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Illiterate?

Posted: November 6th, 2009, 9:02 pm
by Doreen Peri
Illiterate? Write today for free help.

Posted: November 6th, 2009, 11:32 pm
by mtmynd
huh? wut dija rite..?

Posted: November 7th, 2009, 12:19 am
by Doreen Peri
hehe... but seriously... I taught a man to read once. No kidding. It was pretty cool. ;)

Posted: November 7th, 2009, 9:12 am
by mtmynd
when i first read that i heard that in my head as "I taught a man how to read 'once'"...

did the man not know anything about how letters sounded when you taught him?

Posted: November 7th, 2009, 12:06 pm
by Doreen Peri
As in once upon a time, long time ago. We were in our 30's. He knew a few of the sounds but not very many. Couldn't even read on a first grade level. He was very embarrassed about it when I discovered this. How did the school system let him through? I have no idea. He wasn't a HS graduate but he DID get as far as HS before he dropped out to go to work!

I taught him phonetically. The sounds of the letters. It was sort of tough to teach an adult because I couldn't find any books focused on reading for adults. Adults aren't interested in children's books. He really wanted to learn.

He showed me a book that inspired him to learn. "The Autobiography of Malcolm X". Nowhere near 1st grade reading level. Adult reading level. But he wanted to read it. So I taught him... using that book. First I taught him the sounds of all the letters. Then I had him read aloud to me as we sounded out the words together. Then to keep his interest, I'd read a few pages to him. Then his turn for a couple of paragraphs. And so on. And in a couple months or so, he could read it. I was very proud of him!

Posted: November 7th, 2009, 7:41 pm
by mtmynd
have you kept in touch with this man over the years at all?

Posted: November 7th, 2009, 8:00 pm
by Doreen Peri
No, I lost track of him. He has a very common name, also, so no way to search for him or anything. Like John Smith, but that's not it. LOL! ;) I hope he's doing well.

I met him at the disco. We were fabulous dancers together! I dated him for a while. Dancing dates. We danced until the clubs closed. He was also a singer. He had a voice like you wouldn't believe!

I remember taking him to an audition at my church. They were doing an Easter play, a musical. He auditioned for Jesus Christ. He sang "The Greatest Love Of All" and it brought the house down! (Well, there were about 30 or 40 people at the audition, so it was only a few people but everybody LOVED it! He was definitely the best singer in the audition.)

He didn't get the role. They cast a white man instead. He definitely thought it was because he was black and he didn't think the church wanted a black Jesus. I told him, "That's ridiculous! Jesus was definitely as dark skinned as you! He was from the Mediterranean!"

Anyway, I hope he's doing well!

Posted: November 7th, 2009, 8:03 pm
by Doreen Peri
This is what he sang in the audition and really, honestly... better than George Benson. Every time I hear this song I get chills up my spine! The lyrics are so beautiful! And the memory of my friend's voice warms me.

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