美国国家公共电台 NPR--A star on TikTok's BOOKTok is using the platform to improve his reading skills

A star on TikTok's BOOKTok is using the platform to improve his reading skills

Transcript¹

Oliver James is a TikTok star who has pledged² to read a hundred books this year. He has struggled with reading all his life and is now teaching³ himself at age 34.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Oliver James is a TikTok star on its BookTok platform. At 34, inspired by his children, he's teaching himself to read on the social platform.

OLIVER JAMES: I actually learned⁴ by going to a park and just working out and deciding to add reading to my workout journey at that time. And BookTok discovered me.

FADEL: He set a goal of reading a hundred books this year. Right now you can find him reading "The Alchemist" aloud on BookTok.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK VIDEO)

JAMES: There was a small building there with a window at which people bought tickets to Africa.

FADEL: Oliver James told me that the school system failed to help with his reading disability when he was growing up. But he's gradually moving past that setback⁵.

JAMES: Every day is a struggle. I can give you a little feedback⁶ on something that I did yesterday. I took my 10-year-old to the doctor's. And I didn't even know how to fill out his paperwork. And it made me sweat. My palms were, you know, sweating even till today. And it's weird⁷, but I had him fill out the things that he knew because he knows more about, you know, education and reading and spelling than I do. And I actually had to give the paperwork back and tell them, hey, I don't know how to read this. And that's the struggle of my everyday life as a father, 34 years old, who struggles with reading.

FADEL: But right now you are teaching yourself?

JAMES: Yes. Every single day, I go in my van, and I go online, and I pretty much put myself out there to express to the world that, you know, reading is something that I want to get better at. And I'm willing to show the entire world that I'm not good at it, so I don't have to be scared of it anymore.

FADEL: And so one of the first books you chose to read in full was "Anne Frank⁸," right?

JAMES: Yes.

FADEL: Why "Anne Frank?" It's an interesting choice.

JAMES: BookTok told me I should read it, and that's how I ended up picking that book.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK VIDEO)

JAMES: This book was about a young woman who journaled about the Holocaust⁹. What I liked - how smart she was and aware she was about life at such a young age, OK? What wasn't my cup of tea?

FADEL: Was it hard?

JAMES: It was hard at first. But as I kept going, I started to get better. I started to realize this is very similar to fitness¹⁰. If you do this every single day, like I did pullups every single day, you get stronger. You actually start to learn the words you're saying. It's kind of amazing. And that became my addiction¹¹, I think.

FADEL: Yeah. And what made you want to be a better reader and express publicly, hey, I can't read?

JAMES: I've had dreams of being more than I was showing myself. I always wanted to be a motivational speaker, and I would express these things to people. And, you know, people kind of would just be like, you know, you could. You can't. You could. You can't. And I knew what I could do if I had the ability to read. And I was like, If I just learn how to read, no one can tell me I can't be a speaker. I'll just go to it. I'll go take it. And that's when I said, OK, I'll start reading. And then truth - it came. I'm speaking.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK VIDEO)

JAMES: Yo, listen to me real quick. If you don't learn how to read now when it's a struggle at a young age, oh, you ain't going to escape it. You're just going to be learning¹² at 30, 40. And it's going to be 10 times harder with so many more things piled up on top of you. Please, while you are young, read.

FADEL: Why do you think so many people are drawn¹³ to your journey on TikTok? I mean, 100,000 people - that's a lot.

JAMES: Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that out myself because it's not like I, you know, created the wheel. Most of these people know how to read. But I think what I did was I got into some people's hearts that, you know, they didn't realize could be opened up again. A lot of people didn't realize reading was, you know, a gift. You know, they treat it like if they walk. I walk every day. But there's someone out there who can't walk, and we don't think about that person. And now they're like, wow, I can read. And I never thought about that. And then there are people who can't read.

FADEL: Do you take any time personally to read by yourself, or is it always on TikTok?

JAMES: Yeah, I do read on my own. I suffer from severe OCD...

FADEL: OK.

JAMES: ...So I read a book about my own problems. My financial situation is not the best. So when I went to get a therapist¹⁴ and I realized it was going to be about $100 an hour for a therapist, I knew that, you know, hey, I got the problem. Can you help me? And they're like, without the money, we can't help you. I realize that, like, no one's going to be able to help me unless I actually learn it myself. So I went on BookTok and told everybody, and then they sent me a bunch of books on OCD.

FADEL: Wow.

JAMES: So I read those books on my own. Yeah. I had, you know, anxiety, PTSD. I had anger issues. You know, I had stress. I had things that built up because OCD was there, and I didn't understand what was wrong with me.

FADEL: Yeah.

JAMES: So it would just cause me to have these mood swings constantly. And now I get to sit back and say, hey, there's a book that's teaching me how to control that.

FADEL: You have access to all these worlds now.

JAMES: Yeah, it's amazing. And I advise anybody, you know, even if you don't know how to read, pick up a book. If you want, you know, answers to your problems or anything, there's a book that is out there that can help you in some shape or form.

FADEL: All right, Oliver James, thank you so much for your time.

JAMES: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 pledged   

保证，许诺，发誓( pledge的过去式和过去分词 )； 典当； 保证给予（或做）； 以誓言约束

参考例句：

• They have pledged that they will always remain faithful to each other. 他们发誓他们将永远忠诚于对方。
• The government pledged to rehouse the refugees. 政府许诺给难民提供新住房。

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

6 feedback   

n.回授，反馈，反应

参考例句：

• I was getting great feedback from my boss.老板对我的评价很高。
• You need feedback to monitor progress.你需要利用反馈信息来监控进展。

7 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

8 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

9 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

10 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。

11 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

12 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

13 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

14 therapist   

n.治疗专家

参考例句：

• My therapist helped me feel my anger.我的治疗专家帮助我感受自己的怒气。
• Family therapists.家庭治疗师。