• Univ3rse@lemmynsfw.com
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    27 days ago

    I had a coworker approach me on break and start telling me about a book he was reading and how much he was enjoying it. Towards the end, he mentioned struggling with it and that he wished someone had told him how great reading was earlier. We were both damn near 30, and it was a YA novel. I resisted the asshole urge to roast him because, shit, at least he’s trying?

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      27 days ago

      It’s a book with chapters. Basically a regular ass book. When kids are real little, their books are like 15 pages long. Then in like 1st or 2nd grade, they move onto reading big kid books - aka “chapter books” that have enough pages to warrant chapters.

      You never hear someone over the age of 7 or 8 mention reading “chapter books” because they’re just know as books.

      Except anon, who is dumb as fuck.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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    27 days ago

    As you read these comments, remember that 56% of Americans read at a 6th-grade level or above; the rest read below that.

    Please be gentle.

    • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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      27 days ago

      I recall reading somewhere that adult literacy was at like 98% in the US. Though that was like 25 years ago, and I suppose a 6th grade level still counts as “literate”? Or did we slide backwards?

      If we have to talk about this in terms of “grade levels”, at what point is someone actually considered illiterate?

      • Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip
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        27 days ago

        Measuring two different things. Your number: can read the words, mostly understand the words they read.

        6th graders are generally literate. However, they’re not necessarily picking up on nuance, or subtleties. And they will often not take into account how the sentence they just read fits into the overall context of the piece, and they likely won’t question the narrator, assuming they’re reliable.

        You can imagine how half of adults being that bad at these things has colored political discourse.