Reflection on Reading Habits
Throughout my life I have always been an avid reader.
As a child I enjoyed immensely my trips to the local library
to take out another book and allow myself to become immersed in an adventure in
a far off distant land.
Needless to say, as I grew up academic life obliged me to read for other reasons apart from pleasure (to get that desired
grade at the end of the year!), but I have always reserved time to allow myself
to escape to the pleasures of a good book.
Before going to bed I find nothing more relaxing than to take a book and
disconnect from the daily routine. I’m afraid I’m old school and nothing can
replace the feel and smell of a
paperback! I particularly enjoy
historical novels, but am willing to read anything that is recommended to
me. Having lived in Spain for a number
of years I have no difficulty and also enjoy reading novels in Spanish, but
still nothing compares to reading in
your own native tongue.
Considering my own experience, reading for academic purposes
can be a demanding task, even if the book we are reading is a good one. The focus has changed from a purely
pleasurable and aesthetic experience to an academic one where we have to
analyse, criticise, locate information, etc.
As a student of Spanish at university in Ireland, this was my first introduction
to reading in Spanish. Needless to say, facing
Cervantes, Unamuno or Cortázar with a very limited knowledge of the foreign
language was a daunting experience, and in my opinion, it was utterly absurd to
expect a student with 2 or 3 years of Spanish to develop an appreciation of
Cervantes or any other author in this way. It actually
probably caused the opposite effect in most students. It goes without saying that the translations of all
these books were in high demand on campus!
