How many books do you read per year?
I've just read an article in the Nation yesterday, which says that Thai people, as an average, only read 2 books a year. As a comparison, they say in Vietnam the average is 60 books a year! I was quite surprised by these figures, as I have never seen Thai people read anything but the occasional newspaper. And 60 in Vietnam, such a high figure! Surely there can't be such a big difference between the two countries, even if they are, indeed, quite different in many aspects. Unfortunately the Nation only mentioned "survey data", without any further precision (great journalistic work).
So I browsed the web and tried to find some statistics about France. I found very different estimations, ranking from one book per year, up to 20 books per year. But nothing around 60. So I don't know how the surveys are conducted, I don't know what exactly they define as a 'book' (does it include magazines? comic books? school books?) but one thing is for sure, the journalists can't just say "according to survey data", if they want to make sense they have to explain where, when and how exactly the survey was conducted. Without any reference or methodology, the data are totally unreliable.
However, if you have a better source of information and if you know of a serious survey, with data that can be trusted, whether it is about Thailand or any other country, please share it with us. Or what about a quick survey here and now: how many books do you read per year, as an average?
So I browsed the web and tried to find some statistics about France. I found very different estimations, ranking from one book per year, up to 20 books per year. But nothing around 60. So I don't know how the surveys are conducted, I don't know what exactly they define as a 'book' (does it include magazines? comic books? school books?) but one thing is for sure, the journalists can't just say "according to survey data", if they want to make sense they have to explain where, when and how exactly the survey was conducted. Without any reference or methodology, the data are totally unreliable.
However, if you have a better source of information and if you know of a serious survey, with data that can be trusted, whether it is about Thailand or any other country, please share it with us. Or what about a quick survey here and now: how many books do you read per year, as an average?
Labels: News about languages, Thailand
posted by Beaumont at
5:57 PM
5 Comments:
I think the reason by vietnamese people reads so much, is 1 the country is comunist. The same occured in Russia during soviet era, where books were very cheap, and the same occur in China, where books are still very very cheap
2-May be in Vietnan people have a calmer life than in Thailand I used to read about 20 an year, plus the dictionaries I make to freelang about 1 new a month.renato figueiredo from Brazil
By
alice, At
October 21, 2007 5:47 AM
More than 20 per year but only in Bulgarian language. I try to read from English, but is to slowly. Now I learn Suomi and when I can speak it I 'll try it.
By
kill_u, At
October 23, 2007 6:39 PM
I'm also surprised. A few months ago, The Nation reported that Thai people read 7,5 lines a day, on average. Either the books they read are extremely short, either there's something wrong with at least one of those 2 figures!
I'm reading my 33th book this year. That is, only novels, I also read newspapers daily (online, most of the time though). I usually read in English, it's easier to find than French books.
By
Maï, At
October 28, 2007 6:53 PM
Reading statistics in Denmark
Dayly Weekly Monthly Once in a while Never
Fiction - litterature - thillers
Male 8% 10% 15% 28% 38%
Female 24% 16% 24% 18% 19%
All 16% 13% 19% 23% 29%
Non-fiction
Male 12% 15% 21% 21% 31%
Female 14% 11% 14% 17% 44%
All 13% 13% 18% 18% 37%
Fiction and non-fiction
Male 18% 19% 24% 20% 19%
Female 34% 19% 22% 13% 13%
All 26% 19% 23% 17% 16%
You then have to make a number of assumptions to arrive at a number of books pr. person pr. year
Let's say that reading every day yields 5 books a month that's 60 a year
and let's that weekly reading yields 2 books a month - that's 24 a year
and let's say that monthly reading yields 10 books a year
and let's say that once in a while yields 6 books a year
That would give us a result of approximately 28 books pr. person pr. year
solbjerg
By
Holger, At
October 29, 2007 7:11 AM
Only 66 so far. Of those, most were classics and fantasy fiction. Two were short stories, and two were poems (Beowulf and The Hunting of the Snark). Do those count? What does count as a "book"? What do I list magazine articles, short stories, and poems under?
By
Carmesille, At
December 29, 2007 9:44 AM
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