Translator: Yinchun Rui Reviewer: Riaki Poništ
Why should we read?
A few years ago, Pew Research Center did a survey
of people that have read a book in the past 12 months.
Some people like to read because of what they can learn.
Other people like to read because they can escape reality.
And other people just like the feel and smell of the book.
At first, I wasn't a reader myself.
I couldn't read a chapter, let alone a book.
In my last school, they had given us this assignment
that we had to read and do a presentation.
My first thought?
They were crazy! They were nuts!
How can they make me read a book over school break?
But as I was thinking it through, I realized I had two options:
read, do the presentation, get a good grade;
or not read, not do the presentation, and get a bad grade.
Of course, I chose the first one, and I'm glad I did.
For the assignments,
I choose "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak.
It was 500 pages long, and it took me over a month to read it.
It was hard at first.
It was a battle between reading and doing something else.
But I pushed myself. I created the habit on my own.
And when I finished "The Book Thief,"
I had this feeling inside of me that I had never felt before.
I was actually enjoying reading,
and I had just finished something I never thought possible.
Here're some steps that helped me
that might help you create the habit of reading.
Step 1: pick a book.
Pick something that you're interested in, something that you can relate to,
not some random book someone gave you so you can say you're reading something.
Step 2: make time.
Decide one part of the day you're going to make yourself read.
You can always read at different times,
but make sure you're reading at the time you said at the beginning.
Step 3: set goals.
Depending on how long the book is
or how long you're going to take to read it,
put yourself daily goals on pages.
Be persistent.
Just because you're not getting into the book at the beginning
or it's tough for you, always do it; be persistent.
Step 4.
This helped me in particular.
Picking a series.
Because you're creating a more solid habit,
there are more books; there are not just one and the story.
After "The Book Thief," I decided I wanted to read more.
I spend over four months looking for a book.
Nothing caught my attention until one day my friend Danica
was talking about this book called "Divergent."
Who has heard about that name before the book and the movie?
No one.
So, I decided to read it. At first it was tough.
The action, there was nothing
until the love started, the factions;
it started to get interesting!
So, I kept reading
when I realized that I had already finished the first book.
Then, the series.
And then at end of the year, 30 to 40 books.
Because of reading, I discovered my passion for stories.
Not only reading them but also creating them.
As Kaler Galer said:
"A book is a gift you can open again and again."
Because of reading, I discovered I wanted to be a writer.
I want to create something that doesn't exist yet.
A few years ago, Sir Locke did a survey of how many books
here in the Latin American countries we read per year.
In the top, is Argentina and Chile
with 5.4 and 4.6 books read by person a year.
At the bottom, is Colombia and Mexico
with 2.2 and 2.9 books read per person a year.
And in Guatemala?
We're estimated to read less than a book a year,
and that only 1% of population read for pleasure.
We live in a generation
that we can choose from more than a thousand books:
fiction, nonfiction, whatever you want!
There has never been so many choices and so many sources we can choose from.
There is something for everyone.
I'm not telling you that you should become a bookworm
or that you should read a book per week.
But I'm encouraging you to try.
It can amaze you how many things you can discover by reading.
At first it's always tough, but once you create the habit,
you see it's all worthwhile.
As Dr. Seuss said,
"The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
Thank you!
(Applause)