Can You Read This?

I cdnuolt bleveiee taht I cluod aulaaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdenieg. The phaonemneal pweor of the hmuan mndi. Aodccrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dnsoe’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotle mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porblem. Tihs is bcuseae the hmuan mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azmanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuoht slpeling was ipmorantt.

The paragraph you just read illustrates what a complex skill reading actually is. You did not use your phonics skills or your whole language skills to read this message as none of the words in the paragraph conform to the rules. And yet, you were able to read it by using a set of skills that were not directly taught to you.

Your brain has mastered the skill of reading to such an extent that you are able to pick up subtle clues from the combination of letters and spaces and context and length of words, etc. to make sense of something that actually makes no sense.