Letters and Diaries from the Yesteryear

Reading the letters of John Keats and Andy Warhol's diary entries, I can't help but to realize how technology have evolved from handwriting on papers to typing on the keyboard of the computer or mobile devices. Writing a letter would be similar to sending an e-mail while diaries are akin to blogs, Facebook or even Twitter.

The world we live in is getting more advanced, and we want faster replies. Sending a mail would take a longer time than an e-mail with just a click away. Talking about daily activities now can be done in front of the computer or on the smartphone easily and people can even comment on our entries on the spot. Change is good, but future generations would miss out a lot too.





There's this beauty of writing with your own hand, on a piece of paper, thinking of the recipient of the letter you're sending. Once the letter has been mailed, the roles are now changed. We become the recipient and wait for the respond letter to arrive. Back in the late 90s in high school, studying in an all-girls boarding school, letter-writing was one of the popular thing to do. We would be writing letters to our pen friends (guys and girls) and the excitement of getting the replies was just indescribable.

Writing entries in a diary was also something that we used to do a lot back then. Some would keep the diary like it was a kind of secret treasure, but some would gladly exchange the diaries and read what others have written.

Writing letters and diaries may be outdated to kids nowadays, but it is something that they have to know and preferably experience by themselves. :) Well, maybe for the upcoming lesson, my students' task will be writing a letter!