tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post6593936727798469603..comments2023-07-24T03:55:02.978-07:00Comments on Greg's Reflections: Finding Foreign Novels to ReadGreg Hullenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-44187912323128743552015-09-28T21:55:57.040-07:002015-09-28T21:55:57.040-07:00Interesting: in the US you can read DRM’d library ...Interesting: in the US you can read DRM’d library books on the Kindle. In the UK you can’t.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10330250635385440957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-91633035907076186482015-09-28T17:03:14.809-07:002015-09-28T17:03:14.809-07:00Are you sure you can't convert an ePub book to...Are you sure you can't convert an ePub book to mobi format? This recent article on PC Magazine suggests you just need to buy an application to do it.<br /><br />http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2484180,00.aspGreg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-83328743036171128152015-09-28T09:59:16.052-07:002015-09-28T09:59:16.052-07:00Amazon’s offerings of out-of-copyright foreign boo...Amazon’s offerings of out-of-copyright foreign books can of course be augmented from many soures, in particular Zeno.org (German), Liberliber.it (Italian) and Librodot.com (Spanish). No doubt everyone reading this blog already knows that non-DRM epub books can easily be converted to mobi for use on the Kindle using the free Calibre software.<br /><br />Many Continental European publishers are paranoid about eBooks and when they do make copyrighted titles available often do so under a geographical licence. For German books the best available answer to the latter problem is the Goethe Institute, which has an excellent range of in-copyright books you can borrow. Sadly, they’re in ePub format so you can’t read them on a Kindle.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10330250635385440957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-4265214824150620072015-08-30T13:48:00.213-07:002015-08-30T13:48:00.213-07:00I'm going to attempt "Death in Venice&quo...I'm going to attempt "Death in Venice" <i>Der Tod in Vendig</i>, but I'm probably still five or six months away from that. Fairy tales in simplified language are more my speed at the moment. Here's a very extensive list. See if these are too easy for you.<br /><br />http://www.sos-halberstadt.bildung-lsa.de/indextexte.htmGreg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-86912509198240464542015-08-29T14:09:10.407-07:002015-08-29T14:09:10.407-07:00Hi Greg,
Could you please suggest a few German no...Hi Greg,<br /><br />Could you please suggest a few German novels that I could start off with once I finish my duolingo tree?<br /><br />I'm usually a choosy reader, but I'm guessing serious novels may not be my greatest allies when it comes to tackling a new language. Or maybe I could be wrong.surajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01509550752265464239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-7537562847203216912015-03-29T05:11:02.275-07:002015-03-29T05:11:02.275-07:00Yes, it's fairly easy to import any of the Pro...Yes, it's fairly easy to import any of the Project Gutenberg books into Kindle. However, Amazon has already done the work for most of them, and you can "buy" them for zero dollars. Not only is that easier, it also means the books and your notes will be shared between all your Kindle devices.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-12136431363406951992015-03-28T17:51:08.887-07:002015-03-28T17:51:08.887-07:00Don't forget you can get free public domain bo...Don't forget you can get free public domain books from Project Gutenberg, in a variety of formats, including Kindle-compatible formats. Quite a few languages are represented.<br /><br />Because they are public domain, this of course means that they tend to be older, "classic" books, so the style of language may be a little old fashioned. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but people should be aware of this limitation.<br /><br />(Some of these books are of course also available on Amazon as well, and for free).montmorencyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12879422255762834319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-34144732548928218302014-12-13T17:08:42.208-08:002014-12-13T17:08:42.208-08:00Actually, I did say "Young-adult novels may b...Actually, I did say "Young-adult novels may be a good compromise." :-) For more or less the same reasons Emily gives.<br /><br />I still advise staying away from translations, though.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-84136047841770446022014-12-13T16:30:35.108-08:002014-12-13T16:30:35.108-08:00I'll second the Harry Potter recommendation. T...I'll second the Harry Potter recommendation. They are engaging, readable and, best of all, available. Fo whatever reason, the publisher has been able to sell the foreign language electronic editions world-wide. Stella B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14506183703149693320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-60215817965190785142014-12-13T15:22:08.122-08:002014-12-13T15:22:08.122-08:00Hi Greg,
