3 ms·

I’m 57. I have no recollection of learning to read. Somewhere between 5 and 8 it became second nature. How strange. I never really thought about it.

_hofstadter 6y ago
Not sure why you are being downvoted. Later in the article, the author speaks to an estimate that 40% of children will learn to read despite how they are taught.
andai 6y ago
Apparently, I learned by watching a TV show with my family where contestants guess the letters of a hidden word.
bigiain 6y ago
53 here, and I also don't remember "learning to read", but I do still remember wondering why so many of the other kids in my kindergarten class (4-5year olds here) couldn't read already. My parents were always "readers" and growing up our house was always full of bookshelves stacked to overflowing with books and magazines. I spent a lot of time as a pre teen and teenager going through my dad's unbroken collection of Scientific American magazine starting from the late 60s. I suspect Martin Gardner's column has had a direct influence on my career choices and why I hang out here... I remember many occasions when peers at university were first learning about things like Conway's Game Of Life, Penrose Tilings, and RSA public key crypto - and I'd be "Doesn't everybody know all this already? I think I read about this before I was in high school!"
- bigiain 6y ago
  For nostalgia's sake, I just went and found Gardner's RSA article. It was from 1977 - I was 10 (by which stage I was almost certainly grabbing the magazine from Dad as soon as he'd finished reading it). Notable quote: "For example, to test a 130 digit odd number for primality requires at the most (that is when the number is actually prime) about 7 minutes on a PDP-10 computer." http://simson.net/ref/1977/Gardner_RSA.pdf http://simson.net/ref/1977/Gardner_RSA.pdf (Tonight I might see if I can still remember how to make a hexaflexagon...)
Polylactic_acid 6y ago
21 here and I don't remember learning to read from the beginning. Only all the reading comprehension tests we had in school where they get you to explain what a paragraph means. Somewhat related but I know someone the same age who seems to struggle with this. They regularly misunderstand what people mean online or fail to recognise satire (especially having issues when someone quotes a part of what they said implying that it was very strange/confusing/mocking it). I'm sort of at a loss thinking of a way to resolve this because to me its not even something I really thought had to or could be learned.
smabie 6y ago
Yeah, I'm 27 and honestly, I have no idea how I learned. I've never understand why people debate on what's the best way to learn to read, because I don't think it really matters. But maybe, some other people are different. Though, like by the time 1st or 2nd grade came along, I don't remember anyone in the class who was having problems reading. And I was kind of a bully, so I'm sure I would have made fun of them if someone was struggling (and I have a good memory of my put-downs!)

_hofstadter 6y ago

Not sure why you are being downvoted. Later in the article, the author speaks to an estimate that 40% of children will learn to read despite how they are taught.

andai 6y ago

Apparently, I learned by watching a TV show with my family where contestants guess the letters of a hidden word.

bigiain 6y ago

53 here, and I also don't remember "learning to read", but I do still remember wondering why so many of the other kids in my kindergarten class (4-5year olds here) couldn't read already. My parents were always "readers" and growing up our house was always full of bookshelves stacked to overflowing with books and magazines. I spent a lot of time as a pre teen and teenager going through my dad's unbroken collection of Scientific American magazine starting from the late 60s. I suspect Martin Gardner's column has had a direct influence on my career choices and why I hang out here... I remember many occasions when peers at university were first learning about things like Conway's Game Of Life, Penrose Tilings, and RSA public key crypto - and I'd be "Doesn't everybody know all this already? I think I read about this before I was in high school!"

bigiain 6y ago
For nostalgia's sake, I just went and found Gardner's RSA article. It was from 1977 - I was 10 (by which stage I was almost certainly grabbing the magazine from Dad as soon as he'd finished reading it). Notable quote: "For example, to test a 130 digit odd number for primality requires at the most (that is when the number is actually prime) about 7 minutes on a PDP-10 computer." http://simson.net/ref/1977/Gardner_RSA.pdf http://simson.net/ref/1977/Gardner_RSA.pdf (Tonight I might see if I can still remember how to make a hexaflexagon...)

Polylactic_acid 6y ago

21 here and I don't remember learning to read from the beginning. Only all the reading comprehension tests we had in school where they get you to explain what a paragraph means. Somewhat related but I know someone the same age who seems to struggle with this. They regularly misunderstand what people mean online or fail to recognise satire (especially having issues when someone quotes a part of what they said implying that it was very strange/confusing/mocking it). I'm sort of at a loss thinking of a way to resolve this because to me its not even something I really thought had to or could be learned.

smabie 6y ago

Yeah, I'm 27 and honestly, I have no idea how I learned. I've never understand why people debate on what's the best way to learn to read, because I don't think it really matters. But maybe, some other people are different. Though, like by the time 1st or 2nd grade came along, I don't remember anyone in the class who was having problems reading. And I was kind of a bully, so I'm sure I would have made fun of them if someone was struggling (and I have a good memory of my put-downs!)