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Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts

Book-lat: Reading in the Philippines


In case you missed it last week, the video of a TV5 documentary on reading in the Philippines is now available online. The documentary's title, "Book-lat," references the Tagalog word "buklat" (in English, to open like a book). The question it seeks to answer is "Kaya ba nating makalikha ng isang nasyon ng mga mambabasa?" (Can we create a nation of readers?) Watch the entire documentary below.

Part 1



Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Disclosure: I was interviewed for the show, and I appear as early as 1:11 in the first segment. Note that I am not identified as a librarian, but as a book historian. Also, the Rizal Library is featured prominently in the host's spiels and my interview, and several librarians and staff are clearly identifiable in the background and walking through the stacks.

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Contest: Take a shot at READING

Take a shot at READING
This is one contest librarians should join. The contest started a few weeks ago, but even though it's sponsored by Philippine Daily Inquirer and National Book Store, it's not available on either sponsor's website. So I scanned the ad from the newspaper (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 April 2009, p. C3) and have reproduced the text below. Please note that the contest ends on 3 May 2009.

I wanted to launch a "Get Caught Reading" contest two years ago, but never quite got past the planning stage. This new contest means that I can actually join! Now if I can just find the time to do everything I need and want to do...

Take a shot at READING

Discover the life-changing power of books in a PHOTO CONTEST that will stir your creative juices!

HOW TO JOIN
Take a creative shot of yourself, posing with a book that has made a significant impact in your life. Take your pick from absolutely any of your favorite books – whether it’s a romance novel, an autobiography, non-fiction, or a thriller.

PRIZES
Weekly winners will be featured in the Sunday Lifestyle Section and will receive P5,000 worth of National Book Store gift certificates.

Three final winners will be selected, with the Grand Prize winner getting a whopping P50,000 worth of cash and gift certificates. Second and Third Prize winners will get P30,000 and P20,000 worth of cash and gift certificates, respectively.

HOW TO SEND YOUR ENTRIES
1. Email takeashotatreading@gmail.com
2. Snail Mail Entries must be sealed in an envelope and addressed to Christine Correa or Karla Tricia Magno of Marketing Services Quad Alpha Centrum Bldg., 125 Pioneer St. Mandaluyong City 1550
3. Drop boxes at NBS branches

Entries submitted via snail mail or in drop boxes located at National Book Store branches nationwide must be saved in a CD with printouts of the photo (at least 4x6 inches in size).

Submitted photo entries must be in JPEG format with a standard size of 800×600 pixels, web format (72dpi). Entries must include a brief description of the photo (not more than 5 sentences) and an information sheet containing your name, age, contact number, mailing and email addresses.


CONTEST RUNS FROM MARCH 23 TO MAY 3, 2009.

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Bloggers on Mga Ibong Mandaragit

If a student raises her hand in a class on Philippine literature and says, "Hindi ko maintindihan ang Tagalog" (I can't understand the Tagalog), should the teacher say, "Eh kasi tanga ka" (That's because you're stupid)? Well, this was essentially what happened when blogger-columnist Connie Veneracion complained that she and her husband, who were in fact trying to help their daughter, couldn't understand the Tagalog used in Mga Ibong Mandaragit by Amado Hernandez.

Exie Abola, another blogger-columnist, pointed out that Veneracion's attitude toward literature was unfortunate because she is "an adult, not a seventeen-year-old, and a parent at that." Other writers and bloggers would not be as restrained in their responses. Ibong Mandaragit dot com, a website dedicated to understanding the book was set up, but it seems its owner hasn't gotten past the first chapter. As far as I can tell, the "debate" degenerated into an unhealthy my-argument-is-better-than-yours, you're-so-stupid, one-sided "contest" that has all but obscured the important-but-apparently-not-important-enough-to-ask-their-opinion protagonists: the readers.