Overall, I like what you wrote about fin...Hi Greg,<br /><br />Overall, I like what you wrote about finding stuff to read, although I personally prefer to read on dead trees. I'm curious, though, why you rule out children's books in your selection process. I actually think that young adult novels (I'm thinking like Harry Potter-equivalents) are the best place for learners to start. The grammar is the same as any other novel, but vocabulary tends to be simpler (that is a good thing for a language learner) and the plot is also usually simpler. At the same time, they are generally well-written and engaging. I recently read a children's / young adult book in Chinese, and it was doable; I'm now reading a real, adult novel in Chinese, and it's exceedingly difficult.Emily Liedelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12325312464648230259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-64636552754796132962014-12-13T13:59:19.968-08:002014-12-13T13:59:19.968-08:00Amazon tried forcing the publishers to set reasona...Amazon tried forcing the publishers to set reasonable prices for e-books, but that didn't go very well. Hachette was able to make it look like Amazon was the bad guy, not them.<br /><br />I think a part of the problem is that the same laws that govern e-books also govern movies. Companies rarely (I think) sell the worldwide rights to their movies and would likely resist any attempt to change the treaties that govern this today.<br /><br />I have thought about writing to groups like the Francophonie to ask them to lobby publishers to find some way to help foreign students. I'd be willing to register with the French government as a US student of French if it would let me have unrestricted access to French e-books.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-82043215097203101932014-12-13T10:34:08.352-08:002014-12-13T10:34:08.352-08:00I live in California and I can borrow current Span...I live in California and I can borrow current Spanish books from my library for free. I use the Overdrive app. If you live in a state with a smaller Spanish speaking population or a, um, less enlightened attitude toward Spanish, you can actually buy a year's subscription to a California public library for $35 or so. If you live in California, most public library cards are not limited by location. <br /><br />I'm thinking about using a second device, my back up credit card, a fake Canadian address and a throw away email address to set up an Amazon account to buy French language modern novels. Talk about stupid. I do not understand why publishers don't want to sell books to as many people as possible or why Amazon can't use it's power to bang them over their 19th century heads until they knuckle under and start selling across borders.Stella B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14506183703149693320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-8379851504743232762014-12-13T10:20:02.731-08:002014-12-13T10:20:02.731-08:00Well, just because you found a novel on Amazon doe...Well, just because you found a novel on Amazon doesn't mean you have to buy it from Amazon. :-) You could also use the same strategy with any online vendor.<br /><br />Bear in mind, though, that reading foreign novels is very hard without an electronic dictionary. A device like a Kindle greatly expands the set of books that you're capable of reading. <br /><br />If you stick to printed books, you're probably limited to graded readers until you build up at least 4,000 to 5,000 word families of vocabulary. Since most intermediates have between 1,000 and 2,000 and since people generally can only add at most 1,000 per year, that means using graded readers and newspaper articles for three or four years before you can tackle even a popular novel. <br /><br />A Kindle (or equivalent) let's you start reading normal books <i>now</i>.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-5810878629372415182014-12-13T08:40:06.798-08:002014-12-13T08:40:06.798-08:00anything besides amazon and kindle for finding nov...anything besides amazon and kindle for finding novels? I thought that's what this would be about. I use aldiko and could not find foreign language books there though supposedly there is a section for spanisheleanorlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01246320268149145485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-83388400808307397252014-12-07T20:16:13.882-08:002014-12-07T20:16:13.882-08:00Thanks I did reply. But you didn't need to del...Thanks I did reply. But you didn't need to delete your original comment, as long as it's civil. People reading the blog can benefit from discussion. In particular, when it comes to picking books, the single most important thing is to pick a book that will motivate you to get through the first chapter or two and will keep your interest long enough to finish it. Because different people are different, it stands to reason that my guidelines will work better for some than others.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8116153.post-27457129739317081302014-12-07T16:12:41.252-08:002014-12-07T16:12:41.252-08:00I wrote a critique of your post in a Reddit commen...I wrote a <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/2okwmz/how_to_pick_a_foreign_novel_if_youre_an/cmo8sbj" rel="nofollow">critique of your post in a Reddit comment</a> if you'd like to retort.Tom Paryshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14989826939412119629noreply@blogger.com