November 26th, 2009
im 15 yrs old. im in the 10th grade. when i read out loud , i get nervous, and i tumble while i am reading. i know how to read the word. but when i read out loud i get nervous and i forget some of the word. but the true problem is that i tumble a lot. what can i do to improve my reading level, and stop the tumbling.
Image taken on 2009-11-02 19:38:32 by dkuropatwa. Image Source. (Used with permission)
Related posts:
APA Formatting Software - easily format your paper in APA Style, 6th edition!
(Sponsored Ad)
(Sponsored Ad)
3 Comments
You can practice reading outloud when you are alone. Confidence in yourself, knowing that you have done it before and can do it again, may help. If it is actually a speech impediment, there are trained professions called speech pathologists that can help rehabilitate your speech, or determine if it is just your being nervous. You might talk to your parents about it, as your visit to a specialist could be covered on their insurance. Good luck!
Your problem actually falls under one of the major skills of literacy…Fluency. There are many sites out there that talk about reading fluency, but really the best way to improve fluency is to practice.
You can practice by reading outloud to yourself. This is the best way, but know that every student reads at a different rate. Just reading quickly without stumbling over words doesn’t make you a good reader. Many of my students think that the faster they read, the better readers they are. When I tell them to slow down and try to read with expression, for many students, this clears up their fluency problem. They were trying to read faster than their tongue and lips could move.
For other students, it’s just a matter of more practice reading aloud. We read silently to ourselves so often that it’s common to have difficulty with fluency when reading aloud. It could also have to do with your confidence level. If you are very nervous about reading aloud, pull your teacher/s aside and ask that they tell you in advance which part they’ll ask you to read. It’s a win-win because you have the time to read it over ahead of time and prepare, they don’t feel like you’re trying to get out of reading aloud in class, and you get the extra practice.
Unlike what the other person said, I don’t think you need the help of a speech-language pathologist. SLP’s help students who can’t pronounce words correctly, or who stutter, but if you can speak fluently when you’re not reading, you don’t stutter, it’s just a matter of practicing fluency when reading. Best of luck!
In terms of stuttering and fluency, the website of the Stuttering Foundation (www.stutteringhelp.org) offers free resources such as streaming videos and downloadable brochures. One brochure is “Special Education Law and Stuttering” which explains to parents how every child enrolled in any school in the U.S. is entitled to free speech therapy as mandated by federal law. This benefit of free speech therapy extends to ALL speech problems and not just stuttering. It can start as early as pre-school and go all the way through high school years. Kudos to the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation for informing parents and helping ALL kids with speech problems.
Write a Comment