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News Story

New York Times Issues "The Times In Plain English" Online Resource For Basic Readers

Posted on 09/28/2012

Newspaper

Most newspapers pose a challenge to lower-level adult readers because of high reading levels, complex sentence structure and vocabulary, lengthy entries, and use of slang and idioms. The result is that many adults lack access to up-to-date critical news and information.

To help address this problem, The New York Times has issued The Times in Plain English (www), which presents major news stories written at an accessible level for even basic readers. This online newspaper is available at no cost and may be reproduced and distributed by teachers, students, and other adults at will.

Edited by Arthur Schiff, each story is short, on topic and written in simple language. The stories avoid complex and compound sentences, slang, idioms, and distractions from the main thoughts in order to make the material easier and more readable. Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level readability formulas are used to check language levels. Topics covered include:

  • Health & Education
  • Immigration
  • Law
  • Money & Work
  • Politics
  • And more…

The Times in Plain English (www) is available internationally, and can also be converted to any one of 65 languages of choice. There is an article Index (www) that students can use to select reading materials that interest them, or to use in the classroom for research projects.