Literacy New Meaning

Illiterate, what do you think of when you hear this word? At first I thought of someone who does not know how to read and write, but looking at it deeper I questioned myself. Do Americans consider people of another language who cannot read or write English illiterate? If so why? If an American cannot read or write other languages does that make them illiterate? No, but why? Looking at it like this made me realize really no one is illiterate. I now see literacy as the ability to send and receive messages using any type of communication. In this case there are many different types of literacy. We gain literacy from the time we are born, constantly learning how to communicate to others from the things we see and hear. With all this then being my new understanding of literacy I start to think where am I literate and where am I not. I am literate in English I am not literate in other languages. I am literate in math if you would consider that a form but then I could go on forever about the things I understand and can about. I have also just recently become literate in the medical profession because I am in school for my radiology technologist’s degree so I have to take classes specifically to teach medical terminology. Without knowing how to understand a doctor’s orders you are illiterate to them. The amount of knowledge available is infinite. Literacy to me is important, the thing you need to know is some of it will just come to you naturally, and some of it you have to work for but it’s worth it.

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