News Bits: Reading aloud, the power of reading, inspiring students, helping neighbors
Lately the world seems to suck more each day. Here are a few nice things I’ve found from last week.
Crossing Divides: Why I read aloud to strangers -Janine and her husband read aloud to each other but here’s a group of people who read to each other but who are strangers. Well at first, they’re strangers but most appear to build relationships as they read to each other and then discuss the stories.
According to The Reader – a charity coordinating shared reading across the UK and beyond – reading aloud can change lives by improving well-being, reducing social isolation and building stronger communities.
It works with children in care, prisoners, people recovering from substance misuse, living with dementia or mental health issues. And it says studies undertaken with the University of Liverpool point to “statistically significant” improvements in the mental health of depressed patients who attended shared reading groups for a year.
Laura Prime, who discovered The Reader through a mental health recovery college in Crewe, says: “Everything was medical – “managing this, managing that” – when I really couldn’t manage anything. Now I often tell people that I read myself better.”
Interested? Here’s the link (also in the article) to sign up. – Read with Audrey
How stories shape our minds – This is a 4:30 minute video about how reading can change our views.
Stories are just stories, right? Not really. They are also incredibly powerful – and can both reduce prejudice, and help persuade. Research suggests that transportation (when a reader loses themselves in the story world) and identification (where a reader takes on the perspective and identity of a story character) may be related to the ability to empathize with others.
Pilot helps youths take to the skies, find careers in aviation – Decades ago, Guy Stallworth wanted to fly.
“I didn’t know which way to go or how I would become a pilot,” said Stallworth, now 54 years old. “I wish I had had someone who kind of looked like me or who lived in my neighborhood who could come up and say, ‘Hey, you want to be a pilot — this is what you need to do.’” Fortunately, Stallworth was driven enough to not only become a pilot, but also to help start an annual Dream Flight to inspire under-represented children and teens as part of an Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals aviation summer camp. Students compete for spots at the camp based on GPA and an essay.
His program is now in its twentieth year and he recently flew with First Officer Jerome Wellons who was an early participant in the program and who is now a Delta pilot.
Farmers save a neighbor’s harvest when cancer sidelines him – This reminds me of stories about 19th century barn raisings and harvests when everybody pitched in.
When stage 4 cancer stood in the way of farmer Larry Yockey reaping his wheat harvest for the first time in 50 years, dozens of his fellow farmers stepped up to save his crop. After he shared his concern with neighbors, they told him not to worry about it, and he assumed they were organizing some help. But last weekend, dozens of vehicles pulled up to his farm, along with farmers ready run the machines and work the fields.
Working together, they completed three weeks’ worth of harvesting in about eight hours.
I love the story about reading aloud to strangers and friends. I always take a collection of short fiction or non-fiction when I visit friends in nursing homes or hospitals. Sometimes people don’t want to talk, but they almost always enjoy being read to.
You found some good ones. I especially enjoyed the harvest help story.
I needed these links. Thank you.
@Darlene Marshall: That’s a great idea to take along reading material when visiting.
@Barb in Maryland: I think sometimes people don’t imagine that their little bit of offered help would be of use but this showed how powerful it can be when magnified with others.
@Darlynne: You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Thank you for these stories Jayne and Dear Author. I would not have found them on my own. It’s a boost to get a glimpse of encouragement about people making a difference. My husband helped me get a foothold in his language by reading Dutch translations of Raold Dahl stories to me early on. You’ve made my day.
@Mzcue: Yay! I love “day making.” Do you also read Betty Neels’s books? ;)
@Jayne: I have not read any of Betty Neels’s books, although I did buy one recently when it was noted here on DA that one was on sale—Damsel in Green. I’ll boost it up in my TBR! Thanks.
yes definitely thank you from me as well Jayne.
How lovely to see happy stories. Thank you, Jayne.
@Mzcue: Neels heroines often earn bonus points from the Dutch characters for their willingness to learn the language. ;) Neels seems to be having a little fun with it in this bit from “Discovering Daisy.” The heroine and hero (who seems remarkably laid back and easy going about it) are talking here:
@Jayne: It’s particularly interesting that Neels should credit newcomers to the Netherlands for their efforts to learn Dutch. One of the common challenges people face there is that the Dutch are so proficient at mastering other languages that they give newcomers very little opportunity to practice. The moment your accent is detected, the conversation switches over to your own mother tongue. This is not so marked outside the large cities, and perhaps Neels’ stories are set more often in smaller towns. Now I’m keener than ever to give Neels a try. Thanks again.
@Mzcue: In most of the books I’ve read so far, the hero often has an old family home outside of the major cities where the old family retainers work. Usually some of them speak a degree of English but there are usually one or two who don’t and the heroine earns their respect by being willing to try to learn Dutch. The hero and his family and co-workers generally speak perfect English and immediately switch to that when the English heroine enters a room (as they all have faultless manners).
In trying to discover how to pronounce the name of the hero of the latest Neels book I read, I went to youtube and fell down the rabbit hole of watching videos of Dutch speakers talking about their language. Several posters said exactly what you have – the Dutch people they’ve encountered can flip through 4-5 languages until they find the one you understand. I am in awe.
@Jayne:
My parents were Dutch. My father studied English, French, and German at school in addition to Dutch. My mother’s native tongue was Hungarian; she didn’t learn Dutch until she went to school. In school, she also studied French and English. (This was in the years during and after WW2.)
When my sister and I were teens, we spent about six weeks in the Netherlands. My parents had high hopes we’d come back speaking Dutch; however, everyone we met wanted to practise their English!