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Tackle English Books You’ve been learning English for years, but it’s still only a tool to pass exams. You want to change that. So you’ve made up your mind for the thousandth time that you’re going to read and finish an English book.
But past experience tells you this might be another mission impossible. Whatever your motive was – to enlarge your vocabulary, challenge yourself, or simply enjoy reading, you opened a book and piles of difficult words began to wriggle out of the page.
Slamming the book closed, you decided it’s better to give up before you tear the book to pieces in frustration.
Avoid hard books.
It is fair to say that many of the literary pieces that are offered to students for study contain too many difficult words and some are just plain boring.
I well remember studying English Literature at school when I was in senior school, before I went to college. Over the two year period we had to study a total of 12 books; a special section of study was what is known as 'The Romantic Period' - that is during the 18th Century.
The teaching of English Literature in England during the 1960's, was to take each book apart paragraph by paragraph and examine what the writer 'actually means'. it seemed odd to me that if a writer meant to say this or that, then why didn't they say it?
I hated Jane Austen's soppy novels, with prim and proper, one dimensional characters. I regarded Byron's 'Paradise Lost' as nonsense, whereas Keates poetry, I thought imaginatively beautiful. So I suppose, I'm not a complete literary heathen.
I loved Arnold Bennet's novels set in the potteries region of central England, which reflect life there. I like D H Lawrence and Charles Dickens works for the same reason and the minute detail in which their naratives paint pictures so clear, that in my imagination I can picture the reality.
But I am going off the point. For someone who is not a native English speaker, or reader, it is frustrating to chose a bok which has so many words that you have to look up. It is better to choose something which is more suited to your level; perhaps even begining with some of the classic children's stories such as 'Wind In The Willows' or 'Peter Pan'. Abridged books, that is books which are re-written in a simplified form, may also be an answer. The point is, that to enjoy literature from any country, it is necessary to pick something which interests you and that you can enjoy.
I read very little due to pressure of time, but when I do, I enjoy auto-biographies of historical figures, and books about history. I have recently read a history of the development of China from 1911 - 1949, which I found fascinating, but... 'Oh so many names!'
Therefore, if I can offer any advice for English reading, I would say interest is the key. You must be able to enjoy the stories. If you are intimidated by lengthy novels, start with collections of short stories.And above all, be patient with yourself. It’s not a problem if you can only read five pages a day. If you persevere, you can finish a 300-page English book in a couple of months. That’s quite a feat, isn’t it ?
Resources
Reading
Traditional Stories www.sunsite.org.uk/packages/Online-Book-Initiative/Grimm The Onlone Book Repository www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~ links to fairy stories www.muw.edu folk tales www.urbanlegends.com Folklore Urban Legend Newsgroup and Archive
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