tiers of reading
Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Thu, 4 Dec 1997 18:28:21 -0800 (PST)
Wesley Schwein writes
: At the second level, the reader reads the whole word phonetically.
: This is as far as almost anyone got in the ancient Mediterranean world
: or medieval Europe --people read aloud and literally listened to what
: they were saying. The ability to read silently was almost unheard of;
: Saint Augustine was famous for being able to read without speaking.
:
: The third level is where most people end up now. ...
I, four years old, was reading a book aloud one day when Mom,
tired of listening, said, "You could read quietly." Wow,
thought I, you're right, I can! How much more convenient!
If I could do that within two years of learning what a letter is,
why was it so amazing in the ancient world? Because letters were
learned (if at all) in adulthood? Because reading, even for the
literate, was a rare activity?
Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher@netcom.com