinker

    Long paragraphs are annoying and whenever I'm reading a story or something I would just read some words or skip

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  • RoseIsabella

    English is my native tongue, and I love reading, but I hate long drawn out paragraphs. If it's in a book, and actually makes sense then that is one thing, but some long drawn out post with no paragraphs about some inane bullshit is truly awful.

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    • raisinbran

      Long paragraphs usually go hand in hand with run-on sentences, poor grammar and teenage drivel.

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      • RoseIsabella

        If I could go back in time I'd love to go back to my twenties, but I wouldn't ever want to do be a teenager again.

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  • d0esnormalmatter

    Every time I try to read articles, posts, comments on social media, or even some books, I have an incredibly hard time following what I’m reading if it isn’t spaced out into paragraphs or sections. I’d much rather a bunch of small and strict paragraphs than large text blocks. But, I also have very poor English skills, and the Latin alphabet isn’t my native tongue, so the letters don’t translate as “real letters” to me. Even in my own language, text blocks trip me up, but not nearly as bad as English does. Do native English speakers struggle with this too? Or am I too foreign?

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    • KholatKhult

      I spent 6 minutes trying to read this before I realized it was just what I wrote but with the spaces removed.

      Hoo boy the parasites in my brain are feasting today

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      • d0esnormalmatter

        Loooool sorry I'm so mean man. Irl idk if it's normal cause I'm american and DGAF

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