Paméla is happy with Libelle for low-literate people: ‘It became black before my eyes during dictation’ | show

Paméla Melkert (45) was present at the editorial office of the Libelle this afternoon for the unveiling of the special edition. At first glance, the glossy resembles a normal Libelle with a young woman on the cover, an interview with Anita Witzier and the confessions of three women who fell in love with a colleague. But all one hundred pages of this magazine have been ‘retranslated’ for people who have difficulty with reading and writing: from the interviews, oven recipes, puzzle to the comic strip by Jan, Jans and the children. The editors of the women’s magazine preceded a course to make this edition as accessible as possible. Short sentences, a calm and larger font and a lot of white space were included in the magazine. Proverbs, puns, double negatives and complicated knitting patterns were deliberately avoided.

For now, it is a one-time action. The hundred thousand copies can be read for free at community centers, community centers, libraries and ROCs and are therefore not available in the shops.

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Melkert is happy with the initiative. She has struggled with reading and writing since primary school. “It became black before my eyes when dictating,” she says. Although she receives a lot of support from her family, she encounters her language impairment on a daily basis. “Filling out a form for the municipality or reading the information board at Schiphol: it gets me confused. And that’s frustrating. I am so smart, but I have to ask for help with simple things.” Melkert is currently also helping fellow sufferers to fill in energy allowances. “It’s also very stressful for people like me.” She also experienced that in the corona time. ,,During the press conferences there was an interpreter gesturing in the background, but why was there no special telephone number for the illiterate? Rutte can learn something from this.”

Low-literate people – there are 2.5 million in the Netherlands – have little reading material at their disposal that is really understandable. Apart from a special newspaper and a selection of retranslated literature, they often have to turn to children’s books. Last year the NOS news started with an online bulletin for the illiterate. According to the Reading and Writing Foundation, which was involved in the special Libelle, this is the first magazine that has been completely retranslated. Hilmar Mulder, editor-in-chief of Libelle, is proud. “We wanted to make a magazine in which readers recognize themselves, because let’s face it: the adventures of Jip and Janneke have nothing to do with the experience of a woman of 45 plus.” She hopes that the magazine will also take away some shame from the target group: ,,Almost 1 in seven adults have trouble reading. So everyone knows someone who struggles with this, but do we know who this is? Low-literate people are also trained to disguise their disability, for example by saying that he or she has forgotten their glasses when the municipal official asks to fill in a form. I hope we can break the taboo a little bit.”