The Lost Art of Reading Aloud

I often read essays aloud as one of the filters before publishing them. It helps me find awkward sentences. I discovered this trick when practicing talks, but now I do it even for essays that aren't talks.

Reading aloud is another art form in itself, just as writing is.<p>Why are people so cynical about audio books? I think they contain two art forms (spoken word reading and literature writing) and can be far more satisfying than the dead tree version alone.<p>Yes there are some audio books that are read very badly, but they are fortunately in the minority.

I read aloud to my daughters and enjoy every minute of it. I'm sure it helps my writing/speaking as does talking to myself (tech subjects) when alone in the car.<p>I highly recommend it (the kids part not the talking to yourself, that can get a little weird)

Although I agree with the main point of this opinion piece ("Reading Aloud" is a Good Thing), the author comes across as a bit pretentious when he tries to capture the magical "je ne sais quoi" about reading aloud, and how young people (students) can't seem to do it right.<p>(1) "If the work is their own, they are usually trying to read the intention of the writer."<p>ummm, if it is their own work, then they <i>are</i> the writer. The words express their intention, so reading "the words" and reading "the intention of the writer" are the same thing.<p>(2) "It’s as though they’re reading what the words represent rather than the words themselves."<p>ummm, actually, when I read a story to my niece or nephew I don't just "read the words" (if that is all we wanted, we could have a text-to-speech program do it for us). Instead, I often read what the words represent.<p>"Who goes there?!" shouted the witch, angrily.<p>"No, no, you're doing it all wrong", whispered the grey-haired professor, almost inaudibly as he shook his head. "No young man", his deep voice admonished loudly, "Just read the words! Read the damn words."

<i>"I read aloud to my writing students, and when students read aloud to me I notice something odd. They are smart and literate, and most of them had parents who read to them as children. But when students read aloud at first, I notice that they are trying to read the meaning of the words."</i><p>I suspect this had to do with the students' expectation of what their teacher wants. I bet if the same student was given a copy of "Room on the Broom" and a willing toddler, they would read just fine.<p>I wonder whether some rephrasing from the teacher (such as "would you perform this text" instead of "read") would make a difference.<p>But there is a big difference between the music example and reading. Aside from the level of required skill, playing a piano sonata takes the same time as listening to the CD; however reading aloud a book takes significantly longer than reading. Which is why it makes sense for short forms, but not for whole novels - unless you can't read at all (eg. while driving).

If you haven't listened to quality reading in a while, check out Escape Pod's reading of Asimov's short story, Nightfall:<p><a href="http://escapepod.org/2007/04/05/ep100-nightfall/" rel="nofollow">http://escapepod.org/2007/04/05/ep100-nightfall/</a>

I read that aloud. It was awesome.