I’ve been seeing discussions around audiobooks v. reading text v. reading on a device v. reading a book in one’s hand.
Some people are saying one thing or another is “real reading.”
/drums fingers/
I do think the ability to read and understand text is an important skill, though frankly, I have a job because people cannot and do not read. Quite literally, if people could read and understand basic instructions in text, I would not have a job.
So, do I think that people need to do some practice on some regular basis to read instructions?
I do.
Do I think certain sorts of texts might be difficult enough to read that you need training to do so?
Hell, yeah. The profession of law is a prime example. My reading comprehension is good and my ability to decipher a text is well above average for your general, decently-educated American. However, I do not have the context to read the text of a law and understand its implications.
But, more than that, let’s talk about just casually reading, say… Books. Fiction.
All y’all know I “read” a lot of audiobooks. I like consuming stories in that format, as it allows me to enjoy a story while not being required to sit down and not be doing anything else. My house pre-Audible was nowhere near as clean and organized as it is post-Audible. No kidding, my house organization really came about from buying one of those USB stick 1 GB iPods back in 2004 or so and pirating the Jim Dale Harry Potter stories.
The experience of listening to an audiobook, for me, however, is very different from the experience of sitting down and reading the text of a book. Which, yes, I also do pretty much daily.
Say what you like, but diving into a book where you are not physically doing anything else is a different experience. I do not lose myself in an audiobook like I do when reading text.
But when I think of that I also think of music. How many people have music playing, that they’re really enjoying while doing something else? Or find some sorts of music helps concentration on some other task?
How many people actually sit down and pay full attention to a piece of music and do nothing else.
(FWIW, part of the reason I generally do not play certain pieces is because I get drawn into that music with my full concentration, but it’s certainly not all music).
I guess what I think is that I do want people to practice the real skill of reading and understanding text, but I also think that policing free time is a load of shit and people should enjoy what they enjoy, ya know?
When I use the word “reading” myself, I do generally mean sitting down with text. I will actually say I am listening to an audiobook. But if someone asks me if I’ve read X book and I experienced it as an audiobook? I’d say yes. I have experienced the whole story…
… again, sort of. There are certain sorts of textual meaning that don’t translate from page to narration (Lookin’ at you Sir pTerry!)