Hi, my name is Elliot Zakay. I’m a sophomore marketing major here at Baruch. I consider myself a Syrian-American Jew, part of one of the largest jewish communities in the world located in Brooklyn, NY.

I would say the news makes up for a large part of my reading, but aside from that I read any novel that happens to catch my eye. By far, the best book I read was Lois Lowry’s The Giver. I still resonates in my mind, even though I read it almost 7 years ago. It is sometimes referred to as a children’s book, but it will always be my favorite book. I think the fact that I can’t see myself forgetting it makes it so hard to pick anything else.

I happen to speak Hebrew at home, along with English, as well as do a little reading; gain, most of that reading is of the news. I speak Hebrew at home not because of my jewish heritage, but because my father was born in Israel and we remain connected to the country to this day, despite living half way around the globe. Hebrew is seen to many as a very difficult language to read and write, with a completely different alphabet and being that it is written in the opposite direction. From my experience I see it as a very simple, free-flowing language, even more so than english (even though it’s technically my second language).

I hope this gave a nice little picture of myself and my reading preferences. I would like to end by saying that, above all, the easiest way to learn or practice any language is through the news. Relevant information and relevant practice.

Elliot.