BBC: Why read books, not screens?

And I'm Georgie. For me, there's nothing like reading a book- I love turning the pages and the smell of the paper. But nowadays, the fact is that much of the time we read from electronic screens, not paper. 

Yes. Like Gerogina, I love books. I also find that too much screen time hurts eyes. But the availability of digital information means that I end up reading from screens most days. 

So, apart from sore eyes, is this a problem? Is reading from screens harmless, or could it be damaging us in some way, such as reducing our attention span- the length of time that someone can keep concentrated on what they are doing?

That's what we'll be discussing in this programme, and of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary too. 

Great, but first it's time for my question. Whether you prefer paper or screens, as humans we're now reading more words than ever before. So how many words does the average person read a day? Is it:

a)  50,000 words  b) 100,000  or  c) 200, 000 words?

I'll guess it's 50,000 words a day

OK, Georgia, We'll find out the the correct answer later in the programme. Of course, there's little doubt that any kind of rading is good for me. Here's Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon children's books, speaking with BBC Ideas:

Reading brings three magical powers- creativity, intelligence, and empathy. Reading for the joy of it is one of the two key factors in a kid's later economic success. You're more likely to not be in prison, to vote, to own your own home. All of these advantages and benefits happen as a result of literacy. 

Cressida talks about the importance of reading for the joy of it. When you do an activity for the joy of it, you do it simply fo r the pleasure of doing it, rather than as a way to gain something else. 

Cressida lists the many benefits of reading for children, including economic success in later life. But many of these benefits depend on a state known as 'deep reading' - anaylsing a text to understand its deeper meaning. And in test after test, researchers have shown that 'deep rading' skills develop better when kids read from books. 

Professor Maryanne Wolf is a teacher, and advocate for children's literacy around the world. Here, she explains more about 'deep reading' to BBC Ideas:

Whe we read at a surface level, we're just getting the information. When we read deeply, we use much more of our cerebral cortex. Deep reading means that we make analogies, we make inferences, which allows us to be truly critical, analytic, empathic, human beings. 

The reality is, it's not what, or how much we read but how we read, that's really important. The very volume is having negative effects because to absorb that much, there's a propensity towards skimming. (경향- tendency= propensity)

Professor Wolf's research shows that reading from screens encourages reading at the surface level- quickly and superficially looking at what can be easily understood. Reading books, on the other hand, activates different areas of the brain, allowing a reader to develop positive traits like empathy, and to understand the deeper level of a book, including analogies and inferences. An analogy is a comparision between things that have similar features. For example, you might talk about the human heart dusing the analogy of a pump.  (trait- characteristic=특성)

An inference is a guess, opinion, or conclusion that you make based on the information you already have. For example, seeing smoke in the distance you would make an inference that there's fire. It's these types of deeper, more subtle understanding that we get from reading books. (미묘한, 교활한, 세밀한=subtle)

So, why is it that reading form screens doesn't develop these skills in thes same way? Well, the answer has to do with the volume, the sheer number of words, pings and notifications that screens bombard us with every day. Instead of deep reading, this encourages skimming- reading rapidly in order to get a general overview of something. I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question. ( sheer= thin, entire)/ ping: 핑하는 소리 / bombard= scroll