My “problem” is that I cannot (or rather don’t like to) read in my native language.
Ever since I was a kid, everything I did was in English (PC gaming, online chatting and searching things up like guides).
When I got back into reading (couple of years ago), my first book was in English. Ever since then I have been reading books only in the English language. Whenever I try to read in my native language, I can’t concentrate, get bored quickly and easily.
However, if I pick up the same book in the English language. I can guarantee that, I’ll keep reading it.
Recently got a book gifted to me, the book is in my native language. I want to read it, the story seems interesting but can’t get into it because it is in my native language. Might just get the ebook version in English, ha.
Was wondering if anyone else has this too.
I go to the book shop and look through the native and English section just taking what sounds interesting without regard for the language
I read in both, Arabic (my native) and English. Some books are very hard for me to understand in English so I find an Arabic copy and read it. Example, The Count of Monte Cristo was very hard to grasp in English. Then I read it in Arabic and it was the best novel I’ve ever read.
I never read Stephen King books in Arabic, because doing so loses that Stephen King way of storytelling which is one of the best. He has a way of writing that no translation gives justice.
I also like to keep my native language in check so I don’t forget it.
I read (or listen to podcasts or watch movies) in the language it was written / recorded in whenever I understand the language, for one simple reason: a lot of things are lost in translation.
If you want proof, trying watching Monty Python in anything other than English: it’s agony.
For fiction I prefer English as l think a lot gets lost in translation. But for nonfiction I might go for the translated version if I’m not very familiar with the subject and might not know all the English vocabulary around it.
I’ll pretty much read anything in English unless it was originally written in German, which is my first language. I usually find translations into German clumsy and turgid. English translation tend to have a better flow. A recent example would be The The Body Problem, which is originally Chinese. I tried reading the German translation and it was pretty awful. The English one was much better.
It really depends on what the original language is. I prefer to read books in their original language rather than in their translations. But as I’m only comfortable with English or my native language, Dutch, it pretty much means I’ll be reading in English. I haven’t really yet read anything from an author that didn’t either write in English or Dutch. I suppose that once I’ll be reading something by, say, a French author, I might read a Dutch translation if available.
But I do really find that reading in English sometimes requires just a bit more concentration.
I will add that I read Harry Potter as a kid in Dutch, later in English and I find that Wiebe Buddingh’, who ‘wrote’ the Dutch books, is a better author than JK Rowling.
That’s normal.
When you speak several languages not all of them use the same “brainpower”. Just simply you are not comfortable with that, even if yiur are fluent.
But keep trying, it will improve over time and it will become easier and easier.
