• English 15 and 16 year olds have an average reading age of about 11 (maybe)
    126 replies, posted
[QUOTE=IliekBoxes;38476167]That explains "lods of emone"[/QUOTE] No, it doesn't at all.
[QUOTE=Lukeo;38476146]I always felt clever as fuck when we had to read aloud in class[/QUOTE] I wouldn't say I felt clever. Just a little confused that anyone had trouble reading the material we studied.
I can see why, barely anyone I know reads a book as an interest. When it came to reading a book for our English exams most people bought the audio version instead.
Stuff like this makes me glad that I was brought up to value reading. Hell, my 11 year old brother is reading the Ender's game series on his own time, how many kids his age do that?
[QUOTE=_Kent_;38476512]Stuff like this makes me glad that I was brought up to value reading. Hell, my 11 year old brother is reading the Ender's game series on his own time, how many kids his age do that?[/QUOTE] I did. [sub]I didn't understand a word of it though.[/sub] Of course in 10th grade I went back and read the entire series when I was on a sci-fi binge. And then I attempted to decipher Dune. Not sure if I succeeded.
[QUOTE=rinoaff33;38476525]I did. [sub]I didn't understand a word of it though.[/sub][/QUOTE] He doesn't either, but he can spell "Lusitania" :v:
[QUOTE=rinoaff33;38476122]What he was saying is that the trend of people speaking terrible English would get worse and that it would somehow be replaced by some other medium as if text was becoming less common.[/QUOTE] Spoken language will keep changing as it always has, but it won't go anywhere. Written language, however, will become less prominent. Reading and writing are not an optimal way to interact with devices now that we have other means: the device can display images, track the user's eyes, it can understand spoken language, it has a touch screen and it can sense rotation, global location and movement. Do notice that written language is just a way to record spoken language; and that goal we can now fulfill with other means: we can digitally store, analyze and reproduce audio. Once paper has become entirely obsolete I think we'll see some positive changes in user interfaces.
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I blame xbox live
[QUOTE=ThePuska;38476632]Spoken language will keep changing as it always has, but it won't go anywhere. Written language, however, will become less prominent. Reading and writing are not an optimal way to interact with devices now that we have other means: the device can display images, track the user's eyes, it can understand spoken language, it has a touch screen and it can sense rotation, global location and movement. Do notice that written language is just a way to record spoken language; and that goal we can now fulfill with other means: we can digitally store, analyze and reproduce audio. Once paper has become entirely obsolete I think we'll see some positive changes in user interfaces.[/QUOTE] Why is texting so common then? Reading is fast, easy, and discreet. It requires barely any bandwidth and nearly anything can be used to scribble a quick note. Writing is often superior to sound in advertising because you can put a bunch of text based signs in one place without it sounding like a pack of screaming used car salesmen. Images and audio have their place, but they are no excuse for illiteracy.
The unfortunate truth. It's painful how many people can barely read these days.
If you were to take a look at some teens' facebook page, I doubt one in ten you'll find can properly spell words longer than 6 letters.
In highschool I remember whenever we had to do a novel study people complained about how the novels were awful or that it was hard to understand but I loved every single one of them, I didn't know it was so uncommon for people to enjoy reading, and to critically analyze literature. I think I just realized why my english teachers liked me so much. :v:
[QUOTE=Untouch;38475397]The questions are questions no 5th grader would ever learn.[/QUOTE] There's no way in hell a 5th grader can even pronounce "Deoxyribonucleic acid."
I've always considered reading and writing as my best subjects in school, I never thought it was even relatively difficult in any way. I honestly can't comprehend why reading is so difficult to some people, it's just so damn easy to learn. Also, am I the only one who gets like Hulk angry when people act proud as fuck that they never read books?
