Why Do I Read?
To begin with, by watching the pictures, my first
thought is that, by being such a variety of types of reading, there is no
excuse in saying “I don’t like reading”. It’s a matter of showing and
encouraging the widest range of text as possible and that aim starts at the
very childhood, namely, at home, by parents reading fairy tales thus activating
their offspring’s imagination. And it should continue at school. Nevertheless,
the question that arises is as follows: “Should reading be compulsory of
voluntarily encouraged?” It is a fact that we humans do not like any kind of
imposition. Consequently, I firmly believe that teachers should develop a wide
range of activities to reach such goal. That way, not only fan readers will pop
up but also, reading comprehension and critical thinking will be improved.
Fortunately, there is an increasing number of graded readers both in L1 and L2,
with lots of research behind to stimulate pupils to read.
Regarding the different pictures, most of the readers
seem to do it for pleasure except the students reading at school (as their
faces show). If reading is considered a personal thing and every single person
is unique, we may infer that not all of them are happy with the book they are
reading. In that sense, let us remember that learning must be student-centred,
not teacher-centred. One may argue, however, that the grandma-child one is a
clear example that teachers are need, and that is true, but by being considered
as guides of the learning process. As
for the rest of the photos, their body position suggest they are relaxed and
enjoying their reading.
Concerning the photos I feel most identified with, I
should say that my personal reading experience started by going to the town
library to borrow as many books as my free time would allow. As time and
technology have gone by, I’m re-directing myself to reading in electronic
format, as the woman with the tablet is doing. For pleasure, I prefer historic or
detective novels both in Spanish and English, whilst to be informed, I tend to
read different newspapers on my smartphone. The former reading is done at
weekends; the latter every morning during my breakfast time.
I think we share a similar experience as young readers who found the greatest pleasure amongst the shelves of the local library. However, as you say, you have moved on and have embraced the advantages of technology whereas I still prefer to read books in paper format. Either way, reading is an undescribable combination of images, words, thoughts and emotions that has the power to enhance our personal universe.
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