...ReaDinG and Me....
Reading is a part of my life. I read for entertainment, for information and also for upgrading my level of proficiency. I learned reading since I was four years old. Started from reading pictures, letter and then knowing how to blend the letters to get a meaning from the words until now I managed to finish reading a book.
When I was small, my parents always encourage me to read. In fact, until now my mother still nagging at me when I less read newspaper. My parents encouraged me with reading when they bought a poster of alphabets with pictures and hanged on my room’s wall. I learned reading the alphabets with the pictures as the pictures were colourful and attract me.
Besides that, when I was six years old, my kindergarten teacher taught me to read books that come together with the activities. I learned to recognize shapes, objects, colours and many more. During that time I learned how to spell and pronounce the words
Moving to the next stage, I began to read simple story books in Malay such as Malay and English fairy tales. The curiosity to know about the stories has made me to feel an urge to finish reading the story line. Besides, pictures in the book helped me lots in understanding the story. I still remember when I was in standard two; my father bought me a thick book comprises many Malay fairy tales such as Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, Pelayaran Gulliver, Maharaja yang Angkuh and many more. It was a present for me when I was excel in the exam.
Furthermore, my father also bought me a series of story books combined with the cassettes. If I felt bored to read, I would listen to the cassette so that I would get the reading mood back. I also found out how to pronounce English words as the cassettes also provided with the English story books.
Reading those books has widened my knowledge. It helped me to know about my culture as Malay stories also provided with the culture as well. I began to explore new things. For the books that have good moral values like ‘Si Tenggang Anak Derhaka’ has made me aware of my duty to my parents. Even though at that time I was not mature enough to think like now, I still got the moral of the stories. In fact, I was afraid if my destiny would be like Tenggang, I began to be more polite with my parents.
After that, I began to read more complicated books which have more pages to read. Like in standard four and the rest, I read books like Mastika and few magazines. Mastika has many strange and ordinary stories. Therefore, it helped me to be more mature in life. I read what an adult read so that I could think like them. Moreover, I could learn about life in a wider perspective.
In conclusion, my reading history has rooted from many different sources. All that has helped me to look at world from the new perspective.