Why can't someone who can't read just pick up a book and learn to read?

Answer 1

because if they didnt know the words, then its hard. you have to start from the beginning.. its like telling you to pick up a book in a foreign language and telling you to learn it. You need someone to guide you along.

Answer 2

Here, this answer is a little different...

Communication involves the transmission and reception of symbols. Effective communication requires that a series of symbols is transmitted and received, and understood with as little confusion as possible.

A part of effective communication is that the receipient needs to understand what the symbols mean. The words and their letters in a book are symbols which represent an idea. If the receipent doesn't understand the symbols, then they will not understand the message.......Just as you may or may not understand my communication here.

If a person knew the symbols for written communication, then that person can understand. Also, we may know how to read, but we probably do not understand how to intrepret the symbols that makes up the U.S. tax code. Would it be fair to say that we do not know how to read, or that we simply do not understand what the symbols mean?

Answer 3

Someone who can't read can't just pick up a book and learn to read because he would NOT be able to UNDERSTAND, and hence not know the MEANING of, what he would be reading.

Answer 4

Fri st let me say hi! I dont know just what to say but when i was 26yrs old my girlfriend was a school teacher i`m sure she knew i could`nt read or write,or do math. while she was grading papers i asked her how she knew what that word said what it said it was a small word two or three letter at the most ! I can`t remember what she told me but what ever it was the next day i bough a sun-times news paper every day until i started learning how to read. although i dont have an education but i can read!!! And if that dont get you started i`m 55yrs old and did`nt start learning math on paper until 1995, I graduated from three cook schools !! so young lady if some one like me can do it so can you!!!

Answer 5

Why don't you just pick up a book written in a foreign language and learn the language by just reading it?

Answer 6

For the same reason a person can not just pick up a book and learn to fly or become a surgeon.

Answer 7

what are letters, really? just marks on paper, used to represent sounds that humans have rather arbitrarily assigned certain meanings. "dog" is just a weird sound, without meaning, if you don't speak English, and on paper it's just a couple of lumpy squiggles if you don't know our alphabet.

Language and writing are human conventions, developed out of necessity. writing, specifically, is a system we've developed to be able to communicate with each other. the ability to write is something that we have learned how to do, not something we do naturally. there's no way someone could just figure out how to read without any guidance at all - language and writing only have value in the context of human society.

Answer 8

Okay, so if you picked up a book written in Chinese you could automatically read it. I think not You might need a little help from a China man.

Answer 9

For the same reason that a person who can't swin can't dive off a diving board into a pool...learning a skill like reading takes time and practice before it becomes second nature.

Answer 10

books are made of words. words are made of letters. therefore you need to learn the letters. ALL 26 of them to read a book with English words.

Why don't you pick up a foreign language book and just read it. ? NOT SO EASY, huh???