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Listing translated books by CEFR level

 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading Post Reply
16 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
yantai_scot
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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157 posts - 214 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German

 
 Message 1 of 16
28 February 2014 at 4:31pm | IP Logged 
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:

yantai_scot wrote:
Tintin Series- Herge (Flemish original)


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 
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 
yantai_scot wrote:
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?



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 
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 
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 
daegga wrote:
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)


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 
luke wrote:
daegga wrote:
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)


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.


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



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