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Friday Five and link to ADIML
Saturday, 25 April 2020 18:30So I did a thing yesterday. Another A Day In My Life / Glimpse At My Day!
I'm so lazy about cross-posting I'm resorting to this... just linking it in a Friday Five post LOL.
1. Are books losing importance as a source of information and entertainment?
It seems to be so. People hardly seem to look up an actual book anymore. I'll admit, I do it too. I'd easily just Google something on the go than wait till I get home or a library and then look things up.
2. Are e-books the death of paper books? Will paper books disappear?
I don't think so. There are people who love DTBs (Dead Tree Books) and heck, I love them too, but I have no more space to keep books, so I only selective choose books... I have an ex-colleague that loved the smell of a book. When he starts reading he sniffs the book. Kind of gets high on it.
3. Should libraries focus on improving their technological resources rather than building a larger collection of paper books?
I mean, it depends on the library, and its decision on what it wants to focus on. If you want the library be good in internet resources, then make sure it focuses on that and is VERY GOOD on internet resources, and if you want it to have a good collection of paper books, then make it the boss of all paper books. I think the libraries in Macau are quite good at that. There's a few branches that are really good at book selection, and then there are branches that have less selection but act as a portal to its online resources.
4. How important are early reading skills in a child’s academic performance?
Trust me, very important. I'm told I started out as a slow child. Not very bright. In a class of 40-something students, I was ranked in the 30s. That all changed when I reached Primary 4. Primary 4 is the year that students get a library card and can borrow books from the library. The library became my corner and I would go home with a new book almost daily, and read late into the night after lights off LOL. Suddenly, in Primary 4, I started to climb into the 20s, and eventually got even 2nd best in class. A teacher mentioned I was writing better and that it was obvious I had started reading books.
The school I went to has a reputation that "students are great at English writing (essentially, bluffing)" (there's another school that has a reputation that "students are great at maths", etc... that kind of thing) so ever since then, school has been pretty much a breeze to me. As long as I wrote stuff, bluffed my way out that made sense, I was gold. I hardly really studied ever. I saw how my Sis struggled (and eventually had to switch schools) and at first was worried about the curriculum, but everything turned out pretty easy. Well. except maths and economics. Honest I was near flunking in these 2 subjects LOL.
I give full credit to my easy Primary and Secondary school life to having picked up reading, giving me a relatively good command in English.
5. Are people who spend a lot of time reading fiction wasting their time which could be better spent doing more useful activities?
Given my response in #4, I would say no, you can read anything, as long as you read something! (But the thing you are reading should be in proper English). Jane Austen's books are so easy to read. I once tried to read Lord of the Flies, it was a no go, it was too difficult to proceed with that kind of English. I had to give up that book.
I'm so lazy about cross-posting I'm resorting to this... just linking it in a Friday Five post LOL.
1. Are books losing importance as a source of information and entertainment?
It seems to be so. People hardly seem to look up an actual book anymore. I'll admit, I do it too. I'd easily just Google something on the go than wait till I get home or a library and then look things up.
2. Are e-books the death of paper books? Will paper books disappear?
I don't think so. There are people who love DTBs (Dead Tree Books) and heck, I love them too, but I have no more space to keep books, so I only selective choose books... I have an ex-colleague that loved the smell of a book. When he starts reading he sniffs the book. Kind of gets high on it.
3. Should libraries focus on improving their technological resources rather than building a larger collection of paper books?
I mean, it depends on the library, and its decision on what it wants to focus on. If you want the library be good in internet resources, then make sure it focuses on that and is VERY GOOD on internet resources, and if you want it to have a good collection of paper books, then make it the boss of all paper books. I think the libraries in Macau are quite good at that. There's a few branches that are really good at book selection, and then there are branches that have less selection but act as a portal to its online resources.
4. How important are early reading skills in a child’s academic performance?
Trust me, very important. I'm told I started out as a slow child. Not very bright. In a class of 40-something students, I was ranked in the 30s. That all changed when I reached Primary 4. Primary 4 is the year that students get a library card and can borrow books from the library. The library became my corner and I would go home with a new book almost daily, and read late into the night after lights off LOL. Suddenly, in Primary 4, I started to climb into the 20s, and eventually got even 2nd best in class. A teacher mentioned I was writing better and that it was obvious I had started reading books.
The school I went to has a reputation that "students are great at English writing (essentially, bluffing)" (there's another school that has a reputation that "students are great at maths", etc... that kind of thing) so ever since then, school has been pretty much a breeze to me. As long as I wrote stuff, bluffed my way out that made sense, I was gold. I hardly really studied ever. I saw how my Sis struggled (and eventually had to switch schools) and at first was worried about the curriculum, but everything turned out pretty easy. Well. except maths and economics. Honest I was near flunking in these 2 subjects LOL.
I give full credit to my easy Primary and Secondary school life to having picked up reading, giving me a relatively good command in English.
5. Are people who spend a lot of time reading fiction wasting their time which could be better spent doing more useful activities?
Given my response in #4, I would say no, you can read anything, as long as you read something! (But the thing you are reading should be in proper English). Jane Austen's books are so easy to read. I once tried to read Lord of the Flies, it was a no go, it was too difficult to proceed with that kind of English. I had to give up that book.
