This is a picture of both a Spanish and English version of the same book. By being able to translate book and such from the original language to another, or just being able to read it in the original language, there are certain cultural aspects one can learn.
For my Spanish class at Macalaster, I have been reading Spanish texts from Cristobal Columbus to more modern day texts such as, El Amor en los tiempos del Colera. I have been able to "read" but more importantly, aquire information about different cultures and cultural norms. I think this is why I feel so strongly on having true texts in the classroom. For me, it would be books originally written in Spanish.
I think this reading between the lines is a very important lesson to learn how to do. When reading a book written in Cuba in the 1950's, one can gain a greater and deeper look into the lives of people at that time. When we are teaching, there are so many ways to personally bring our students into the lesson, and this is one of them.
It is very interesting how you speak about "reading in between the lines." I, too, believe that this is an important part of literacy. This made me think of in the theater, actors and actresses are required to understand the subtext of each one of their lines in order to really develop that character. The subtext would be exactly reading between the lines. Without this fact, the character would not be as three dimensional and exciting to watch.
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