Which is why I want to ask, could a 6-year-old in your country read books like Harry Potters or something similar? When do kids in your home country usually learn to read and when did you learn to read yourself? And I'd also be interested in hearing how you learnt to read, with an Alphabet book or with a parent or in some other way? In Malaysia it really depends, I guess. There was this survey a while back which said an average Malaysian reads three pages of book per year, which is super depressing but also unfathomable to me because there are so many bookshops and people are reading everywhere I go and... well, I guess I'm in a privileged position. Being from a middle-class, educated family is not the same as being from a family who don't grow up reading so I think it's fair to say that yes, 6-year-olds in the cities would probably read books like Harry Potter (we have Malay translations too) but not the 6-year-olds in the rural areas. We have a vibrant market for local books though (apparently, since I don't read local books ugh I sound like a snob but they're mostly trashy chick-lits and I tried reading a popular local book courtesy of my flatmate but I almost cried at how horrid it was) so I guess we could say reading in Malaysia is not solely for artsy fartsy English-speaking people only.
I started reading when I was about 5, mostly alphabet books I guess but honestly I can't remember. I'm pretty sure my parents don't read me to sleep, lol. Here's a funny story: when I first started reading properly (I was maybe 9), I was all over Malay translations of Nancy Drew, those Enid Blyton books about the Five Detectives and Mallory Towers, and even that Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Detectives series (man, I love those books!). But I was reading them so much that my mom became worried that I will never learn English because I kept devouring all those translated versions (in my defense, I didn't know they were translations). I outgrew them when I discovered the Sweet Valley books, Babysitters Club and the Goosebumps books and from then on until now I've read mostly English books with some exceptions (I realise I prefer non-fiction Malay books like war historicals rather than fiction ones because like I said, fiction ones are t e r r i b l e unless the books are those high literature ones in the vein of like... Malaysian Shakespeare, in which I have very little interest on. I should try them but seriously, the Malay language in those works are so difficult to get through).
This brings us to the topic of how much do you read each year and what do you think reading a lot means? Umm, I wish I could say I read a whole lot each year but I would say I read an average 30 books per year? It varies though... like when I started working I think that year I ended up reading only 5 new books (UGHHHH) but last year when I had nothing to do I read 50+ books and I was pleased about that. This year I've only rad 28 books so far but I'm trying to read as much as I can while I have a library near me! I would like to say reading a lot makes you more knowledgeable about things and have more things to talk about but... that's kinda presumptuous. I would just say that by reading a lot, sometimes you figure out the things you want to read and the things you don't. Maybe you'll learn things - there's no point in reading 100 books if everything just flies past you - but at the very least you know what people are talking about. Like for me, I'm very bad with classics but when I tried my hand at classics last year and this year, I found that I enjoy reading Du Maurier and Wilde, but I can barely finish any of Henry James's works. So yeah, not every genre is for everyone but sometimes you find something you like.
I would love to know have you changed your reading habits? Not really? I still can't really read books on the computer (this might be different if I have a Kindle which I waaaaaaant) so I still read them in print format. But I find that I have more time to read here because I use the public transport so I'm always reading on the train. I can't do that in Malaysia, since I drive everywhere there.
HOPE THIS ESSAY DOESN'T BORE YOU I LOVE TALKING ABOUT BOOKS
tl;dr sorry
In Malaysia it really depends, I guess. There was this survey a while back which said an average Malaysian reads three pages of book per year, which is super depressing but also unfathomable to me because there are so many bookshops and people are reading everywhere I go and... well, I guess I'm in a privileged position. Being from a middle-class, educated family is not the same as being from a family who don't grow up reading so I think it's fair to say that yes, 6-year-olds in the cities would probably read books like Harry Potter (we have Malay translations too) but not the 6-year-olds in the rural areas. We have a vibrant market for local books though (apparently, since I don't read local books ugh I sound like a snob but they're mostly trashy chick-lits and I tried reading a popular local book courtesy of my flatmate but I almost cried at how horrid it was) so I guess we could say reading in Malaysia is not solely for artsy fartsy English-speaking people only.
I started reading when I was about 5, mostly alphabet books I guess but honestly I can't remember. I'm pretty sure my parents don't read me to sleep, lol. Here's a funny story: when I first started reading properly (I was maybe 9), I was all over Malay translations of Nancy Drew, those Enid Blyton books about the Five Detectives and Mallory Towers, and even that Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Detectives series (man, I love those books!). But I was reading them so much that my mom became worried that I will never learn English because I kept devouring all those translated versions (in my defense, I didn't know they were translations). I outgrew them when I discovered the Sweet Valley books, Babysitters Club and the Goosebumps books and from then on until now I've read mostly English books with some exceptions (I realise I prefer non-fiction Malay books like war historicals rather than fiction ones because like I said, fiction ones are t e r r i b l e unless the books are those high literature ones in the vein of like... Malaysian Shakespeare, in which I have very little interest on. I should try them but seriously, the Malay language in those works are so difficult to get through).
This brings us to the topic of how much do you read each year and what do you think reading a lot means?
Umm, I wish I could say I read a whole lot each year but I would say I read an average 30 books per year? It varies though... like when I started working I think that year I ended up reading only 5 new books (UGHHHH) but last year when I had nothing to do I read 50+ books and I was pleased about that. This year I've only rad 28 books so far but I'm trying to read as much as I can while I have a library near me! I would like to say reading a lot makes you more knowledgeable about things and have more things to talk about but... that's kinda presumptuous. I would just say that by reading a lot, sometimes you figure out the things you want to read and the things you don't. Maybe you'll learn things - there's no point in reading 100 books if everything just flies past you - but at the very least you know what people are talking about. Like for me, I'm very bad with classics but when I tried my hand at classics last year and this year, I found that I enjoy reading Du Maurier and Wilde, but I can barely finish any of Henry James's works. So yeah, not every genre is for everyone but sometimes you find something you like.
I would love to know have you changed your reading habits?
Not really? I still can't really read books on the computer (this might be different if I have a Kindle which I waaaaaaant) so I still read them in print format. But I find that I have more time to read here because I use the public transport so I'm always reading on the train. I can't do that in Malaysia, since I drive everywhere there.
HOPE THIS ESSAY DOESN'T BORE YOU I LOVE TALKING ABOUT BOOKS