Increasing pressure on the publishing industry, plus a shrinking reading culture, hasn't changed the enormous lifelong benefit of reading to children from early childhood. With South Africa having eleven official languages, how do we ensure children across the country access these benefits in their mother tongue? By Jade Jacobsohn, Managing Director at Nal’ibali.
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According to UNESCO, “Illiteracy and poverty constitute a mutually reinforcing, vicious cycle...
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Written by Buhle Ngaba
Being a storyteller is one of the most important aspects of my identity. I can't remember a time when I wasn't searching for expression in one way or another, whether as an actor on a stage, on my couch with pen and paper in hand, or in an art class. As a child, I read books at an alarming rate and...
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This International Literacy Day, Monday September 8, the Nal’ibali reading-for-enjoyment campaign has joined forces with Mxit Reach to launch a new and improved app to put children’s stories and literacy tips into the hands of even more South African caregivers and their children. The app is accessible via the Mxit social networking platform which now has five million monthly users. It will allow anyone...
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On a hot, dry February day, in a heat that would normally make the most attentive student lethargic, a Grade 4 class is rapt. Seated cross-legged on the floor, their mouths agape, eyes bright and never wavering, they focus intently on the woman turning the pages of ‘Jack’s Tractor’ by Thomas Taylor. Throughout the story, they repeat sounds and words back at...
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Here’s a piece of common sense familiar to most of us adults (well, at least those of us who have ever watched an episode of the Dr Phil show on TV): you can’t keep doing the same thing continuously and expect to get different results. So, if you’re faced with a huge challenge like improving literacy levels in South Africa, you clearly can’t be doing...
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Do you make resolutions at the beginning of each new year? Many people’s resolutions involve giving up something they enjoy to improve their lives. But that’s where reading resolutions are different – they are simply about doing more of what you enjoy! Try our suggestions below to make reading and stories a part of your family’s everyday life! And download our Story Power Pacts for you and...
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Recently I visited Pratham, a large non-profit organisation that promotes reading across India. I was intrigued by their claim that they could get young children to learn to read within six weeks and that they could help those lagging behind to catch up.
If we could do the same, I thought, we could begin to overcome one of the biggest challenges to education in South Africa –...
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I have just achieved one of my ambitions as an early literacy specialist – helping to bring into being several little board books for babies and toddlers in all of our 11 official languages.
You may ask why on earth babies and toddlers should get books when they can’t even talk yet, and how can it matter what language to use when the babies obviously...
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redeng is intrasting it hulps you to lorn. I stortd with go, dog, go,
and then I cared on with mor hoda books, now I take books owt of the libery wich mens you or a good reda. my hol Lif
my mom has ben reding to me evan sans I wos 1. I lict The owl and The poose cat. my mom hato ryd it...
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