CHAT: R: chat: dyslexia

Yoon Ha wrote:

> This isn't exactly on-topic, but a friend asked this question and *I*
> don't know the answer, but I thought a group of conlangers wouldn't be a
> bad place to ask....
>
> *Somewhere* I read (and my friend did, too) that people actually read
> logographic systems like Chinese somewhat faster because the translation
> goes directly from shapes to word-in-head, rather than shapes to sounds
> to word-in-head.  It might have been the yingzi article on Rosenfelder's
> Zompist.com but I'm not finding the reference and I won't swear to it.
>
> Recently in Time or Scientific American or something I also read that
> dyslexia is far less common in places where people have a writing system
> that is "simpler" (in terms of phonology/phonetics, I suppose that
> meant), e.g. the rate of dyslexia is apparently a lot lower in Italy than
> in the U.S. (or some sample of English-speaking nations).
That was Scientific American, I think. Someone hinted it also on Aleppe (the
Italian conlangers' list). It was published also on 'Scienze', the Italian
edition of Scientific American.

As for the dyslexia rate, my mum, a teacher at a comprehensive school -
junior high school, says that it's costantly growing - but this, I think, is
due to the fact that teachers in the elementary school are unfortunately
getting costantly more and more incompetent...

Luca

Reply