# I suppose I assumed illiterate people could read **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 21, 2017, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529 "2017-06-21T13:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/41 "2017-06-27T20:59:22Z")
I think I’m beginning to understand why there are 10 minute Youtube tutorials to cover some simple thing that should be two paragraphs of text and a bullet point. But, how do they get to Youtube? Someone must set up a bookmark. > [@aceplace57](#): > > A kid I’d known since elementary school struggled with the reading. Sounding out every word. It was quite a shock for me. I’d never known him very well. We had often been in the same class throughout school. I had no clue he had a reading problem. I have a terrible time reading aloud. I’m good at extemporaneous speaking, and I don’t memorize presentations, but I just can’t read aloud, and I know that I look illiterate. Either I can’t stop my eyes from scanning ahead of my voice, and it all ends up in a jumble. or I force myself to slow down and read every, single word, which doesn’t sound natural, but rather like I’m sounding out each word. > [@cochrane](#): > > What bugs me on my checks is that they don’t have the first two digits of the year printed on the date line. I have to write out the whole year, 2017. But would the banks honor my checks dated 1917? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/42 "2017-06-27T21:50:32Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Wait, do cheques have to have the amount written in words? I’ve never actually used one. Thanks for making a bunch of us feel really, really, old all of a sudden… ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/43 "2017-06-28T00:46:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My ESL student \ met a friend of his teenage son’s. Instead of speaking with the young man in English, he spoke in Spanish. He later told me that the boy’s Spanish was not very good. It is kind of frustrating to work with a student a couple of hours a week, but to see them pass up easy opportunities to practice their skills outside of our sessions. I can’t imagine a context in which I would be **less** inclined to practice a new language than with a teenager who is better at the language than I am. Teenagers are jerks, and the likelihood of that getting back to my son as “your dad sounds like a moron” are very high. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/44 "2017-06-28T11:52:49Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Yup. There is a blank where you fill in the amount in numerals, for example, $20.00, then a line below where you have to spell the amount out, like Twenty and no/100 dollars, as a cross-check. as I learned a while back, it’s not exactly a cross-check. In the event of a discrepancy, the figure written out in words is taken as the gospel truth. It doesn’t matter if the figure you’ve written in numbers on that first line agrees with the rest of your bill, the printed amount they’ve charged you, and the amount you’ve filled in as wanting to pay on the line in their bill. Even though those three things may be in perfect agreement, if you write a different amount down on that line where you spell the amount out in words, then that’s the amount they’re going to deduct from your account. If anything, the amount you write in numbers is a “cross check”. What’s written in words is what counts. I had mistakenly written a different number on that line, and got into all sorts of confusion because of that. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/45 "2017-06-28T13:00:09Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > I can’t imagine a context in which I would be **less** inclined to practice a new language than with a teenager who is better at the language than I am. Teenagers are jerks, and the likelihood of that getting back to my son as “your dad sounds like a moron” are very high. That’s possible. Of course, there is also the issue of being right in front of your teacher, for whom you’ve expressed (likely undue) appreciation and respect. In this particular community, my impression is that there is considerable traditional respect for parents/elders. The kid impressed me as very polite, friendly, and respectful. Both kids are on the same club soccer team, on which my student’s son is a star. My student highly values education, and this would have been an opportunity to show how he felt that applied to himself as well as his kids and their friends. Finally, as a learner, you would really limit your opportunities for practice if you only sought out instances where you could not make mistakes in front of someone more adept. But I hear what you are saying. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/46 "2017-06-28T16:14:05Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > I can’t imagine a context in which I would be **less** inclined to practice a new language than with a teenager who is better at the language than I am. Teenagers are jerks, and the likelihood of that getting back to my son as “ **your dad sounds like a moron** ” are very high. You understand teenagers already hold this opinion, yes? Completely independent of any kind of interaction. They’re as certain of this as they are that they’re immortal and smarter than any of us. As an oldie, you don’t have to demonstrate you’re a moron. It’s already canonical. However, anything you do or say will be used against you in supporting the fact that you’re a moron. C’est la jeunesse. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/47 "2017-06-28T16:20:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Yeah, I know. I didn’t really think it was necessary to mention that. What bugs me on my checks is that they don’t have the first two digits of the year printed on the date line. I have to write out the whole year, 2017. Now there’s a first world problem for you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/48 "2017-06-28T17:27:25Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > I can’t imagine a context in which I would be **less** inclined to practice a new language than with a teenager who is better at the language than I am. Teenagers are jerks, and the likelihood of that getting back to my son as “your dad sounds like a moron” are very high. it wasn’t a “jerkishness” thing, but when I got it in my mind to try to learn to speak Japanese it didn’t go well. Primarily because Japanese people frequently laugh reflexively when something takes them by surprise. So the second time I had a Japanese co-worker do that when I tried to use what I had learned I just gave up on it. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/49 "2017-06-28T17:37:35Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > In this particular community, my impression is that there is considerable traditional respect for parents/elders. That could easily be part of the problem - he feels he needs to maintain some of the mystique of an “respected elder”. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Finally, as a learner, you would really limit your opportunities for practice if you only sought out instances where you could not make mistakes in front of someone more adept. I completely agree with you, but I also know how much people work to hide their weaknesses. It sounds like you’re already doing a lot, so I don’t want to suggest you should do more, but would it be possible for you to facilitate meetups of ESL students? Practicing English with someone else who isn’t perfect at it is much less intimidating, and even imperfect practice is better than no practice. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/50 "2017-06-28T18:23:22Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > … I don’t want to suggest you should do more, but would it be possible for you to facilitate meetups of ESL students? … They are already available. But thanks. The ESL learners I’ve worked with have pretty demanding schedules between work and family, and generally limited resources. It isn’t as tho they need a bunch of additional commitments. So my approach is to try to look for ways they can practice their language within the context of things they are already doing. Like reading to their kids, or when socializing with people at work, church, etc. Or to have their kids teach their parents what they are learning in school. My current student is perfectly capable of getting his meaning across and understanding pretty sophisticated English. What he wants to do is perfect his grammar, expand his vocabulary, and improve his pronunciation. And IMO, there is no way to accomplish that w/o tons of practice. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529/51 "2017-06-28T19:04:27Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > They are already available. But thanks. > > The ESL learners I’ve worked with have pretty demanding schedules between work and family, and generally limited resources. It isn’t as tho they need a bunch of additional commitments. So my approach is to try to look for ways they can practice their language within the context of things they are already doing. That’s fair. I’m impressed that you’re thinking so flexibly about how to incorporate learning into their lives. Good luck to you, and to them! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-suppose-i-assumed-illiterate-people-could-read/789529.md?page=2)