I can't read :)

A word that I never thought would apply to me know does... I am illiterate. Which is crazy because I love reading, I always have. Yet within the society that I live I am illiterate. To be specific I am functionally illiterate. This is something that was talked about in great depth in many of my sociology classes. Yet I could never quite grasp the concept. I never understood how that would be possible. I now understand. I understand so much more than I did when I sat in on those discussion and I wish I could go back and have them again with this new out look. I think that it would make a world of difference in every comment that I would make. At first it was really hard to not know what everything you looked at said, or to be able to understand what the piece of paper in front of you said. Now I have gotten used to it and I hardly notice or give a second though to the fact that I can't understand what is going on around me. I have started to be able to notice letters and make out a few words in script, but I have a long way to go before I could read a sentence.

I was at lunch with a few other volunteers and one of them said "I can't believe that I am functionally illiterate, it makes everything like a guessing game." That’s when it dawned on me, and they were right it does make everything like a guessing game. We were ordering at a restaurant and if you strayed from the burgers and fries menu you never really knew what you were getting. Another example is traveling you better look at a map before hand and if you can talk to someone who has been there before or take a similar route. Otherwise you never know where you are going to end up and you can only understand the road signs that are arrow shaped with the name in Roman Letters (for the French).

The other crazy thing about this is that I am a teacher. That would be almost impossible to happen in the States, ok I know that there may have been some exception along the way, but for the most part you need to have the language skills to teach in the US, and you for sure need to understand the Roman Alphabet. I think that it is really amazing that some one can function relatively easily, once they have a routine, even if they are illiterate. After you figure out the patterns for everyday activities and know who to have all of your needs met it is all about forming a habit.

Anyway, I thought that this would be something that is interesting to think about or talk about over lunch. It has definitely given me a new perspective on illiteracy.