5 ms·

I love reading, but since having kids (I'd never had to read aloud before) have discovered I find the sensations around reading aloud to be extremely unpleasant

I love reading, but since having kids (I'd never had to read aloud before) have discovered I find the sensations around reading aloud to be extremely unpleasant. Anything that rhymes/has a sing-song meter is OK.. but I find normal prose gruelling and can't wait for it to be over. It feels like a sort of claustrophobia, but trapped by the slowness rather than physically. I often end up paraphrasing or dropping unnecessary words as I go to make better progress.

DigitalJack 9y ago
You echo my feeling on reading aloud.
triplesec 9y ago
This may be an opportunity to grow, and discover why you don't like it, so that you can read more to your kids?
ashark 9y ago
The fun for me's in getting all the intonation and emphasis just right. You don't have to "do the voices" or anything over the top, but just try to read it how a good narrator might. Try reading them adult books (if you're not already—and especially classics, they tend to have really nice prose that you want to run your eyes over several times just for the sensation, anyway) or classics of children's literature (e.g. The Jungle Book). Might help. Lots of childrens' books are just plain bad.
- roceasta 9y ago
  >intonation and emphasis just right. Yes. The emphasis carries a lot of information in addition to the simple text. I find it hard to do when reading aloud from a book I haven't myself read before. In fact I think it's one reason I tend to pick my personal childhood favourites to read. Perhaps this is lazy. I wonder if other parents do the same?
  - ashark 9y ago
    It's a skill you get better at. Correctly guessing most of the time, looking a little ahead when you can, that kind of thing. Like sight reading music, really. Combination of well-trained intuition that mostly gets things right and sneaking a peak at the next few notes or bars when you have the opportunity. Definitely works some different mental muscles than silent reading. [EDIT] I've read my kids a couple old favorites, though not ones I've read recently. In part I've used them as an excuse to get through entries my personal to-read list, in fact. Multitasking! Especially when they're really young, they don't know the difference. My 4-year-old's super into Ovid right now, which is awesome. Have to skip the too-sexy or ultra-violent (or, uh, both) bits, but it's working alright.
- a_e_k 9y ago
  Probably my favorite to read out loud that way is A Christmas Carol. Dickens originally wanted to be an actor, found fame as a writer instead, and brought the two passions together by ging public performances reading/reciting his stories. You can really tell that A Christmas Carol was meant to be read out with a bit of zest.
jff 9y ago
Personally, I'm just fine at impromptu public speaking, or giving a presentation, or just talking intensely for an hour or more, but 5 minutes of reading aloud gives me a dry mouth and tired jaw. Like you, I can't wait to be done. It's probably a practice thing; we'll see how I do when I have kids.
SubiculumCode 9y ago
Well put it this way, if authors read out loud what they wrote more frequently, they'd probably better streamline their prose.
tlb 9y ago
A lot of prose sucks to read aloud, because the author didn't try it. Philip Roth, to pick one of many, doesn't work well spoken. Tolkien read chapters in development aloud to his kids every night, and it shows in the way it flows. Pick a good author and keep practicing!
m1n1 9y ago
I find reading in an accent somehow frees me to enunciate better and reduces how much it feels like a chore. I use a southern accent.

DigitalJack 9y ago

You echo my feeling on reading aloud.

triplesec 9y ago

This may be an opportunity to grow, and discover why you don't like it, so that you can read more to your kids?

ashark 9y ago

The fun for me's in getting all the intonation and emphasis just right. You don't have to "do the voices" or anything over the top, but just try to read it how a good narrator might. Try reading them adult books (if you're not already—and especially classics, they tend to have really nice prose that you want to run your eyes over several times just for the sensation, anyway) or classics of children's literature (e.g. The Jungle Book). Might help. Lots of childrens' books are just plain bad.

roceasta 9y ago
>intonation and emphasis just right. Yes. The emphasis carries a lot of information in addition to the simple text. I find it hard to do when reading aloud from a book I haven't myself read before. In fact I think it's one reason I tend to pick my personal childhood favourites to read. Perhaps this is lazy. I wonder if other parents do the same?
- ashark 9y ago
  It's a skill you get better at. Correctly guessing most of the time, looking a little ahead when you can, that kind of thing. Like sight reading music, really. Combination of well-trained intuition that mostly gets things right and sneaking a peak at the next few notes or bars when you have the opportunity. Definitely works some different mental muscles than silent reading. [EDIT] I've read my kids a couple old favorites, though not ones I've read recently. In part I've used them as an excuse to get through entries my personal to-read list, in fact. Multitasking! Especially when they're really young, they don't know the difference. My 4-year-old's super into Ovid right now, which is awesome. Have to skip the too-sexy or ultra-violent (or, uh, both) bits, but it's working alright.
a_e_k 9y ago
Probably my favorite to read out loud that way is A Christmas Carol. Dickens originally wanted to be an actor, found fame as a writer instead, and brought the two passions together by ging public performances reading/reciting his stories. You can really tell that A Christmas Carol was meant to be read out with a bit of zest.

jff 9y ago

Personally, I'm just fine at impromptu public speaking, or giving a presentation, or just talking intensely for an hour or more, but 5 minutes of reading aloud gives me a dry mouth and tired jaw. Like you, I can't wait to be done. It's probably a practice thing; we'll see how I do when I have kids.

SubiculumCode 9y ago

Well put it this way, if authors read out loud what they wrote more frequently, they'd probably better streamline their prose.

tlb 9y ago

A lot of prose sucks to read aloud, because the author didn't try it. Philip Roth, to pick one of many, doesn't work well spoken. Tolkien read chapters in development aloud to his kids every night, and it shows in the way it flows. Pick a good author and keep practicing!

m1n1 9y ago

I find reading in an accent somehow frees me to enunciate better and reduces how much it feels like a chore. I use a southern accent.