It's important to remember that this debate is not about Veneracion. She is not the enemy. She is a reading advocate (see her posts on "reading") who is making a complaint about the Tagalog used in Philippine literature. Maybe she's arrogant, maybe she generalizes too much, maybe her arguments don't make sense. But the way I see it, she is a customer providing feedback. In a previous life, I learned that "a complaint is a gift" and "don't shoot the messenger." And so, as my contribution to this blogosphere "controversy," I analyzed the search results on Google Blog Search for the term "ibong mandaragit" last 25 May 2008 to see what bloggers had actually written about the book since the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately, I did not bring the papers on which I jotted down the numbers, so I'll have to share the stats when I get back to Toronto from Vancouver, but out of the 97 hits, only very few—not counting those who were reacting to Veneracion—wrote about the book in a significant way. Below are all of those that indicated whether they dis/liked the book or found its language difficult to read. It certainly seems as if Veneracion was not merely speaking for herself. Maybe some researcher will see this and think of doing a more in-depth study, instead of relying on the reactions of the literati to Veneracion's complaint.

Lara

xe super inaalagaan ko yung books ko, any book (except yung mga walang kwenta talaga like mga ibong mandaragit).
Alex
At my last day, teacher Mayet said that I could borrow the book entitled, mga ibong mandaragit at the library. I was required to read it. It was like summer class, but harder. I was given 3 weeks, and all I could read was 10 chapters. I'm not a fast reader, especially in filipino, in english, I'm okay... The book was really hard to understand, and the words are very deep, that I needed a tagalog dictionary all the time.
Chocolateisbliss
how fast can you read a book? or better yet how fast can you read a chapter or even a page of my all time favorite book Mga Ibong Mandaragit?
Dexter
If the Filipino really loved his own language he'd actually enjoy reading the Noli, or Mga Ibong Mandaragit. Hell, I have. But he can't even muster enough willpower to do that-- ask any high school kid.
Tsina
Halos buong high school life ko sinasabi ko sa sarili ko kaya ko yan, dahil kung hindi ko kinaya siguradong wala na ako ngayon at malamang eh tinali ko na ang sarili kong patiwarik sa isang punong matanda. [Haha! Mga Ibong Mandaragit!]
Caela
I, CAELA, HAVE FINISHED READING IBONG MANDARAGIT.

I. FINISHED. THAT. THING!
Onedarkwing
I'm cramming my Filipino book report. Imagine this - cramming 402 pages of deep tagalog Ibong Mandaragit in 3 days 2 nights! Hah!
Emma
Antok na antok na ako sa pagababasa ng Mga Ibong Mandaragit. Pero sa gitna ng aking pagbabasa.... HAHA

Mando: Tutuwirin ko na, Puri. Ang malubhang kakulangan sa buhay ko'y isang babae, hindi pala isang babae, kundi ikaw, Puri, tanging ikaw. Kaya kung sasang-ayon kang umalis sa bukid...
Louise
My procrastination is seriously not funny. But why am I doing this? Well, the simple answer is this: READING MGA IBONG MANDARAGIT GIVES ME A BRAIN..drain? wash? wring?

You see, it's like putting your brain in a blender. I don't get the most of it, and I'm sick and tired of Dolly flirting with Mando. Ohplease. Mando doesn't like you. In fact, he likes his COUSIN Puri. Plus, I'm getting sick of Mando writing LOOOOOOOONG letters to everybody. Reading his letters to Magat, Tata Matyas, Puri (and the like) is NOT NICE. He writes these very long letters which takes 4 or 5 pages (or even more) and I don't even understand what he is trying to say. Bottomline: Mando is a BAD WRITER. He takes too long to get to the point, and he puts in a lot of details which are not really essential. He puts in news clippings, too. Plus, he puts in lots of flattery in writing to Puri, which I think still doesn't erase the fact that PURI IS HIS COUSIN. Hello?! Ugh.

Sheesh, for once I let it all out. Ka Amado's book is actually nice, but it gets too dragging.(Believe me, I don't have anything against Ka Amado and his book. It's just that I'm way too stubborn and a great procrastinator)

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Gilda Cordero Fernando: Filipina

Gilda Cordero Fernando: Filipina
From left: Tara FT Sering, Gilda Cordero Fernando, and Andrea Pasion-Flores

Gilda Cordero Fernando is, so far, the only Filipina who has told me, "Wanna kiss me? You're cute."

