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B2, enough for these German books? | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| maromad89 Triglot Newbie Argentina Joined 4481 days ago 19 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, French Studies: German | Message 1 of 16 08 May 2013 at 10:48am | IP Logged | ||
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Hello people,
As I am currently starting to learn German and I will put all my efforts into acquiring B2 level in approximately one year or a bit more, I would like to ask you: with that level (B2), is it possible to read the following books (at least with dictionaries), or will I be completely lost?: Günter Grass - the tin Drum (die Blechtrommel) Hermann Hesse - the Steppenwolf Franz Kafka - the Trial (der Prozess) Franz Kafka - the Castle (das Schloß) Franz Kafka - the Transformation (die Verwandlung) Goethe - Faust I know I am asking something very much in advance but one of the reasons (maybe the main one...) I am studying German is because I'm in love with its literature, and I would like to give myself a "motivation shot" through this question to be even more enthusiastic aout my everyday German learning. Hope you can help me, guys, danke! Edited by maromad89 on 08 May 2013 at 10:50am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4333 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes  Studies: German | Message 2 of 16 08 May 2013 at 11:50am | IP Logged | ||
I am B1+ in German after 10 months of learning, so it certainly seems that you could be approaching/in B2 after twelve months. I haven't tried to read any German classics yet. I have read through the Hunger Games Trilogy and in the 2nd book of the Harry Potter series. I would hope that I would be at a level to start tackling the books you've listed sometime in the second half of this year. I don't see any reason why you couldn't start tackling those books at B2. I am holding off, as I want to develop my vocabulary a bit more, but there is no reason not to start a bit higher. Young adult literature is easier because the language is much more concrete (metaphors can be difficult) and the sentence structure is simpler. German can be a difficult when you don't have enough vocabulary, especially following a train of thought, when there is a seemingly endless series of recursive sentences. I finding reading on the Kindle with pop-up dictionary really helpful, and much quicker than with a physical dictionary. So if you can get any of these books in e-format they should be much easier to access . I guess the bottom line is: yes, sure. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't aim for that. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| catullus_roar Quadrilingual Octoglot Groupie Australia Joined 4368 days ago 89 posts - 184 votes Speaks: Malay, Hokkien*, English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese*, French, German, Spanish Studies: Italian, Latin, Armenian, Afrikaans, Russian | Message 3 of 16 08 May 2013 at 11:55am | IP Logged | ||
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I have read most of these (except the Hesse) and I think the biggest problem would be the Faust as it is written in rhyme and it's a play, while the others are prose. Kafka is easier than the others, especially die Verwandlung (more commonly known as Metamorphosis), as the story is more easy to grasp. I would highly recommend that you get a student edition of Faust which will include a glossary, ideally on every page, which will explain some of the antiquated words. However, I read Faust at B1 and managed to understand its nuances and themes (with great difficulty) so it should be possible at B2.
Something else my teacher did with me before I read Faust was explore more about the Germany which Faust was set in (it wasn't even 'Germany' at the time, but you get what I mean). A lot of Faust is very contextual and learning more about the beliefs of the age and theology might help with the metaphors. I do recommend that you read Faust though, it's truly beautiful and will help lots with the German. It is interesting to note that the Tin Drum is actually part of the Danzig Trilogy, which you might like to read. I found it rather confusing (due to the plot) but if you enjoy such stories then you should be fine. Happy reading! :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| maromad89 Triglot Newbie Argentina Joined 4481 days ago 19 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, French Studies: German | Message 4 of 16 08 May 2013 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Patrick: thank you very much for your answer. I haven't thought About those kind of books, but I think it will be
a great idea, especially considering I enjoyed Harry Potter a lot when I was younger, so I will definitely give it a try once I approach the mentioned level. Thanks for the suggestions!! Catullus: thanks a lot! I really dream of reading that literature in the original language, and it is very exciting that I may be able to do so in app. one year time. When I do", I'll definitely follow your suggestion regarding Faust. I know how it is in Spanish, more or less, as I've read some extracts for school in my mother tongue, but I found your advice here very interesting. Thanks again! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4333 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 5 of 16 08 May 2013 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | ||
I certainly think you can start reading HP by B1 (or even high A2 perhaps). I was able to start reading real books after about six months of study. I am totally addicted to reading ebooks though. I don't think I would have had the tolerance to read if I had to use a real dictionary all the time. My strategy at the moment is simply build up my vocabulary sufficiently via ebooks, that I can start buying physical books. The ebook market here in Germany is relatively under-developed compared to English (or Spanish?) so lots of books are not available yet. Though as you probably know, Germans are addicted to crime novels, so there are lots of these available in e-format. Good luck! Edited by patrickwilken on 08 May 2013 at 12:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maromad89 Triglot Newbie Argentina Joined 4481 days ago 19 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, French Studies: German | Message 6 of 16 08 May 2013 at 12:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, that's what happens to me when I try to read something extremely difficult for my level. it is really
discouraging and maybe it's better to build up a stronger vocabulary and just then start reading. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5682 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 7 of 16 08 May 2013 at 4:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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My reading skill in German is C1 (I've it tested) and I'm reading "Der Steppenwolf" right now. I can read it without a dictionary, but some words need to be searched for after my reading, otherwise many phrases remain somewhat unclear. That said, I'm quite sure that when my reading skill was B2 (not long ago) I would be able to read it with the help of a dictionary.
However, it seems that in order to really enjoy and learn more from this kind of high literature books, I still need to improve. Edited by Flarioca on 08 May 2013 at 4:18pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4333 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 8 of 16 08 May 2013 at 4:24pm | IP Logged | ||
I have been holding off watching the best German films for a similar reason. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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