Read in a foreign language?

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ixora
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Re: Read in a foreign language?

Post by ixora »

Mainly English and a bit of French but I'm also in the process of learning Mandarin Chinese so I'm starting to look for beginner level books to read in that language.
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Post by Insightsintobooks729 »

npandit wrote: 01 Apr 2014, 02:11 I knew a lady who learned English from reading books (she only used to speak Spanish), and I really wanted to follow in her example, and start reading books in Hindi, Spanish or Portuguese to help improve my competency in those languages. It is a little frustrating, however, and I didn't go through with it, but now I kind of want to start trying again. When you see things written in another language, you start to appreciate all the different, unique ways with which people can perceive and describe the world.
That sounds like a good way to learn a language, I might try it as I love languages. That being said I've only ever read a few children's books in a foreign language.
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BiljanaH
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Post by BiljanaH »

I read in Serbian, English and sometimes in Spanish. Depending on the original language of the book, I will choose the translation; for example, I'd rather read Serbian translation of Russian, Bulgarian or other Eastern European languages as they all belong to Slavic family of languages. I get frustrated if the flow of the sentence appears unnatural because it doesn't do any justice to the author and it affects my reading experience, sometimes even to the point of me deciding whether or not to finish the book.
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Post by Jolyon Trevelyan »

I read books in english which is a foreign langauge to me.

And swedish and danish
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Buchacha21
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Post by Buchacha21 »

I don't currently read in any other languages because I don't know any well enough. But it is a bucket list goal of mine to learn Spanish and be able to read a novel in it one day.
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Post by jaylperry »

I will occasionally read an easy book (for fun) or a really difficult theological work (for work) in German. There seems to be very little middle ground.
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Post by uyky »

I read mostly in English, because it is the language that has the biggest selection of e-books. It is my second language. But before I got my e-reader, I was reading in my first language, which is Slovenian and in Slovak and Czech. Now I'm bracing myself for German books, to learn it.
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Post by Catia »

For me it's English (which is not my mother tongue), but I made a point in reading at least 2 or 3 books a year in German (so I keep it fluent enough) and Italian because I want to keep a good level in my first language and not talk like a 6 years old.
I find reading in English most rewarding, probably because most books are written by English speaking authors. Reading in German is difficult because of the sentence construction, which I find tortuous and sometimes boring. Italian is ok, but I find that it's more enjoyable reading a book in its original language (if I know the language, otherwise I pick English). Sometime the translation loose depth and often sayings and word plays can't be translated and still make sense or be funny
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Post by Mailis »

Yes, I mostly read in English although I'm Estonian. :D
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Camille Turner
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Post by Camille Turner »

Yes, English is my first language but my husband is Colombian and we actually met in France so we read in Spanish and French as well.
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Post by elinadsy »

yep, I read in mandarin and japanese!

i actually avoid kids books though. If you can find them, i'd look for graded readers. for example, i'm reading a mandarin graded reader that expects a vocabulary of 2500 words and has about 8 short stories. i'm at about 1100 words, so while I can follow along, there's enough new to me that i learn from it. graded readers usually highlight tricky vocab and explain it, as well, and are much more accessible than trying to read a child's book because it's aimed at adult readers.

i try to read 2 pages a day among st my other study, because frankly, READING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IS EXHAUSTING and i'm mad impressed by anyone who can read fluently!
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Shrabastee Chakraborty
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Post by Shrabastee Chakraborty »

Yes, now-a-days I am reading more books in a foreign language (English) than my mother tongue. Although as a child I used to read very few English books, once I started reading them more and more, I felt more and more comfortable- not only with reading but also with writing /talking in English as well.
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Post by Mely918 »

I sometimes try to read books in Spanish to practice my Spanish reading skills. I am a fluent speaker and writer, but am a lot slower when it comes to reading it.
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Post by Alice Thokchom »

English is a foreign language to me. Reading a lot in English helped me to learn this language and it's fun.
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Anna Maria 86
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Post by Anna Maria 86 »

Actually, English is my second language, so yes, I do read a lot in a second language. Obviously, there are some words I don't understand sometimes, but it helps me keep learning and keep my brain even more active.
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