ChristopherB Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 6306 days ago 851 posts - 1074 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, German, French
| Message 1 of 75 14 December 2009 at 5:15am | IP Logged |
I know a major reason for studying languages is to converse in them. Another reason I quite often come across is the desire to be able to read works of literature in one's languages. I'm curious to know how many people here read in their foreign languages and how often. Not necessarily "great works" of literature, contemporary novels and things would suffice. I don't find myself reading in them as much as I feel I should. How about you?
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Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6758 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek
| Message 2 of 75 14 December 2009 at 8:04am | IP Logged |
I read fiction in foreign languages almost daily. Usually novels in Japanese, and comics in French.
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pohaku Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5641 days ago 192 posts - 367 votes Speaks: English*, Persian Studies: Arabic (classical), French, German, Mandarin, Japanese
| Message 3 of 75 14 December 2009 at 8:52am | IP Logged |
Most of my foreign language activity is reading: daily classical Persian poetry, daily Arabic (1001 Nights--great fun!), daily German novels. There are several other languages I hope to learn to read, mostly to enjoy classic--but not necessarily heavy--texts.
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Jimmymac Senior Member United Kingdom strange-lands.com/le Joined 6143 days ago 276 posts - 362 votes Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, French
| Message 4 of 75 14 December 2009 at 8:58am | IP Logged |
I only ever read in foregin languages. That way I kill two birds with one stone: Enjoy a good book and improve my languages.
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pohaku Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5641 days ago 192 posts - 367 votes Speaks: English*, Persian Studies: Arabic (classical), French, German, Mandarin, Japanese
| Message 5 of 75 14 December 2009 at 9:02am | IP Logged |
Jimmymac--You said something similar to a realization I had a few years ago. I thought, "I've read enough in English. I should just read in other languages now." Of course, I was exaggerating, but, it turns out, not by much. Almost all of my fiction and poetry reading is in foreign languages and a lot of my non-fiction reading is reading about foreign languages, studying foreign languages, etc.
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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6773 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin
| Message 6 of 75 14 December 2009 at 9:15am | IP Logged |
Not really, not yet. But I'm hoping that I will get my Italian to a point where I'll be able to read all the books I want to read in Italian. I'm big on audiobooks, so it would be awesome to move that activity to Italian.
Edited by numerodix on 14 December 2009 at 9:16am
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Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6429 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese
| Message 7 of 75 14 December 2009 at 5:10pm | IP Logged |
numerodix wrote:
Not really, not yet. But I'm hoping that I will get my Italian to a point where I'll be able to read all the books I want to read in Italian. I'm big on audiobooks, so it would be awesome to move that activity to Italian. |
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Tell me if you find a good source - I still haven't. Even for authors like Eco, it seems easier to find audiobooks in other languages. Most of what I have found is abridged or adapted.
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Iolanthe Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5631 days ago 410 posts - 482 votes Speaks: English*, DutchC1 Studies: Turkish, French
| Message 8 of 75 14 December 2009 at 5:34pm | IP Logged |
I've got into the habit of reading Dutch fiction every day as study and for fun. The idea of reading in foreign languages actually gives me more motivation to learn than the idea of speaking. Maybe this will change when I've pushed through the awkwardness of speaking and become good at it.
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