ABU (Over 26 years old) Fine Work "Which do you prefer for gaining knowledge and information about the world -- Braille or Audio Devices" Kyrgyzstan Jakov Aleksandr (31/male) |
There are different sources of information about the world events in our modern life. Among them, there are, television, wireless, Internet and various printed publications. However, a blind person perceives information in tactile and audio forms. It can be put into practice with the help of Braille system, a computer equipped bythe special programme providing audio access to the screen(for example "JAWS for Windows"). Audio information is the dominating form of information for me because it is the most up-to-date information. For example, the latest news on radio or television, modern scientific-documentary films telling about the most interesting and relevant achievements of mankind, modern music and movies. If to record an audio book on a magnetic or digital tape, it will be more compact than the book printed in Braille. I would like to give one obvious example. In our specialized library for the Blind, you can find some Braille books that are really large in volume. For instance, the novel of Tolstoy "war and peace" consists of 29 Braille volumes. In order to read all of them you should spend so much time and effort. Therefore, audio perception of information is more convenient than perception in Braille. For instance, I am a student of the Institute of Higher Education and it doesn’t have any library with audio and Braille books. So I have to record all the lectures on the Dictaphone and when I come home I spend much time only for listening and understanding the material. It will be inconvenient if to rewrite the lectures in Braille from audio sources. In this case, I will spend more time for writing, reading and understanding of the material. In addition, there is one more disadvantage of using of the Braille system.It is available only under certain conditions. Let’s imagine, I’m on my study or on my way there, I can listen to the audio information in all situations: if I’m upright, in sitting, walking or standing positions but the system of Braille can be predominately used only in sitting position. Moreover, it often attracts other people’s attention. As we don’t have any specialized literature and the most important normative acts in Braille in our library, I should use mass printed and computer books. That is why, all thecomputer books, available on my computer or other audio devices are the most suitable and available forms of information in my case. However, I frequently use the Braille system in my study and in my life, in general, there are some Braille books that can’t be found among audio books, for example, books about music and chess written in Braille. I’m a chess player myself, when I was learning to play chess, Braille books were the only one way to do it. Judging by mypersonal experience, I found some advantages of using Braille system. When a blind man reads a text in Braille, he involuntary pays close attention to grammar, punctuation and orthography of the text. In addition, reading in Braille automatically develops motive and tactile types of memory. Besides, audio memory is involved, if to read the text in Braille out loud. I experienced it myself, when I studied the foreign language both in school and University. I could learn the foreign text by heart only writing and reading it in Braille. Today, the most important source of information for me is Internet. I think that it is a kind of window to the world, from which I find out about the latest events not only in my country but in the whole world. In conclusion to everything mentioned above, it is important to say that today, the most important and available information for me is audio information. I receive it with the help of television, wireless, a computer equipped by the special programme, audio books recorded on discs and magnetic tapes, but I turn to Braille books in some cases. We listen to the audio information due to modern devices but they have one very significant disadvantage -- they work only by means of electricity, without electricity all these devices will become useless trash. However, Braille system is universal in this respect. I actively use both methods for obtaining knowledge in order to broaden my horizons and to know the most detailed and interesting facts about the world, where I live. I strongly believe that for some time, the audio information will be the most wide-spread because we live in the 21st century and our present crazy tempo of life is getting more and more fast, informative and interactive.Perhaps, it is not very good to predict future but, at least, it is not prohibited. Audio sources of information will be of extensive usage, Braille will be of less importance, however, it will not die out because it is immortal and exclusive method of the information receivingfor the Blind. |
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