This was not, of course, said in private, but in front of those who attended the National Book Development Board's monthly book club meeting at Circle Cafe last December 1, as she was saying her goodbyes after our discussion of her autobiography, The Last Full Moon (Quezon City: UP Press, 2005). So lower your eyebrows and forget your dirty thoughts. She just happened to find me... cute =)

She is described on the back cover of her book as a "writer, editor, publisher, artist, art patron, theater producer and national cultural visionary." But it is interesting to find out that someone who is perceived this way was once not quite sure of her "mission in life." I will not attempt to describe her. Instead, allow me to let her speak to you directly:
For some time now I've been obsessed about finding out my mission in life. Usually, when we're asked what our mission is, we name our talent. We say, "to write" or "to sing" or "to act" or "to paint." Or we name our occupation—"to heal" or "to educate" or "to enforce law and order." And the insight I got was that "mission" and "talent" are two different things, although, of course, with some, mission and talent or occupation may be one and the same. Mission in life, it seems, is something so deep, in fact, that it requires an objective view of all the paths we have taken, how they are connected, and where they led. Is it consistent still with what we are doing now?
We recognize our mission because we never tire doing it, no matter how many obstacles there are and it makes us happy. Mission has something to do with our contribution to the world and its evolution. Quite obviously a God-given task.

Talents are given to us only to help along our mission. So what was mine?
She then relates how she "started out as a fiction writer in the 1950s... turned into a full-blown publisher... became a theater producer," and how she even ended up on "a billboard with two bare-chested hunks." She continues:
Of course I liked that but what did it do to clarify my mission? Was I supposed to be the bridge to the young or something?

Why did I change interests so many times? Was I perchance a dilettante? I looked at the dictionary—"an amateur or trifler at art." I was not an amateur, much less a "trifler" at anything. I was serious about everything I did, completely focused on working hard to produce worthwhile results. Nope, dilettantism wasn't for me.

So what was my mission? What was the common denominator of all the things that I had gotten into? How did they connect? All of them had ventured into untrodden ground, all of them were Pinoy. Just recently, Fr. Miguel Bernad, S.J. reminded me that Ateneo broke tradition when they asked me, in 1974, to be its first female commencement speaker for the high school. Indirectly and unknowingly I had opened something new.

The role of an active door opener is actually not a pleasant one. After many years you may be praised for it but for now you are just "too advanced," "too avant garde," "too weird" or too foolish for words. But you know you are on the right path because ten or twenty years later everybody wants to do what you had such a tough time introducing. Your role is to be a kind of bomb disposal unit. Or a trailblazer. (I like that).

"Looking for my destiny," in The Last Full Moon , pp. 206-207.
I have quoted extensively from her book because there's a part of me that hopes that maybe someday, when I'm 75 years old—her age when she wrote the book—I'll figure out my mission in life, too.

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Do Pinoys Read at All?

From "Do Pinoys read at all?" by Queena Lee-Chua (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 November 2007):

Early this year, the NBDB commissioned the Social Weather Stations to do a second Readership Survey (the first was done in 2003)... First, the bad news. Generally, the survey shows that reading has slightly declined in our nation...

Perhaps more readers prefer to read media other than print, such as the Net. Perhaps others turn to other types of entertainment, such as TV. Perhaps the cost of books has become prohibitive for most of us.

The survey does not analyze the reasons why, but the research team offers some recommendations. "The challenge is for booksellers and publishers, printers and paper and ink manufacturers, to make more books affordable. The government can facilitate this, as well as the financing of technology upgrades to make operations more efficient and economical."

"Authors are also challenged to write more books, not just to entertain, but also to inform, to teach the readers skills or to convey to them practical knowledge. Community libraries [should encourage] adults and out-of-school youth to like to read books; and educators, to teach students to read longer materials, such as books."
I will be there when the 2007 Readership Survey results are presented to the public on November 28. Aside from the fact that I'd like to know more about the results, I think I'd like to ask why it is that the recommendations name practically all the people in the life cycle of the book (e.g., authors, publishers, educators), but mentions only the role of libraries and not librarians.

Does this imply that libraries can encourage reading even without the involvement of librarians? Maybe it was a Freudian slip. Maybe there are, in fact, just too many invisible librarians =)

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Free Posters: Love Your Library

Iza Calzado, Love Your Library, National Book Development Board
Thanks to the National Book Development Board (NBDB), librarians may now ask for free copies of the poster shown above by phone (9209853) or email (oed-at-nbdb-dot-gov-dot-ph). Librarians may want to have the poster on hand for National Book Week (November 26-30: Family Literacy: Reading Begins with Us).

