Have any of you learned a new language for the primary reason of being able to appreciate literature native to that language? I would love to understand French for this reason, especially for poetry that gets lost in translation.
Also, would reading two of the same book side by side, one in english the other in french, be a good way to get thrown into the deep end, so to speak
>>8215766
>Have any of you learned a new language for the primary reason of being able to appreciate literature native to that language?
yes, ancient greek. and given how often i actually speak french, also french.
>would reading two of the same book side by side, one in english the other in french, be a good way to get thrown into the deep end, so to speak
no, translation is a little bit more complicated than that, and you would fail to understand the nuances of grammar.
I've been learning German for about 5 years and I have read things in that language, but only recently I have begun to read my actual first novel in German, Er ist wieder da.
>>8215776
very cool, and thanks for the advice. any advice for picking up a new language? what resources did you use for learning ancient greek?
>>8215782
do you feel like you could have read a novel earlier than five years after starting? how much effort would you say you put into learning over that span of time?
>>8215793
>any advice for picking up a new language?
you progress as much as you work. if you feel like you can't be arsed to do declension tables (for latin/greek/russian whatever), then don't be surprised you're not getting anywhere.
>what resources did you use for learning ancient greek?
cambridge reading greek/independent study + perseus project and a dictionary, but i also got the opportunity to be tutored by a ridiculously erudite classicist.
>>8215793
If it was one or two years ago then maybe I could just get by reading it. I think a lot of learning a language to read is not necessarily drilling yourself with vocab words, but by more dissecting it when being exposed to it. What I mean is the more you read, hear etc the more patterns you will begin to see and from there you will have a much better understanding.
I studied the language a little bit outside of school, but most of it came from high school and college classes. Although I am currently studying in Germany and just by being surrounded by the language makes you have a better understanding of it because you constantly think about it in one way or another
>>8215806
very nice, and yes i'm concerned that learning primarily for literature might not provide the amount of motivation i need to rapidly learn. what about your resources for learning french?
>>8215823
>what about your resources for learning french?
i moved to france, took a couple of months of classes and went through the easy camus books with a dictionary. sorry, i know it's not very helpful/
yes, German.
it's focken ugly otherwise
>>8215828
yeah Camus is actually very easy french.
in fact, apart from Descartes or our most autistic authors, french /lit/ isn't so complicated
>>8216442
what was your method of learning? what do you like to read in German?
I'm around an intermediate level of french -- know most tenses, and have a pretty good grasp on grammar and words. What's a good novel/novella to start with if I want to push myself further?
>>8216446
yes, even moliere is pretty understandable with a few caveats
mfw i tried pascal tho
>>8215770
this is what Tolstoy would do.
Read your favorite English book in French translation and figure it all out on your own.
Also if you're a NEET try these methods from the archaeologist who discovered Troy: http://libgen.io/scimag/get.php?doi=10.2307/324234&downloadname=&key=YBPNU56PRS2P7VI8
