PART 3

Discussion topics: Reading and children

Q. What kinds of book are most popular with children in your country?

In general, children in my country love to read books that have a lot of illustration images and comprise imaginary and interesting stories. Since colourful and clear illustrations and artwork support a simple storyline, most young children love them. They also read folktales and fables that are easy to read, comics, nursery rhymes, alphabet and counting books.

Q. Why do you think some children do not read books very often?

I think reading is a habit that should be nurtured. If someone feels the joy of reading, he will no doubt read whenever possible. But for many children, the scenario is different. They are more interested in doing fun staffs and playing with toys and other children than reading books as the latter one requires more attention and inscription. However, parents and teachers should often read to the young child to build the habit in them.

Q. How do you think children can be encouraged to read more?

I think parents have a great role here. Children like to mimic their parents and if parents have the habit of reading books, their offspring will also feel passionate about reading. Besides, we should buy books for them that have more illustration images and artwork and fewer texts. This will connect the young readers to books and they will feel interested to read more. Not to mention, we should often read interesting stories to them from books and this will be highly encouraging for them to pick a book and read on their own. Finally, teachers and parents can offer some sort of incentives and prizes to encourage children who do not like to read very often.

Discussion topics: Reading for different purposes

Q. Are there any occasions when reading at speed is a useful skill to have? What are they?
 

I believe we need the skill of speed reading to be able to extract some information from a lengthy passage and this skill is useful for us to do well in competitive exams. Sometimes teachers ask us to read in front of the whole class and our speed reading skill can save us from mumbling while reading. Besides, reading at speed is useful to complete an assignment, thesis work and find information from a website.

Q. Are there any jobs where people need to read a lot? What are they?

I believe doctors, teachers, researchers, computer programmers, writers, meteorologists, paralegals, historians, journalists and editors read a lot to do well in their professions. These professionals often read to learn new information, to solve a problem, to deliver a speech, to present writing to the mass audience, to get ideas and to pass exams to improve their career prospects. In fact, people from all professions should read to enhance their skills and knowledge as reading is always helpful to do better in a job.

Q. Do you think that reading novels is more interesting than reading factual books? Why is that?

I believe novels are more interesting to the general audience as they are often more intriguing and have thrilling plots to entertain the readers and surprise them every now and then. A good novel opens a new door to the readers and often presents the world from a different perspective. Not to mention they are fast-paced, thought-provoking and engaging.

Factual books, on the contrary, are based on real events and historical facts. The academics, scholars and serious readers are more interested in these books as they often want to learn rather than being entertained. Some factual books, however, are more intriguing and entertaining and are more widely read. For instance, “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank, “The Interpretation of Dreams” by Sigmund Freud and “The Second World War” by Winston Churchill are some factual books that have entertained and informed millions of readers throughout the generations.

Phân tích từ vựng

Storyline: cốt truyện

Folktales: truyện nhân gian

Fables: truyện ngụ ngôn

Scenario: kịch bản

Mimic: bắt chước

Illustration images: hình ảnh minh họa

Incentives: khích lệ

Meteorologists: nhà khí tượng học

Intriguing: kích thích sự tò mò

Fast-paced: nhịp độ nhanh

Thought-provoking: kích thích tư duy