The poster was produced as part of NBDB's Get Caught Reading campaign, in cooperation with the Filipinas Heritage Library. The model is Iza Calzado.

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Librarian Promotes Reading

From "Storytellers reach, touch hearts of kids" by Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4 November 2007):

"We are still trying to solicit more (reading materials)," librarian Arlene de Guma said.

To inspire the children to read and understand what they read, they allow even nonreaders to take home the materials for three days so that the parents can read along with them, De Guma said.

"We also encourage the parents to volunteer as storytellers," she said.
The article still sounds like a press release, but at least it's clear that the library has a librarian. To see why this is important to me, see "Librarian-less Libraries are Just Buildings" and an old post that reminds me of the many promises I haven't kept: "Invisible Libraries."

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Isang Milyong Aklat,
Isang Milyong Pangarap

AHON Foundation—whose work was the subject of the PCIJ article "Libraries of Hope"—has launched "Isang Milyong Aklat, Isang Milyong Pangarap" (freely translated on their blog as "With a million books, we can help build a million dreams"). The PCIJ article is reproduced on their blog, but aside from that, there is no other information on what will be done with the books.

I hope that the philosophy behind the foundation's work with the Marikina libraries (see "Literacy, Reading and Book Donation Programs") will be the same for the book drive, and that some librarians or LIS students can become volunteers.

I also hope that some librarians are already involved at the higher levels because even with community involvement, if there is no one looking out for who will organize the books and "sell" reading to the members of the community, then the books will probably take a back seat to the no-effort-involved TV shows that many Filipinos watch all the time.

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Who is the Imelda Marcos of Books?

In "C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success" by Harriet Rubin (New York Times, 21 July 2007), Michael Moritz—the venture capitalist who invested in Google, YouTube, Yahoo and PayPal and owns thousands of books—is quoted as saying, "My wife calls me the Imelda Marcos of books."

The reference to Imelda Marcos, the wife of former President Marcos who supposedly had 3,000 pairs of shoes, was very likely meant as a joke. But it does indicate that personally owning so many books can be a sign of "ostentatious extravagance," the definition given by Marcos herself for the word "imeldific."

Conventional wisdom would assert that American CEOs have the money to spend on their personal collections, but most Filipinos can't really afford to buy books. This, however, may not necessarily be so. Could it be that Filipinos just do not find books worth the expense? After all, the proliferation of beauty parlors, cell phones and TV sets in the poorer areas of Metro Manila shows that Filipinos do spend on what may be considered luxuries.

And what of rich Filipinos? They have the money, but who really knows how many of them buy and read books? I think it's much more likely that Imelda Marcos wore out more of her shoes in a year than read the few books, if any, in her library =)

Despite the title above, this post is not really about who the Imelda Marcos of books is today. Many have offered suggestions regarding why very few Filipinos read books, but I don't think any research-based studies have actually been done. Do leave a comment if you know of any.

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Literacy, Reading and Book Donation Programs

In "A Nation of Nonreaders" (iReport, 7 June 2007), former undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz differentiates between reading and literacy, and simple literacy and functional literacy. He examines the results and methodologies of different tests used to determine literacy and reading skills, points out their inadequacies, and indicates why it is important to have accurate figures on both: "With poor reading comes poor learning." Luz, however, shows that there is reason to hope by citing several examples of successful initiatives, including DepEd's Library Hub, which has continued despite the absence of Luz, its original proponent.

Note that the essay appears on four pages (1 2 3 4), and is accompanied by a photo gallery (six images of Marikina libraries) and "Libraries of hope" by Lala Ordenes-Cascolan, which tells the story of AHON Foundation's work in Marikina. The latter illustrates why I am wary of book donation programs ("You can give books, but if the library is not conducive to learning and to reading, sayang ang books mo [your books will go to waste]"), and why AHON is different from other reading programs ("one, the foundation works with, not independent of, DepEd; two, it enlists the help of the local government as a partner; and three, it encourages participation from stakeholders by mobilizing the community to contribute.")

To understand the significance of AHON's work, see "8T books collected for SM's Donate-A-Book project" (Sun.Star, 8 June 2007), which is a typical press release that mentions the names of donor companies prominently, but says nothing about what will happen to the books.