[QUOTE=ThePuska;38476632]Spoken language will keep changing as it always has, but it won't go anywhere. Written language, however, will become less prominent. Reading and writing are not an optimal way to interact with devices now that we have other means: the device can display images, track the user's eyes, it can understand spoken language, it has a touch screen and it can sense rotation, global location and movement. Do notice that written language is just a way to record spoken language; and that goal we can now fulfill with other means: we can digitally store, analyze and reproduce audio. Once paper has become entirely obsolete I think we'll see some positive changes in user interfaces.[/QUOTE] text has the highest information density of any human-understandable medium
[QUOTE=proch;38476868]There's no way in hell a 5th grader can even pronounce "Deoxyribonucleic acid."[/QUOTE] Even in fifth grade I would have used the tried and true SPELL IT OUT method. I mean seriously, do kids just look at big words for a few seconds, contemplate it, then give up? [B]EDIT:[/B] For those fifth graders out there, De-Oxy-Rib-O-Nucleic Ass-Id
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;38476975]text has the highest information density of any human-understandable medium[/QUOTE] That doesn't mean it's the fastest way to absorb information.
That makes sense, lots of people I know have never read a book in their life. It's kind of sad really.
[QUOTE=ThePuska;38477212]That doesn't mean it's the fastest way to absorb information.[/QUOTE] For me it is, at least the fastest way I know of. I'm a slow listener and a fast reader, I would much rather read something than have it explained to me, but again it's all a matter of preference.
I've had a college level reading ability since I was like 12 :v: It bugs the shit out of me if someone is reading out loud and gets stuck on a small, common word. Like common. Makes me wonder how they were allowed to get that far.
Frankly, it's not just in the UK. I've had high school teachers who made frequent spelling errors, and the vast majority of my classmates make grammatical and spelling mistakes that I overcame in fourth or fifth grade in the Middle East. And I'm 22! Something is wrong with language education in all of North America AND the UK, it seems.
My Dad taught me to read when I was rather young (3-5 area I think) and I am a DAMNED GOOD READER! ...Although I will admit I am a slow reader....this makes me miserable when I have to read terrible books. :suicide:
[QUOTE=Lyoko774;38477297]I've had a college level reading ability since I was like 12 :v: It bugs the shit out of me if someone is reading out loud and gets stuck on a small, common word. Like common. Makes me wonder how they were allowed to get that far.[/QUOTE] Someone in my Economics class pronounce Aggregate wrong yesterday. I cringed.
One of my college professors isn't a native English speaker, but earned her PhD in Canada. Even so, her written English is terrible. I wouldn't hold it against her nearly as much, because she grew up in Liberia and escaped to come to Canada as a refugee.
[QUOTE=tarkata14;38477361]Someone in my Economics class pronounce Aggregate wrong yesterday. I cringed.[/QUOTE] At least they try. Half the people I knew in school would have just said "..Uh..That word!" *continues sentence*
[QUOTE=Painseeker;38475441]Ugh, as a Brit I can vouch for this. Even at college I'm astounded by how many of my peers can barely read, it's ridiculous. I can't fathom how some of them even made it to college in the first place.[/QUOTE] This so much, the majority of people at my college can't read properly and tend to just go off numbers and asking the teacher awkward questions. No wonder most people failed.
I can confirm this. I'll admit it, I'm currently still in school and the amount of people with terrible reading ages is astounding.
[QUOTE=archangel125;38477338]Frankly, it's not just in the UK. I've had high school teachers who made frequent spelling errors, and the vast majority of my classmates make grammatical and spelling mistakes that I overcame in fourth or fifth grade in the Middle East. And I'm 22! Something is wrong with language education in all of North America AND the UK, it seems.[/QUOTE] My English teacher got the definitions of sarcasm and irony mixed up (how do you even do this?) and sent me out of the classroom for correcting her.
I remember in like third grade the reading level test we had to take every couple of months or so (STAR, don't remember what it stood for) said I should be at a 14.0-15.0 level. In this system, 1.0 was first grade level and 12.0 was high school senior (12th grade) level. So the people in charge of the libraries and book rooms and shit kept trying to force me into at least the 12.0 level so I would "read within my level". Except at age 11 I thought everything above a 6.0 was boring as fuck (except for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, that was and still is a good read).
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