What is a letter? The ability to read and write. Credentials

"If you don’t read books, you will soon forget the letter." This saying is especially relevant today. Russia is one of the ten most reading countries in the world. According to UNESCO, more than five hundred million adults on the planet can neither read nor write. The level of illiterate and semi-illiterate people is very high.

Knowing this, you involuntarily think: is it possible to improve your literacy yourself? What are the ways to do this? When did people begin to teach literacy in Russia? How was this done? What is a letter of merit? What other species exist? What does it mean to be a competent person in the 21st century? First you need to find out what a letter is? Let us give a definition to this concept.

What is a letter

The word is of Greek origin and has several meanings. In olden times, it denoted a document. Various information was applied to birch bark with a special tool called “writing”. The diploma was called royal decrees, acts, letters and much more. The first documents were written on parchment, which was folded or folded.

What is a letter? The ability to write and read. The first schools in Russia opened under Yaroslav the Wise. A man who possessed a diploma in Russia was highly respected and respected.

What does it mean to be literate these days? Once upon a time, it was enough to be able to write and read. But today the requirements have changed. A person who writes with errors and does not know how to express his thoughts coherently and clearly cannot be considered literate. Therefore, you need to read a lot in order to develop your intellect and increase your level of education. You also need to constantly learn something new, applying your knowledge in life.

Why do you need to be a competent person?

• To learn how to correctly express their thoughts and feelings, not only in colloquial speech, but also on paper.
• Be able to properly draw up various documents.
• So that people around you would be interested in talking with you.
• Live an interesting and eventful life.
• Be engaged in self-improvement.
• To be more likely to get a well-paid and prestigious job.

Curious facts

1. The first birch bark letter was found in Novgorod.
2. In the world there are a large number of different alphabets, but those that people use are about sixty.
3. The smallest in the number of letters is the alphabet, in which there are only eleven. It belongs to the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea.
4. The letter "O" was invented more than three thousand years ago. Since then, her spelling has not changed.
5. In the 18-19 centuries in Russia, children from wealthy families were taught literacy by foreigners. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, the great Russian writer, first learned to write and read in French and English, only then he mastered the Russian language.
6. At the beginning of the 20th century, one could go to prison for literacy. With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the ability to write without errors was considered a relic of tsarist Russia.
7. The largest number of illiterate people who can neither write nor read live in Asian countries.
   

What are the letters?

• Letter of Merit. This concept arose in the 12th century. This was the name of the document in which institutions or individuals were gifted with gifts or various advantages over other people. For example, nobles were exempted from service. Granted letters were issued only by a person who has the highest power in the country: king, prince, emperor.
• Credentials. This document was issued to diplomats who went to serve in another country. Credentials gave a person the right to act on behalf of an entire country.
• Certificate of honor. A document that is awarded to a person for certain merits or achievements in recognition.
• Title deed. It was compiled during the transfer of property or part of it from one person to another.

Russian letter and schools: interesting facts

• The first books by which they were taught to read were an hour book and a hymnal.
• In the 17th century, schools in Russia were called schools.
• Children of different classes, from peasants to aristocrats, could learn.
• Literacy class included: memorizing the alphabet, reading in syllables, reading words.
• They came to school in the early morning and left in the late evening.
• Teachers were highly respected, so the literacy rate in Ancient Russia was very high.
• The main subjects in the schools were reading instruction, church singing, and writing.
• The Tatar-Mongol invasion inflicted huge damage on the formation of Russia. Many schools were destroyed and closed. There was no one to teach literacy; the level of literate people dropped significantly.
• The first textbooks appeared only in the 16th century. Literacy could be taught in two ways: at home, in the family or in the church, with the clergy.
• In the 17th century, aristocrats began to teach children foreign languages.
• Education under Peter I began to be tough. For failure to comply with the orders of the teacher and poor diligence threatened severe punishment.
  

The most famous ways to improve literacy

• Learn punctuation and spelling rules.
• Try to remember those words where you make mistakes.
• Take 15-20 minutes daily to rewrite words or sentences from any collection of dictations.
• They always talk about the benefits of reading, however, if you get used to reading at least 30 minutes every day, you will not have problems with spelling.
• Listen to audio performances, this will significantly increase your literacy.
• To write dictations.
• Develop your memory.
• Solve crosswords.
• If you make mistakes in the same words, then you can do the following. Write these words correctly on paper, cut them out and stick them on a mirror or cabinet so that they are constantly in front of your eyes.

Top 5 most educated countries in the world

• In fifth place is the United States.

• The fourth is Israel.

• The third is with Japan.

• Second place is Canada.
• Tops the list is Russia. In our country, the highest percentage of people with higher education.
  

Conclusion

When you answer the question of what a letter is and why it is needed, the lines from the poem of the famous Russian poet Samuel Marshak are recalled: "Do not drink without a letter, do not eat, do not read the numbers at the gate." A person must necessarily engage in self-education, not stopping at the successes achieved. In the 21st century, being considered literate means not only being able to write and read, but also constantly expanding one's horizons by applying knowledge in practice.