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June is Book Development Month


"Love Your Books" is the theme of this year's celebration of Book Development Month (BDM). The National Book Development Board (NBDB), in partnership with the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL), has lined up a series of lectures and activities. Unfortunately, neither the NBDB nor FHL websites has any information on BDM yet, so I have reproduced the schedule I received from NBDB below. For more details, please call NBDB at 9280048.

Just a few notes: Zarah Gagatiga and Troy Lacsamana, both of whom are well-known children's librarians, will be speakers on "Your Community Library" at FHL in Makati on Monday, June 4. I wish I could be there for May Jurilla's session on "The Book Talks: What Will It Tell?" on June 7. Her dissertation was on "Tagalog Bestsellers and the History of the Book in the Philippines," which is something I'm very interested in.

Incidentally, the billboard above, with the slogan “Open a book, See the world,” shows media personality Lyn Ching-Pascual reading Charlson Ong’s Banyaga, A Song of War. It is part of the NBDB’s efforts to invite more people to get caught reading. The photo was provided by the NBDB.

Here's the schedule of activities:

June 4
Your Community Library
By Zarah Gagatiga
A whole day lecture on setting up and sustainability issues of a community library to be held at the Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL).
June 6
A Book is an Event
By Ani Almario and Zarah Gagatiga of PBBY
A two-part lecture to equip teachers and librarians with knowledge and skills that will help encourage students to read more often for longer periods of time and improve their comprehension.
June 7
The Book Talks: What Will It Tell?
By May Jurilla, Ph.D.
This unique lecture topic depicts the crucial role of book development vis-à-vis nation building.
June 8
NBDB Anniversary


June 14
What Makes a Reading Campaign Work?
This panel discussion will assess the successes and failures of the different reading campaigns vis-à-vis the various considerations and objectives of different agencies, identify gaps and address them.
June 27 – July 1
Portrait of the City Exhibit: The Literary Imagination and the City We Live In
A literary exhibit to be held at the Glorietta Park, this exhibit will feature the places around Metro Manila that have inspired the literary works of local authors.
June 27
Opening and cocktails

June 28
Book Illustration Contest Launch

June 29
Performance Poetry

June 30
Reading short fiction with celebrities, theatrical storytelling

Portrait of the City Tour
To be conducted by Joanna Abrera Del Prado, the Tour begins at the Literary City Exhibit in Glorietta, where participants will get an orientation of the tour before visiting the places themselves.

The exhibit is free of charge but the tour is only five hundred pesos (P500) to cover meals, transportation and materials. Guided tours at the Glorietta Park and the Trinoma Mall are available for classes on June 28 and 29 and on July 5 and 6 at 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.

For more information on the other events, please call the National Book Development Board at 929-3881. To join this tour, call the Filipinas Heritage Library at 892-1801.
July 4-8
Portrait of the City Tour at the Trinoma Mall with daily field trips
This exhibit will feature the places around Metro Manila that have inspired the literary works of local authors.
July 1
Storytelling for children

July 4
Opening ceremonies

July 8
Closing ceremonies with storytelling for kids


Student field trips during the Literary Exhibits at the Glorietta Park and Trinoma Mall are welcome. For more information, call the National Book Development Board at 928-0048.

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Librarian-less Libraries are Just Buildings

From a press release:

Senator Ralph Recto wants 60 libraries to be established next year to be named after noted Filipino writers, saying these facilities would not only honor deceased writers but also encourage the youth and adults alike to develop a passion for reading.

Recto’s proposal comes in the wake of the finding that three in every four recent elementary school graduates cannot read without assistance.
I applaud the intention of building libraries and the desire to honor writers and promote reading, but I do not see how erecting libraries, by themselves, will encourage Filipinos to "develop a passion for reading." It would probably be more effective for Recto to ask his wife Vilma Santos to join the Get Caught Reading campaign.

The less popular—but more effective, in my biased opinion—initiative that Recto can push is to highlight the importance of hiring competent librarians for all existing public school libraries and those he wants to set up; librarians who will not just keep the books in order, but reach out to their communities to promote reading and literacy. Just as the Senate is not merely a repository of laws, libraries are not just buildings full of books. And just as not all senators are worthy of the name, not everyone who works in a library is, in fact, a librarian.

