Every word is a bird we teach to sing a review @duffythewriter

Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing is a wonderful collection of encounters, interviews, and experiences which author Daniel Tammet has experienced throughout his life.  Daniel has high functioning autism and sees the world, and in particular words and numbers, differently to most of us.  Numbers bring about feelings and images, for example, certain numbers are described as heavy, hard, floating, or aggressive.  There is a complex pattern when it comes to attaching feelings and colours to words and numbers, which I had a hard time grasping sometimes, yet it all works in Tammets mind and it all fits together.

See how the T advances

Stain

Satin

Saint

(From Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing)

Tammet explores not only the English language but that of other countries.  He helped Lithuanian women learn English by using poetry; where words bring about feelings.  Feelings are something our memory holds on to, something sticks when a phrase or sentence resonates with and it is then remembered forever. Rather than repeating meaningless lines on a whiteboard, Tammet taught English using poetry and genuine, natural conversation.  In Iceland, the country works extremely hard to keep the language as it is, with committees to approve names for children and even scouring newspaper print to ensure slang words don’t creep in and become part of the everyday language.

Who Should Read Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing?

Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing is a brain training book.  I found myself fascinated by a language I have spoken all my life and I definitely felt I was learning and gaining a deeper understanding of language. Not only about the intricacies and wonders of the English language, but also understanding what it’s like to live in this world with high-functioning autism. At times it seems a curse, but in Tammets case is definitely a gift he shares with eloquence here.

4 out of 5 from me – be prepared for your concentration to be tested and your mind expanded. Buy from Booktopia today!

Read if you enjoyed That’s The Way It Crumbles

Given to me in exchange for an honest review by Hachette Australia