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Listing translated books by CEFR level | ||
Tags: CEFR Language Levels | Book | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| yantai_scot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4804 days ago 157 posts - 214 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 1 of 16 28 February 2014 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In trying to find some more grown-up books in my target language (ie not aimed at under
7s), I've purchased a couple of translations from English along the way. Harry Potter seems to be a universal favourite to help with reading skills and, don't judge me, I've got a copy of Bridget Jones' Diary in translation. I see that a lot of book/comic recommendations are per language but presumably there are some that are a good go to in several languages, if you enjoy the genre. Would it be helpful to compile a list of people's recommendations of books that have been translated into a number of languages (no higher limit but perhaps at least 2 in additional to the original). Maybe using the CEFR as a fuzzy guide to help steer people to the right level? Some light dictionary work permitted? e.g. A1 The Cat in the Hat - Dr Seuss (English original) Green Eggs and Ham - Dr Seuss (English original) A2 Tintin Series- Herge (Flemish original) Asterix Series- (French original) B1 Harry Potter Series- JK Rowling (English original) B2 C1 Any use? Rubbish? 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| lorinth Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 4276 days ago 443 posts - 581 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish, Latin Studies: Mandarin, Finnish | Message 2 of 16 28 February 2014 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
Wonderful idea, just a small correction for now:
Tintin was written in French. B1: Le petit prince (French original) Edited by lorinth on 28 February 2014 at 4:45pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Zireael Triglot Senior Member Poland Joined 4653 days ago 518 posts - 636 votes Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, Spanish Studies: German, Sign Language, Tok Pisin, Arabic (Yemeni), Old English | Message 3 of 16 28 February 2014 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
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That's a great idea.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4830 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 4 of 16 02 March 2014 at 1:27am | IP Logged | |||||
My recommendation (in your case, learning German with English as L1) would be to go from original German: classic: Anything by Theodor Fontane, e.g. Effi Briest. outlier classic: Max Eyth Pre-war-ish: Erich Kästner Post-war: Heinrich Böll; Hans Fallada; Günther Grass; Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Swiss). Christa Wolf (East German). Modern-ish: Daniel Glattauer (Austrian). Original German children's fiction: Cornelia Funke CEFR Level: Keine Ahnung. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| yantai_scot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4804 days ago 157 posts - 214 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 5 of 16 02 March 2014 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks Montmorency. However, I wanted to create a list that wasn't specific to one
particular language. So, say if you had enjoyed a book in English or another language that was on the list, you could try it in another of your target language(s). Books that have gained an international reputation. I'm reading David Bellos' 'Is that a Fish in Your Ear: Adventures in Translation' (v. good) and he makes some great arguments about the questionable value of holding original texts in higher regard than those of the translations. Most of the time experts can't even tell the difference. I'd been of the exact same opinion- that original language versions must be best. And I'd read and been told it repeatedly. But this has made me question that assumption and focus on just finding fun, readable material in my target language regardless of its source. @Lorinth- many apologies! Most embarrassed. And thanks for your suggestion. I've added it below. A1 The Cat in the Hat - Dr Seuss (English original) Green Eggs and Ham - Dr Seuss (English original) A2 Asterix Series- (French original) Tintin Series- Herge (French original) B1 Harry Potter Series- JK Rowling (English original) Le petit prince (French original) B2 Sherlock Holmes Series (English original) C1 Any others? Graphic Novels? Persepolis? Any of Guy Delise's? Edited by yantai_scot on 02 March 2014 at 9:33pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4523 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic | Message 6 of 16 05 March 2014 at 1:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A Song of Ice and Fire (5 lengthy books so far) - G.R.R. Martin (English original) - C1
(already well readable at B2 if you don't care for details, but details are important for these books if you read them for the first time) Earth's Children (6 lengthy books) - Jean M. Auel (English original) - B1 (relatively easy with lots of useful vocabulary, also animals and tools) Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien (English original) - B2 (maybe even B1) The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkien (English original) - B1 (maybe even A2) Duck Tales stuff (Donald et al.) for German, Italian, Scandinavian languages and Finnish. I'm thinking about the paperbacks (click on any volume to see the equivalent in other languages) - B1 Edited by daegga on 05 March 2014 at 1:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7207 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 7 of 16 05 March 2014 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
I don't know how you came up with those ratings. The Hobbit is easier than Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings starts out at as a children's book - at the same level as The Hobbit - but the tone shifts early on and it goes to a higher level. The Hobbit may be B1, and LOTR may be B2, but then again, LOTR may also be C2. LOTR is not a book using simplifed English to go easy on the reader. Edited by luke on 05 March 2014 at 2:01pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4523 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic | Message 8 of 16 05 March 2014 at 1:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
Just wild guessing based on my experience. I didn't read them in English by the way, I read The Hobbit in Norwegian and LOTR in Danish. LOTR was actually the first book I've read in Danish and I did just fine. I'm not saying that I understood every single word, but it was readable without a dictionary. I couldn't have possibly been more advanced than B2 passively at this stage. And The Hobbit is easier than LOTR, so I went down one level on the scale, A2 would probably be too low a level if you don't speak a closely related language, it's not that easy. full disclosure: I actually listened to the audiobook of both instead of really reading them. But that doesn't usually make the language feel easier, rather the opposite. Edited by daegga on 05 March 2014 at 1:57pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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