It was a 7-year struggle. One of the most difficult challenges I ever had to deal with. I've thought of some strategies to get him to do it. I started with the simplest ones, the ones any eight-year-old would find easy and amusing. That didn't work. I shifted to the more mature, really good all-nighters but again, it was all in vain.
When all options have been exhausted, I resorted to my ever dependable, psywar strategy. (I'm not proud of this but hey, it works all the time..so..) After a few emotional tortures here and some blackmails there, I finally managed to get him to read a book! A certified 300-page-novel kind of book. Of course, to make up for the cruelty of my method, I gave him one that I knew boys like him would like. Pretty easy because as long as there's fighting, chasing, shooting and gorgeous women, they'll instantly like it. They're shallow that way (haha!).
Ok, so I chose Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. He was very, very reluctant (and rebellious!) when I made him start reading so I was incredulously amazed when, after only 2 nights, he finished the book. He loved it and wouldn't stop raving about it. It's very overwhelming, him finishing the entire book. It was the same feeling I got when I taught a 40-year-old Korean guy to read in English for the first time. I love reading. Finishing a good book is one of the best feelings in the world for me and I just wanted to share that with him.
Now, he's looking forward to the movie while I am looking forward to finally be able to say, "o lagi! iba lagi sa nabasa mo! madami lagi tinanggal! iniba lagi! shut up na! i'm trying to watch!"..haha..the exact words he'd been shouting at me when we watched the Harry Potter series, Memoirs of a Geisha, Da Vinci Code, etc.. I welcome him to the frustrating world of book-to-motion-picture. ; )
Anyway, my point here exactly is that we should always try to encourage someone to have at least one favorite book. You see, not everyone has the privilege of being able to read. Most of us take that for granted and are thoughtless of the fact that there are millions of illiterate people who are dying to learn how. And to those of us who are lucky enough to have the opportunity to teach or encourage someone to read, let it not be put to waste.
When all options have been exhausted, I resorted to my ever dependable, psywar strategy. (I'm not proud of this but hey, it works all the time..so..) After a few emotional tortures here and some blackmails there, I finally managed to get him to read a book! A certified 300-page-novel kind of book. Of course, to make up for the cruelty of my method, I gave him one that I knew boys like him would like. Pretty easy because as long as there's fighting, chasing, shooting and gorgeous women, they'll instantly like it. They're shallow that way (haha!).
Ok, so I chose Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. He was very, very reluctant (and rebellious!) when I made him start reading so I was incredulously amazed when, after only 2 nights, he finished the book. He loved it and wouldn't stop raving about it. It's very overwhelming, him finishing the entire book. It was the same feeling I got when I taught a 40-year-old Korean guy to read in English for the first time. I love reading. Finishing a good book is one of the best feelings in the world for me and I just wanted to share that with him.
Now, he's looking forward to the movie while I am looking forward to finally be able to say, "o lagi! iba lagi sa nabasa mo! madami lagi tinanggal! iniba lagi! shut up na! i'm trying to watch!"..haha..the exact words he'd been shouting at me when we watched the Harry Potter series, Memoirs of a Geisha, Da Vinci Code, etc.. I welcome him to the frustrating world of book-to-motion-picture. ; )
Anyway, my point here exactly is that we should always try to encourage someone to have at least one favorite book. You see, not everyone has the privilege of being able to read. Most of us take that for granted and are thoughtless of the fact that there are millions of illiterate people who are dying to learn how. And to those of us who are lucky enough to have the opportunity to teach or encourage someone to read, let it not be put to waste.
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