Some people like to read. That's understandable: I like to read.
However, I very much dislike reading aloud in class, because all of a sudden I find myself tripping over my own words and skipping entire lines. Not only that, but I discover time and time again that I cannot pronounce any word in the mess of rules that is the English language. Because I know this about myself, when the teacher asks for volunteers, I never raise my hand in class.
Some people are not aware of this rule--and yes, it is a rule. Some may not realize it, but I assure them that there are an extraordinary amount of people who do not appreciate people reading aloud when they, in fact, cannot read aloud well.
In one of my classes, for example, there was this poor girl, bless her, who simply loved to read out loud. Her hand would always be the first to shoot into the air when the teacher asked for volunteers. The first time she read, she did so for a solid half hour.
And it was a disaster.
She skipped entire paragraphs---not lines, paragraphs---and butchered the pronunciation of even the most simple words. She mumbled over some parts and practically screamed others. I have rarely felt such an overwhelming feeling of sympathy for one person in my life as the class collectively cringed, flinched, strained to hear, or covered their ears. Generally, everyone looked extremely irritated/pitying and eventually began ignoring her to read the selection on their own. The teacher seemed unwilling to stop her out of the same sympathy that paralyzed much of the class.
Now, if this was an isolated incident, we could probably laugh about it and move on. But she repeatedly volunteered for any and all reading assignments and while the teacher acquiesced once or twice more (to the horror of the rest of the class), eventually she had to simply pretend not to see the raised hand every time the girl raised her hand. It was bad.
The worst part was that she knew it but refused to believe it. Quite a few people told her that she skipped paragraphs or pronounced words incorrectly, but she kept adamantly denying it. Eventually she acknowledged that maybe she wasn't the best reader, but she liked reading out loud and that was all that mattered. Not at school, my friend, and not during class, either. It was very painful listening to that reading, and from that experience I firmly believe that yes, there is a rule, and it is as follows:
If you can't read out loud well, don't volunteer to read out loud.
Really, please. I'm sorry, but if a person wants to practice their reading skills, the time to do so is not the middle of class. After school or before school, fine. But when we actually need to get work done?
No, thank you.
However, I very much dislike reading aloud in class, because all of a sudden I find myself tripping over my own words and skipping entire lines. Not only that, but I discover time and time again that I cannot pronounce any word in the mess of rules that is the English language. Because I know this about myself, when the teacher asks for volunteers, I never raise my hand in class.
Some people are not aware of this rule--and yes, it is a rule. Some may not realize it, but I assure them that there are an extraordinary amount of people who do not appreciate people reading aloud when they, in fact, cannot read aloud well.
In one of my classes, for example, there was this poor girl, bless her, who simply loved to read out loud. Her hand would always be the first to shoot into the air when the teacher asked for volunteers. The first time she read, she did so for a solid half hour.
And it was a disaster.
She skipped entire paragraphs---not lines, paragraphs---and butchered the pronunciation of even the most simple words. She mumbled over some parts and practically screamed others. I have rarely felt such an overwhelming feeling of sympathy for one person in my life as the class collectively cringed, flinched, strained to hear, or covered their ears. Generally, everyone looked extremely irritated/pitying and eventually began ignoring her to read the selection on their own. The teacher seemed unwilling to stop her out of the same sympathy that paralyzed much of the class.
Now, if this was an isolated incident, we could probably laugh about it and move on. But she repeatedly volunteered for any and all reading assignments and while the teacher acquiesced once or twice more (to the horror of the rest of the class), eventually she had to simply pretend not to see the raised hand every time the girl raised her hand. It was bad.
The worst part was that she knew it but refused to believe it. Quite a few people told her that she skipped paragraphs or pronounced words incorrectly, but she kept adamantly denying it. Eventually she acknowledged that maybe she wasn't the best reader, but she liked reading out loud and that was all that mattered. Not at school, my friend, and not during class, either. It was very painful listening to that reading, and from that experience I firmly believe that yes, there is a rule, and it is as follows:
If you can't read out loud well, don't volunteer to read out loud.
Really, please. I'm sorry, but if a person wants to practice their reading skills, the time to do so is not the middle of class. After school or before school, fine. But when we actually need to get work done?
No, thank you.