Read for pleasure.
Read for education.
Read for life.
Most of us take the ability to read for granted. However, according to Read Easy UK https://readeasy.org.uk there are 2.4m people in the UK who have difficulty reading or are totally illiterate. The figure for Spain is a little different: approximately 728,000 people are unable to read; this figure is taken from UNESCO data.
This breaks my heart and fills me with the need to pick up a book right now and use that skill because it is a skill.
I still have vivid memories of learning to read. Patient teachers and very understanding parents. A tin box full of little pieces of card with words on. It felt like a battle but one I over came.
I can not imagine the difficulty as an adult in our modern world of not being able to read: the small print on the bank papers; your child’s report card; a letter from the local council and so it goes on.
As a logophile and a teacher, I feel reading and writing are the fundamentals of life.
What do you read?
Before the long summer holiday started I asked all of the teenagers that I teach this question.
“Nothing” was the response I got at first, which was sadly, what I had expected.
However, when I delved deeper, I found out, they do read; very few of them read novels BUT so many of them read a myriad of different styles and genres, an extensive range of titles.
I found this uplifting.
Okay they aren’t reading Woolf, Dickens, Orwell or Austen but they are reading.
Many of them read motivational books, people they have discovered on line, through social media and through podcasts that have sparked an interest. Self-help, business books, history, medical journals, health and fitness. These are just a few of the subjects that were mentioned.
The few that do read novels were quite enthusiastic about what they read. One student in particular reads classic literature in their native language, another one reads crime novels and another Young Adult fiction.
We made a mind map on the board; it was a fascinating picture of what sparks interest in the teens of today.
Some of them read the news, online. Many mentioned lyrics and subtitles for films. Comics and graphic novels were listed too.
This rudimentary survey of twenty students really warmed my heart. It is difficult teaching. It is hard preparing so many for a 2nd let alone a 1st language exam. Therefore, reading is essential to all subjects across the curriculum and should be an integral part of people’s lives.
So, my message to you all is read.
Read whenever you can and whatever you fancy. Don’t berate yourself for not reading highbrow stuff, read whatever entertains you.
JUST READ!