The Reader, plus Language Learning

I finished The Reader this morning. Touched by how Hanna, illiterate before going to prison, finally learned to read and write in prison, I was amazed at her strong will. Of course, the protagonist Mike's keeping sending Hanna tapes of his reading contributed too.

I agree with the sentences on pages 184~185:

"The disadvantage of reading aloud remained the fact that it took longer. But books read aloud also stayed long in my memory. Even today, I can remember things in them absolutely clearly."

I always suggest students read English aloud, believing that it will definitely them in learning the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, simultaneously. Now I can use these few sentences in the book to convince my students.

A passage on page 188 is about the importance of being able to read and write:

"I knew about the helplessness in everyday activities, finding one's way or finding an address or choosing a meal in a restaurant, about how illiterates anxiously stick to prescribed patterns and familiar routines...Illiteracy is dependence. By finding the courage to learn to read and write, Hanna had advanced from dependence to independence, a step towards liberation."

Good that we are able to read and write! Even such a small thing is worth feeling happy about.