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Do you read often in foreign languages? | ||
Tags: Foreign Languages | Reading | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| Neutrino Newbie Russian Federation Joined 4709 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Russian* Studies: English, Dutch | Message 57 of 75 29 December 2011 at 10:29pm | IP Logged | ||
A great idea. I’ve bought Kindle several months ago and it’s amazing. I’m quite impatient as a person, and using paper dictionaries during reading was always too boring for me. With e-reader and e-dictionaries it's very comfy and interesting. Another good point – possibility to read books everywhere including public transport, even in a rush hour. Though I read in English mostly as for I didn’t find a Dutch-Russian or at least Dutch-English dictionary for Kindle. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Melisse Triglot Newbie Sweden Joined 4860 days ago 19 posts - 36 votes Speaks: English*, SwedishC1, French Studies: Dutch, Russian, Modern Hebrew | Message 58 of 75 30 December 2011 at 1:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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I try to always be working through a book in my TL. Sometimes it's just a popular novel, sometimes a serious non-fiction book. I may not read everyday, but I always have a TL book that I'm working on and I don't let more than 2 or 3 days go by without reading it.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Humdereel Octoglot Groupie United States Joined 4968 days ago 90 posts - 349 votes  Speaks: English, Spanish*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written), Turkish, Persian, Urdu Studies: Russian | Message 59 of 75 30 December 2011 at 10:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, reading is a highlight of learning other languages, in my opinion, since it plays such a significant role in giving insight to the culture in every one of its aspects. I don't learn languages only to read -- I also like speaking (and writing) them, but there's no doubt that the urge to read literary works in their original language is a major factor in my decision to study a language.
Before I studied Persian, for example, I was captivated by the poems of Ferdowsi, which then fostered my interest in Persian in general. I must admit, however, that until I was in my early teens, almost everything I read was (fiction and non-fiction) was in English. Although Spanish was my native language, and I could definitely read stories in it, I had not quite read a lot of Spanish literature until I decided to read Don Quijote de La Mancha. From there, I also harbored an interest in other Spanish literary works, and walla! I discovered a part of my own language that I had not quite been familiar with. I love reading Arabic literature, since in many cases, the style from English and European languages is different (especially if its classical literature). I hold the same respect for Persian literature. I'm also beginning to get more into Turkish literature, since it is not as known for it as other languages. How often do I read in other languages? Almost daily, I'd say, but still 40%-50% of what I read is in English and Spanish, simply because Arabic, Persian, and Turkish works are not around the corner in the store, leaving me to resort to online shops. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tomtro Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 4701 days ago 7 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Spanish, Russian | Message 60 of 75 06 January 2012 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I try to read literature in foreign languages, but I don't really have time, so usually I'm cut down to short forms - press notes and (something for spirit) poetry.
Actually, translating poems form foreign to my native language is one of my favourite ways of learing; first I translate it by my self (or with a dictionary, if necessary), and then compare my version with other versions avaliable in my native language. I hope one day I'll be able to publish at least few of my tanslations. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6587 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 61 of 75 23 January 2012 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't even remember what was the last book I read in my native language. Might have been The Catcher in the Rye in 2009.
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| Kat0 Diglot Groupie Austria Joined 4700 days ago 89 posts - 97 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Mandarin, Bengali, Russian, Arabic (Written) | Message 62 of 75 23 January 2012 at 9:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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I usually try to read books in their original language if it is one I speak well enough.
Right now I'm reading Stieg Larsson's "Män som hatar kvinnor" which definitely is a challenge for me. It takes much longer than it would if I was reading it in German or English but I think it's worth it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maraschino912 Newbie Vietnam francis147.wordpress Joined 4474 days ago 7 posts - 9 votes Speaks: Vietnamese* Studies: English, French | Message 63 of 75 28 August 2012 at 6:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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I love anime and manga so I always choose the Eng-sub ones. Now I'm watching Valkyria Chronicles in Eng-sub, the beautiful work make it so easy to remember.
I also love to play RPG, it contains much dialogues so fun, andit help me for new words And here the best things I've learned, using old Children literature non-fiction to improve my source of good talking. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jappy58 Bilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 4628 days ago 200 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Guarani*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi), Arabic (Written), French, English, Persian, Quechua, Portuguese Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 64 of 75 01 September 2012 at 1:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Certainly. Literature in each of my past (and current) target languages is one of the most fascinating aspects of the language learning experience.
In Arabic, I've read (besides newspapers and some email), I've read about fifteen novels since 2003, as well as plenty of poetry, both modern and classical. In Persian, I've also read a few novels, and the poetry by Hafiz, Rumi, and many other figures is indeed a highlight of learning the language. Reading a single poem by Rumi is in my opinion reason enough to study the language. I'll admit that I have not read as much in French as I have in Spanish, English, Arabic, and Persian, though this is mainly because French was my most recent target language before Portuguese. Still, I've read some novels and have started to look more at other genres of French literature. I sometimes try reading passages from Portuguese novels, and while I can understand a good amount of written Portuguese, novels can be surprisingly challenging, even for native Spanish speakers - the new false friends, expressions unique to the Portuguese language, etc. all make it a worthy intellectual challenge (though newspapers are much easier for the most part). Reading literature - just as much as speaking the language - reminds me that there is always something new to learn, and that one never stops "learning" a language. I discover new things even in my native languages. Edited by Jappy58 on 01 September 2012 at 1:38am 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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