Battered and falling apart, this is my first dictionary. I’m guessing I was given it in the 70s, and it had been in and out of school bags and handbags for years.
@monikozi@wakelys@miss_molly Thank you all. It made me realise that we understood the value of things back then, and repaired them as much as possible before replacing them. It feels like much more of a throw-away society these days.
@tinley23 You are so right on that! But it is equally true that nowadays, very few items are made to last. They are meant to be replaced as soon as possible. A basic principle of consumerism, I guess. But also the concept of: "broken? no problem, we'll buy another one."
Your photo plays well in black and white, and the story behind it makes it better. As an English teacher, I love seeing this, and it breaks my heart to have high school students not learning how to use dictionaries, or even how to find which page to turn to in a textbook. This year+ of online-only learning is not improving things.
Wow, that's a well-used dictionary!
As a previous poster, I'm also really sad thad kids can't use a dictionary anymore. Last year, before confinement, I brought some of them to my classroom for pupils to use. One girl (about sixteen) complained that it was impossible to find any words there. It turned out that she didn't know words were arranged alphabetically. At first I thought she was pulling my leg, but she wasn't. Sadly, she had never been taught how to use a dictionary.
As a previous poster, I'm also really sad thad kids can't use a dictionary anymore. Last year, before confinement, I brought some of them to my classroom for pupils to use. One girl (about sixteen) complained that it was impossible to find any words there. It turned out that she didn't know words were arranged alphabetically. At first I thought she was pulling my leg, but she wasn't. Sadly, she had never been taught how to use a dictionary.