
The Lost Art of Reading Aloud - echair
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?em
======
pg
I often read essays aloud as one of the filters before publishing them. It
helps me find awkward sentences. I discovered this trick when practicing
talks, but now I do it even for essays that aren't talks.

~~~
silentbicycle
In Roy Blount Jr.'s _Alphabet Juice_ (under "mnemonic"), he mentions that the
ancient Greeks and Romans generally read aloud, even to themselves. (We know
this because Julius Ceaser _didn't_ , and his biographers considered his
reading silently, and thus more quickly, to be novel. )

~~~
pg
I'd heard that the first known silent reader was Augustine, though apparently
it was his patron, Ambrose.

[http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/classical_world/v100...](http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/classical_world/v100/100.1benediktson.html)

------
grandalf
Reading aloud is another art form in itself, just as writing is.

Why are people so cynical about audio books? I think they contain two art
forms (spoken word reading and literature writing) and can be far more
satisfying than the dead tree version alone.

Yes there are some audio books that are read very badly, but they are
fortunately in the minority.

~~~
tungstenfurnace
I agree. Audiobooks are often recorded by fine actors and speakers. Listening
to them improves one's sense of the rhythm of language, emotional nuance,
pronunciation of new words, etc. They make it more real.

One's own diction and language is then improved during subsequent
conversations.

There's a masochistic streak amongst educationalists. Something like: if you
aren't working hard you can't be learning. Hence reading is better than
audiobooks; novels are always to be preferred to movies.

~~~
electromagnetic
I think you hit close about many educators practices, however I think the
problem is they assume concentration with hard work and lack of concentration
with easy work. While this can generally be true, it doesn't mean you are
learning _just_ because something's hard or that you aren't learning _just_
because something's easy.

If you have a problem with reading books for whatever reason, I believe
listening to an audiobook will have at least the same effect on an educational
level. It obviously won't help with your reading skills, but it might help you
with listening skills (which incidentally a _lot_ of people seem to frequently
lack). However, listening to an audiobook won't mean jack if you can't
concentrate on it, just like with reading a book.

I'd say, just like some people used to have reading rooms, why not have a
listening room for audiobooks?

------
josefresco
I read aloud to my daughters and enjoy every minute of it. I'm sure it helps
my writing/speaking as does talking to myself (tech subjects) when alone in
the car.

I highly recommend it (the kids part not the talking to yourself, that can get
a little weird)

~~~
samlittlewood
Seconded - it's great fun.

I find that I need to be absorbing the text one or two sentences ahead of the
words I am speaking, so as to plan the emphasis and timing.

Once I am familiar with the text, though, I can have a completely unrelated
train of thought going whilst reading.

------
dxjones
Although I agree with the main point of this opinion piece ("Reading Aloud" is
a Good Thing), the author comes across as a bit pretentious when he tries to
capture the magical "je ne sais quoi" about reading aloud, and how young
people (students) can't seem to do it right.

(1) "If the work is their own, they are usually trying to read the intention
of the writer."

ummm, if it is their own work, then they _are_ the writer. The words express
their intention, so reading "the words" and reading "the intention of the
writer" are the same thing.

(2) "It’s as though they’re reading what the words represent rather than the
words themselves."

ummm, actually, when I read a story to my niece or nephew I don't just "read
the words" (if that is all we wanted, we could have a text-to-speech program
do it for us). Instead, I often read what the words represent.

"Who goes there?!" shouted the witch, angrily.

"No, no, you're doing it all wrong", whispered the grey-haired professor,
almost inaudibly as he shook his head. "No young man", his deep voice
admonished loudly, "Just read the words! Read the damn words."

------
frossie
_"I read aloud to my writing students, and when students read aloud to me I
notice something odd. They are smart and literate, and most of them had
parents who read to them as children. But when students read aloud at first, I
notice that they are trying to read the meaning of the words."_

I suspect this had to do with the students' expectation of what their teacher
wants. I bet if the same student was given a copy of "Room on the Broom" and a
willing toddler, they would read just fine.

I wonder whether some rephrasing from the teacher (such as "would you perform
this text" instead of "read") would make a difference.

But there is a big difference between the music example and reading. Aside
from the level of required skill, playing a piano sonata takes the same time
as listening to the CD; however reading aloud a book takes significantly
longer than reading. Which is why it makes sense for short forms, but not for
whole novels - unless you can't read at all (eg. while driving).

------
cma
If you haven't listened to quality reading in a while, check out Escape Pod's
reading of Asimov's short story, Nightfall:

<http://escapepod.org/2007/04/05/ep100-nightfall/>

------
vlad
I read that aloud. It was awesome.

