I finally, finally have the time to reply to this entry. I've been thinking about this since I read it standing outside a bar last Saturday. :D
My parents read a lot and read a lot of books to me when I was small. I think these points are so, so important. It's not surprising that many people aren't interested in reading books when their parents never were either. I learned reading in school, in first grade when I was about six or seven years old. I guess I could have learned it before but my parents kind of thought like your parents. They didn't want me to be bored in school and they also thought that it should all come from me. Like, they would always tell me what a specific letter was called when I asked about it. (I tended to read signs on the street going 'What letter is this?' or 'What does this word mean?') But they didn't want to make me sit down and actually study. So when I got into school I could spell and write my own name, my cousin's name (Anna) and zoo. And maybe more, I don't remember. I do remember sitting on the train one day though. I had this little book in my hands my mum had read to me many, many times, and I was acting as if I was reading it out loud because I knew it by heart. A man actually was surprised that I could already read at my age, haha. The funny thing is, even though I probably would have been able to read before school, in the beginning I had a very hard time learning it. It seemed as if I was stuck or something. I could read some easy words but not more. As a result I got really frustrated because things usually came to me easily and I cried and didn't want to try anymore. Then, all of a sudden when I was trying to read my alphabet book once again I could. Just like that. Something must have snapped. And I think I was one of the best readers in my class immediately, when we did small plays or stuff like that I always had to be the narrator... Looking back I'd say it didn't even take me that long but it felt like ages to me. I just needed to get over that certain point.
I then started reading all the time. When I ate on my own, before sleeping, in the garden. I remember going on vacation with friends that had kids too who always urged me to play something with them when almost all I wanted to do was to read. My local library was pretty small but it did have a lot of children's and YA books so I used to go there every two weeks and got about 5-10 books each time. One day I met one of my friends' mum there and I think I had only gotten a few books. So the librarian told her that 'Katharina has probably read all the book in the "young section" here and can't find anything anymore' which was about true. So I started looking for adult books that were suitable. When I was about ten years old my parents decided that I shouldn't attend the normal six years of primary school but go to a new school after my fourth year so I had to apply at different schools. At the school I eventually ended up going to I had a conversation with the principal and a teacher and when they asked about my reading habits I actually told them that I sometimes even read while brushing my teeth. With the book lying on the toilet. Uhem. But I guess they liked it because they accepted me. :D
Sadly, I don't read that much anymore. A couple of years ago it was even less. These days I'm often not relaxed enough to read during the day, only if it's a really good book that I then finish over the course of a couple of days. Sometimes I prefer TV, a stupid habit that I got into during a time of my life that wasn't too good. Books couldn't really take my mind off most of the time, television could so whenever I feel lonely or hopeless these days I'd rather watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy or the like instead of reading a book which annoys me endlessly. This year I will still have read more than thirty books (yes, I keep a list, on my Livejournal and also my diary) even though I was travelling most of the time.
I've run out of characters, are you kidding me? :D
no subject
My parents read a lot and read a lot of books to me when I was small. I think these points are so, so important. It's not surprising that many people aren't interested in reading books when their parents never were either.
I learned reading in school, in first grade when I was about six or seven years old. I guess I could have learned it before but my parents kind of thought like your parents. They didn't want me to be bored in school and they also thought that it should all come from me. Like, they would always tell me what a specific letter was called when I asked about it. (I tended to read signs on the street going 'What letter is this?' or 'What does this word mean?') But they didn't want to make me sit down and actually study. So when I got into school I could spell and write my own name, my cousin's name (Anna) and zoo. And maybe more, I don't remember. I do remember sitting on the train one day though. I had this little book in my hands my mum had read to me many, many times, and I was acting as if I was reading it out loud because I knew it by heart. A man actually was surprised that I could already read at my age, haha.
The funny thing is, even though I probably would have been able to read before school, in the beginning I had a very hard time learning it. It seemed as if I was stuck or something. I could read some easy words but not more. As a result I got really frustrated because things usually came to me easily and I cried and didn't want to try anymore. Then, all of a sudden when I was trying to read my alphabet book once again I could. Just like that. Something must have snapped. And I think I was one of the best readers in my class immediately, when we did small plays or stuff like that I always had to be the narrator... Looking back I'd say it didn't even take me that long but it felt like ages to me. I just needed to get over that certain point.
I then started reading all the time. When I ate on my own, before sleeping, in the garden. I remember going on vacation with friends that had kids too who always urged me to play something with them when almost all I wanted to do was to read.
My local library was pretty small but it did have a lot of children's and YA books so I used to go there every two weeks and got about 5-10 books each time. One day I met one of my friends' mum there and I think I had only gotten a few books. So the librarian told her that 'Katharina has probably read all the book in the "young section" here and can't find anything anymore' which was about true. So I started looking for adult books that were suitable.
When I was about ten years old my parents decided that I shouldn't attend the normal six years of primary school but go to a new school after my fourth year so I had to apply at different schools. At the school I eventually ended up going to I had a conversation with the principal and a teacher and when they asked about my reading habits I actually told them that I sometimes even read while brushing my teeth. With the book lying on the toilet. Uhem. But I guess they liked it because they accepted me. :D
Sadly, I don't read that much anymore. A couple of years ago it was even less. These days I'm often not relaxed enough to read during the day, only if it's a really good book that I then finish over the course of a couple of days. Sometimes I prefer TV, a stupid habit that I got into during a time of my life that wasn't too good. Books couldn't really take my mind off most of the time, television could so whenever I feel lonely or hopeless these days I'd rather watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy or the like instead of reading a book which annoys me endlessly.
This year I will still have read more than thirty books (yes, I keep a list, on my Livejournal and also my diary) even though I was travelling most of the time.
I've run out of characters, are you kidding me? :D