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The Bible in more than 40 languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5769 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes  Speaks: Danish* | Message 9 of 15 09 November 2009 at 8:09am | IP Logged | |||||
I have read the bible a few times. Yes, the language in the bible is very useable. Of course it is! All this "Oh ye, He spake... and thou... hope in thee.."-thing is from the king james version of the bible. The bible is not written like that for real. For some reason someone wanted the King James version to be so very solemn. Just pick another bible translation. BUT the bible contains many different kinds of text. Some harder to read than others. The prophets, the laws and the genealogical tables you might want to avoid in the beginning. I would start with genesis. (The very first book of the bible.) Edited by Amoore on 09 November 2009 at 8:10am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6767 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 10 of 15 09 November 2009 at 8:10am | IP Logged | |||||
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In the case of the Bible, I suppose it's probably the wide availability of free translations plus the fact many people
have to read passages from it once a week anyway. Whether the grammar and vocabulary are of use depends on the translation, although I imagine most European languages have common expressions and quotes that are taken from well-established translations. In the case of Harry Potter, I imagine it's due to its wide availability in a large number of languages and the use of language that, though aimed at children and fairly easy to read, is not simplistic or childish. And who doesn't like Harry Potter? (I myself use Tintin and Asterix for these reasons.) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Warp3 Senior Member United States forum_posts.asp?TID= Joined 5534 days ago 1419 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Korean, Japanese | Message 11 of 15 09 November 2009 at 4:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
True, but back when the KJV was originally written (1611) those extra "you" pronouns (ye, thee, and thou) were still in use in English and do have different meanings (like the four "you" pronouns in Spanish all mean something different). While there have been revisions to the KJV since then (the newest KJV revision is 1976, if I recall correctly), most of the text is still very much based on the original 1611 translation. However, as you note, there are several other English translations available that don't hold to using older English word forms like that (NKJV, NIV, RSV, etc.). If you can't decide on one, you can always get a parallel bible which has multiple versions in separate columns in the same book. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Risch Groupie United States Joined 5588 days ago 49 posts - 71 votes Speaks: English* | Message 12 of 15 09 December 2009 at 3:33am | IP Logged | |||||
I know neither Ancient Greek nor Hebrew, but the King James Bible was written four hundred years ago, during the reign of James I. 'Ye' as the nominative form of 'you' and 'spake' as the past tense of 'speak' were in the past proper English, both spoken and written. I don't think it's solemn, just old-fashioned. I wouldn't recommend beginning or intermediate English learners tackle the KJV Bible, nor would I advise they read Shakespeare. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6767 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 13 of 15 09 December 2009 at 4:16am | IP Logged | |||||
In fact, "thou" in King James' day was the very opposite of solemn. It was the casual and familiar pronoun, like "tu" in French. It only sounds solemn in modern English because of the way modern speakers regard older literature that uses these pronouns and verb conjugations. As a side note, there are supposedly still dialects of English where thee/thou/thy remain in common use. I wouldn't say it's bad for intermediate learners to tackle older literature like the KJV and Shakespeare. I read a fair bit of archaic Japanese while I was still in the intermediate stage, and it gave me a stronger feel for the language and the reason modern forms are the way they are. Edited by Captain Haddock on 09 December 2009 at 4:21am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ichiro Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6208 days ago 111 posts - 152 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, French Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Malay | Message 14 of 15 09 December 2009 at 7:03am | IP Logged | |||||
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The vocabulary and phraseology of the Bible are enormously useful and beneficial to learn.
Imagine the pleasure of using your target language to tell a waiter who has offered poor service that you will cast him out into the outer darkness where there is a wailing and a gnashing of teeth. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7145 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 15 of 15 14 December 2009 at 1:58am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have downloaded and installed the program and I think it is great.
I have installed around 20 languages and more to come. I find it very useful. Genesis chapter one and John chapter one are very easy to read and compare. Some translations seem to take a lot of liberty in how they translate the original text. Edited by fanatic on 14 December 2009 at 1:59am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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