Do you read books in English ??
A few months ago I read my first book in English. It was "the Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien. Although I'm not very advanced in English, I understood it very good.There were many words, which I didn't know before, but I think that It isn't big problem, because we are able to onderstand teh general idea of a sentence without knowing meaning of every word.
I decided to read this book for at least two times:
1. reading for pleasure - without dictionary and stops to think about exact meaning.
2. reading in order to broaden my vocabulary - this time I wrote every word i didn't understand and each interesting phrase.
Do you think such idea for reading books in English is good?
How many books have you already read?
Treebeard,
Did going over the book a second time really help your vocabulary? I've read several books in Spanish and French for pleasure, without using the dictionary or stopping to figure out grammar. It was enjoyable and gratifying, but I don't know if it improved my Spanish or French very much. I have thought about using your method of going over a book a second time, really trying to learn the vocabulary and grammar, but I wondered whether the time would be better spent reading something new. (Same thing for watching movies once or twice.)
Does anyone else have any experience reading (or watching movies) the way Treebeard suggests?
I read a lot of German porn. My German has improved very little.
Hello Treebeard I am new here, so I hope you will welcome my reply.
I am native English learning Spanish. Recently I read William Shakespeare's "Hamlet." and I did precisely what you describe. I read on another site (I think) That once you read a book for language purposes you should try to read other books by the same author. The advantages being you will know alot of the background vocabulary, and the writers syntax will be famiiar to you. This will make the next book more enjoyable and at the same time you will be improving your skills. This sounded like good advice to me and I will put it to practice when I locate some adult learner books in Espanol.
Rob, hahahahaha!! That was a good one! :P
Yeah sure encourage the idiots...
When I read books in Italian, I frequently re-read chapters. I actually try to choose books I've already read in English as I think it helps me comprehend what is going on so I can concentrate on vocabulary, not plot.
I also like reading magazines like Focus, an Italian tech/science magazine which is like the Discovery channel... on paper. It helps to read something you find interesting.
What helps my Italian the most are songs... the chorus is repeated over and over and eventually gets in my head.
...What helps my Italian the most are songs...
i thought it was your hubby who had helped you da most. after all he is an italian bloke.
Could be that too, but I swear he's an anglophile and detests speaking Italian because he says if he does it for too long, he forgets English. It's too bad it's true and not just an excuse for him. Conversation at home is funny because many times I will make the effort to answer (or question) him in Italian. He'll correct my Italian (if need be), but everything is in English...
Rob Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:38 pm GMT
"I read a lot of German porn. My German has improved very little." LOOOL
to answer the question, no, i don't read in English because i don't speak enough English yet but i hope i'll improve it
I really like reading, and yes I have read some books in English.
I've read these:
"The knight in the rusty armour" by Robert Fisher
"Interview with a vampire", "Lestat, the vampire" and "Queen of damned" by Ann Rice. Just wonderful. Improved my English vocabulary a lot.