Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
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Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#2FTA: "With schools having largely withdrawn from the practice of making students memorize poetry, few of us today have anything approaching the interior resources of a rhapsode.”
My son attends school in France and learning by heart and then reciting poems is something he does regularly as part of his homework.
Professionally, I’ve found that reading aloud is how I most easily catch the errors in text that I’ve written. Personally, there’s something magical about reading aloud to children and being able to maintain their attention with voices, expression, and variations in tone.
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#3Don't parents read to their children anymore? Is this actually a "lost art"? Our son is 12 and he still wants to be read aloud. Is this an aberration?
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#4I got tired of reading Percy Jackson with my kids and decided to read A Tale of Two Cities with them aloud. It's been a really interesting experience, my wife listens in and we discuss what's going on, the historical context, etc.
For me, I read at a different pace aloud which gives me moments to reflect more on what I have just read, producing a very different reading experience.
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#5Reading aloud is one of Daniel Pennac's ten "Rights of the Reader":
1. The right not to read 2. The right to skip 3. The right not to finish a book 4. The right to read it again 5. The right to read anything 6. The right to mistake a book for real life 7. The right to read anywhere 8. The right to dip in 9. The right to read out loud 10. The right to be quiet
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#6Don't parents read to their children anymore? Is this actually a "lost art"? Our son is 12 and he still wants to be read aloud. Is this an aberration?
Yeah this sounds very weird to me. In my family by the time we were able to read without effort we started taking turns reading to each other.
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#7[deleted]
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#8Don't parents read to their children anymore? Is this actually a "lost art"? Our son is 12 and he still wants to be read aloud. Is this an aberration?
I read to my daughters all the time, but eventually one of them decided she disliked it (didn't like the pace) and the other is still preferring to listen to audio books while in college. It's an individual thing.
Also I think a lot of parents don't look forward to reading aloud.
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#9Often times on river trips before going to sleep I'll read a few pages/chapters of whatever I'm reading aloud to whoever is near me, if they're interested. Sometimes during the day if we stop we'll pass around a relevant book, poetic'ish environmentally themed books..., to read to the group kind of like reading to the class in elementary school. Everyone has a unique style of reading aloud and it's always interesting to hear how they interpret the story and words through inflection/tone/cadence/etc... or as the article says "through the concentration of our faculties, the inflection of our voices, the warmth and presence of our bodies—to reach the listener."
This is one of those things we do not practice or really do for better or worse. For some the aspect of reading to others is terror inducing even among close friends. For some there's terror from being still and simply listening to another because it's so different from our normal lives of fast consumption and noise. Next time you're out in nature bring a short poem or story, take a pause and read it aloud to your group. It will probably be uncomfortable as it's strange to most but give it a try.
Re: Rediscovering the lost power of reading aloud
#10My wife and I recently started enjoying this! It's a very calming way to wind down in the evening instead of another installment of $TV_SHOW. I've been narrating Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I must say, the imagery and scenes stick in my mind much better than when I (quite quickly) read silently.
It's fun doing the voices, and taking time every now and again to discuss what happened gives us a more engaged sort of relaxation that's at our direction. It was a bit of a challenge finding a book we both agreed upon because we have very different taste, but we were able to meet in the middle by starting with a classic.