Here is an article on some research that was done on reading a few years ago. It turns out that some important things people used to believe about reading simply aren’t true.
Jamie, excellent article. I must admit, I too have been the victim of reading illusions when I once bought a Travel Guide Australia. The first thing that struck me as odd was the fact that the guide was not exactly a guide but just a booklet. Then I started reading the book and in the beginning I was quite happy because it seemed the guide would actually take me to Australia. However, after an hour or so I realized the guide and me hadn’t moved a single inch. I immediately took the guide back to the store and asked them if they were aware of the fact that their guides are incapable of even travelling themselves let alone taking others on journeys…[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC short conversations: A colleague asks how to submit vacation requests.[YSaerTTEW443543]
That article must be a joke! What is The Onion, anyway? It looks like a children’s magazine/site. Who would believe that a Department of Education could release such a poorly argumented story, based on children’s experiences only?
Clearly, only someone who hasn’t done much reading or doesn’t know how to or simply doesn’t like it would seriously utter and believe such nonsense! They might just as well say “don’t read”!
In fact, what the dubious story just claims is that reading books will not actually, physically take you places. Well, see there, many thanks for the clarification!
Being an only child, what would I have done without books? They gave me lots of brothers and sisters, friends, pets, innumerable trips to different places, customs, ways of life (and ways of thinking!)… and so much more! With good stories, you don’t even need to put your imagination to work. Most readers will know what I mean.
On the other hand, and as Torsten points out, some books are so bad that the only trip you should do with them is to the wastepaper basket.
PS: Jamie, your second sentence should read: “…some important things people believe” not “used to believe”.
Here is an article from The Onion about a Marxist university student.
theonion.com/content/node/28832
One time I used this article in a lesson with two younger Germans, just out of university. They took it very seriously, and they began discussing it as if it involved a real person. Finally I told them the whole thing was a satire, and they answered, “But it could be true!”