Interview 8Reading Aloud

Interview 8 · Reading Aloud

Is reading fast reading well?

Transcript

Rafa: Mom, to read in English, read super fast, like a TV commercial. That way you sound American.

Lupe: Now I will give you a reading test. Please read this sentence out loud.

Rafa: Go, go, fast like the dryer!

Lupe: What is the largest state in the United States? … Alaska!

Rafa: … Mom, the card says city. And you didn't have to answer.

Grandpa: Rewind.

Grandpa: In the reading test, the officer shows you a sentence. Read one correctly, out loud, and you pass. You can get up to three.

Grandpa: Your accent does not fail you. Nobody fails because of an accent.

Grandpa: If you skip a little word, like the or of, and the meaning stays the same, that's okay.

Grandpa: What does fail: skipping or changing an important word. Saying state where it says city.

Grandpa: And very long pauses. No racing, no napping: at your own pace, word by word.

Grandpa: And you don't have to answer the question. Just read it.

Grandpa: Okay, like at the interview. Please read this sentence out loud.

Rafa: Who lived in… oh, a text!… … America first?

Grandpa: Rafa! Phone away. … Lupe?

Lupe: Who lived in America first?

Grandpa: Good. Another one: Please read this sentence out loud.

Lupe: When is Columbus Day?

Rafa: Mom, you read so slowly, you sound like the GPS.

Grandpa: The GPS always gets there, kiddo. Slow and complete.

Lupe: No phone, mijo. Please read this sentence out loud.

Rafa: How many Senators do we have?

Grandpa: That's it, kiddo. Not one pause.

Lupe: My seventeenth stamp in the passport!

Grandpa: Seventeen out of twenty, Lupe. Now fold the laundry… slowly.

Grandpa: Now, your voice. The officer shows you the sentence: you read it out loud… then repeat after me.

Officer: Now I will give you a reading test. Please read this sentence out loud.

Grandpa: Who lived in America first? HOO LIVD in uh-MER-ih-kuh FURST.