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In Favor of Reading Aloud
- nf3 2y agoInteresting! Glad to know I'm not the only one who has this habit.
- hprotagonist 2y agosome things are _meant_ to be read aloud because they were written that way one way or another. For the majority of history, it was the norm, either in consumption, authorship, or both. Poetry is meant to be spoken, with rare exception. Written records of oral-first material, from the hobbit to the epistles (it's in the name!) to the just so stories (also in the name!) are all meant to be read aloud. Some works, nearly all of which are 20th c. or later, are meant to be read silently, and are actively hard to read out loud.
- compressedgas 2y agoCould you provide an example of a work that is actively hard to read aloud?
- hprotagonist 2y agoAny technical paper written in the last century. A surprising number of children's books -- either they're too simple, or too! over! punctuated?! or just carelessly written. Poems whose shape is as important as their sound or sense -- like https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47244/buffalo-bill-s https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47244/buffalo-bill-s things written without a care towards euphony. I think fantasy/scifi that clearly never intends anyone to attempt to _pronounce_ the names of characters or locations fall into this, but other things do too.
- stonethrowaway 2y ago> For the majority of history, it was the norm, either in consumption, authorship, or both. Come again?
- hprotagonist 2y agoIt was normative for things to be either authored by dictation, received by listening, or both.
- floren 2y agoI read The Hobbit aloud to my wife at bedtimes about 2 years back. Challenging at first, but it got easier, and I think we both enjoyed it.
- hprotagonist 2y agoback to the origins! I've done similar, and also with LoTR. It worked very well.
- 082349872349872 2y agomy wife and I sometimes do bedtime reading to each other where either she reads an english story, or I read one in her mother tongue: fun, social, and (often) even educational! Lagniappe: https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1960/06/25 https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1960/06/25
- hollerith 2y ago>epistles (it's in the name!) Epistle means letter or written communication.
- hprotagonist 2y agoit does. They were public letters that would’ve been read aloud to a group.
- hollerith 2y agoAh, OK.
- happytoexplain 2y agoIn middle school, we were read Homer's Odyssey, and were tasked with memorizing and reciting folk stories. As an adult, I read short stories and novellas to my wife. It's a valuable intellectual and creative muscle to exercise, along with silent reading and writing. It also helps with public speaking.
- jauntywundrkind 2y agoIt might be fun to be able to do a book circle where folks read aloud chapters & can swap those recordings. I've fallen out of the habit of reading aloud, but for a while I did find it to be profoundly fun.
- _fs 2y agoI've read the entire harry potter series aloud to my kids. I don't think I have spoken so many words in my life. My throat would be raw after long chapters.
- SebFender 2y agoWhen we read - we are never truly silent...