Libraries with "librarians" who just happen to be relatives or friends of the appointing authorities, but with no knowledge of what professional librarians actually do, will very likely discourage—not encourage—reading. Libraries without librarians who care about their communities and books will just be a waste of time, space, effort and money.

So go ahead, build the libraries, name them after writers, but don't forget to hire the librarians who will manage the libraries, attract readers and make sure that those readers know who the writers are. Oh, and remember to mention the need for librarians in your press releases.

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Reading Inspires Kids



Chapters Indigo is a Canadian bookstore, but believe it or not, I found out about the advertisement above through Filipino bloggers Gelo and Tobie. I hope they can Get Caught Reading, too =)

From the Love of Reading page:

The average annual school budget is less than $30,000.
Teachers spend over $1,000 of their own money annually on student resources.
46 percent of Ontario's grade 3 children fail the standard reading examination.
Thousands of university and college students need remedial courses to develop reading skills they should have acquired in the first three years of grade school.
I don't think Philippine figures would be better, but I suspect they might be worse.

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Reading Matters

The recently-concluded Read or Die Convention (RodCon) does not seem to have made it into the newspapers yet, but bloggers began writing about it and sharing their photos as early as its first day. Check out how many and how happy they were via Technorati and Google Blog Search.

If you would like to read about what other bloggers have written in the past few days that are not necessarily related to the convention, you should read the following:

Charles Tan makes no reference to RodCon in "Is Reading Truly Essential?" but he provides an answer that suggests where his sympathies lie:
It is commonly believed that humans have basic needs—food, water, shelter. However, I beg to differ if that is merely enough. They are all we require to survive perhaps but we need more to be human: we need companionship, we need work, we need something to pass the time... For me, reading a book is one such need: it does not have the same urgency as food, drink, and shelter, and by no means does every human being depend on the ability to read books to survive. But for certain people, reading a book is surely a necessity they can’t live without or else they will end up living a life that is less than human.
John Silva criticizes Bench's Wear Your Conscience campaign in "There's a Typo on the Bench Billboard":
If the use of billboards to hawk a cause isn’t egregious enough, the more nauseating aspect of the campaign is the insensitivity of the “Conscience” message to the reality at hand. Sa Aklat Sisikat, like other education reform organizations, valiantly works to make more children read through teacher training and the distribution of books at the Grade Four Level... Aklat Sisikat’s work is so serious and formidable that the billboard images of slouched and pampered individuals reeking of privilege dreamily exhorting working people on buses and the MRT plying EDSA to go get a conscience is surreal, obscene, arriviste, and deepens the already tenuous class divide even further.
Finally, Ruby Ann Kagaoan-Calo explains in "Reading and a Sense of Nation" just why reading is important and that kids can be taught how to read better:
...some parents in the school where my other child is attending had noticed how my child would just quietly sit down, read a book, and she would finish it quickly and get another one...

And a number of parents had noticed it, and they were saying, "Sana gan’un yung anak namin." (How we wish our child is like your child.)

And I told them, "She’s doing some techniques."

"Techniques?! Meron bang techniques sa reading?" (Are there techniques in reading?)

"Yes, there are."
Now, if only all these bloggers would join the Get Caught Reading campaign =)

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Get Caught Reading... in Tagalog

Get Caught Reading... in TagalogThat's my cousin Wayne.
Photo used with his parents' permission.


The "poster" above is the one I promised to make in "Get Caught Reading." Spread the word. Make your own poster. Or use mine. Here's the code:
<a href="http://filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/01/
reading.html"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_diXvE1LNZiQ/
RbvGavFAtgI/AAAAAAAAAAg/Evd2q8unKO4/s400/Slide1.jpg"></a>
For the benefit of those who can't read Tagalog, the poster title should be read this way: NaKaKaBaSa Ka PaLa (I didn't know you could read). I came up with a Tagalog title because a purely English one, in my opinion, would not be as effective, especially with Filipino kids who are just learning to read.

You may also want to support the Read or Die Convention, which will take place on 3-4 February 2007, and the fundraising project of Ex Libris Philippines, which will be held on 7 March 2007.

And then there's "I don't read," where a blogger remembers the time when he thought it was cool to be anti-reading. Well, maybe it's time we spread the word that reading is cool =)

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