On reading aloud
A short talk for new volunteer tutors at the adult literacy program.
You will be tempted to correct. Don’t. Not at first. The person across the table from you has spent a lifetime being corrected, usually by people who did not stay to hear the end of the sentence.
Read aloud with them. Read badly if you must. Let them hear you stumble on a word, and let them see that the world does not end. The single most useful thing you can give a new reader is the sight of an experienced one who is not afraid of the page.
Then, when they trust you, and only then, be exact. Precision is a gift you give to people who already know you are on their side.