I am not sure how this is going to go, but it is time. I was Smallsteps' age when I was introduced to and read about the fantasy world of Middle Earth for the first time, and it has had a lasting impression on me. It isn't because it was the best writing and it is quite childish in many ways. But, it was the first book that I really read that captured my imagination to the point where I was comfortable building the whole world, to generate the characters, set the scenery and make it mine.
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
The book itself is almost four hundred pages, so it will take about three months to complete at around ten pages a night, on my nights. My wife and I take it in turns to read to Smallsteps, so it will be slow going, but I am hoping that we can reference it and discuss parts of it as we go also. I am looking forward to reading it too, as I don't visualize things easily now, but I already have this book burned into my memory, so it should be easier.
We started the first chapter tonight and it is pretty obvious that Smallsteps is going to have to advance her vocabulary in English. Her English is good, but as you can imagine, with nearly all of her life including her school in Finnish, it overpowers her English. And then, when I speak with her, my own vocabulary and ways of speaking aren't nearly as rich as a book can be, so it is good to introduce new words.
This has another benefit (I hope) as most Finns struggle with ambiguity, and Smallsteps is the same. In language, this means that if they get to a word they don't know, it disrupts them, and they have to know the meaning, even if they were to read or listen on and infer it from the context. Smallsteps constantly asks, but I have made the active decision (told her about it too) to only explain the words that matter for understanding, as well as interesting words that she can use herself.
She of course doesn't notice how much she is improving in English, as it is always weaker than her Finnish. It is a bit like being ambidextrous, but not quite being able to get the same power and precision on the weaker side. I hear the changes in her language though, as new words she has learned are inserted into conversations smoothly, or she works a little harder to find a different word to explain something. I am hoping that in time she will be able to have the same richness and speed as she does in Finnish, and it is going to be interesting to see if there is a difference in her humor or thinking process.
The way we speak affects many parts of our lives in perhaps subtle, but important ways. For instance, people who have languages without a future tense (like Finnish), tend to be better at saving money and organizing and planning. I am not sure why, but it could be that when there is no future, things get spoken about and done now instead.
This could also be why my wife is so impatient when something is on her mind.
Or not.
But, the main reason to get Smallsteps "consuming" these kinds of stories, is that it forces her to use her imagination. No pictures, just words, and characters that don't exist. She has already mentioned in the first few pages when hobbits were described, that her picture changed into a little person, like a dwarf, rather than a rabbit. Obviously, her brain just pictured something familiar that sounded similar to the word.
And this is what is so cool about books.
I will read her the book, she will hear the same words, but she will never have the same image in her head of that world that I have. The elves will look different, Gandalf will be different, and her headspace will be filled with her own creations, developed from prompts. When we lose our mental creativity, we lose one of the most important parts of being human, yet I think that is where the world of generative AI is taking many people.
Instead of homogenization, Smallsteps can spend some more time in hobbitization.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]