UniLang

I have read a couple of foreign books but can't remember any of them. I don't like to read.
At least I read books in French, German and English for school.

Tja, ich habe "Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen" gekauft, doch mein Deutsch ist nicht genug gut es zu lesen, leider.

In chronological order:

The very first was 'The Long Walk', by Stephen King, I was a big King fan at the time, now I can't really stand him.

'Germinal', by Émile Zola, loved it back then and still consider Zola to be le prince des écrivains.

'Il Garofano Rosso', by Elio Vittorini, it wasn't my first italian book, but I can't remember what I read before this one (I think it was some Pavese book). Really liked it at the time, but I don't think I'll ever read any italian neorealist literature ever again.

'El mágico prodigioso', by Calderón de la Barca, one of the best plays I've ever read. Calderón de la Barca became one of my favorite writers and made me fall in love with Siglo de Oro literature. (Actually, it wasn't my first book in Spanish, I had already read some García Lorca and some García Márquez books I can't even remember)

'Die Elixiere des Teufels', by E.T.A. Hoffmann, it's a great book I should reread now that my German is way better than it was when I first read it. German Sturm und Drang and romanticism are great, I wish I had learned German sooner.

The 'ἐγχειρίδιον' of Epictetus was the first and only book I've read in Ancient Greek.

Finally, Jeromes's 'Vulgata' was the first Latin book I could read with ease (well I didn't read it all, just some books). I had read Seneca and Cicero before, but had to constantly check a translation to go through hard parts, so I don't think they count.

My first book in a foreing language was "Oh No UFO!". It was really funny to read it. It's about a girl (i don't remember her name, i read the book a lot of years ago) who discover that her little sister has been kidnapped and replaced by an alien.

My first book in Spanish was La ciudad de las bestias by Isabel Allende. It's a "young-adult" novel that I read in my last year of High School in my Spanish class.

In French the first book I read was L'étranger by Albert Camus. I read this on my own, not as part of a class.

I really can't remember what is the first book I read in a foreign language. It must have been in Englisht, though... However the first book I read in French was Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

First book I read in a foreign language was, The ashes of Angela by Frank McCourt, it was the first time that I could say, ' yes I can read and understand English ' ..That was really satisfying

My first book in English was Cather in the rye. My first in Spanish was Chronicle of a death foretold read simultaneously in Spanish and English instead of with a dictionary which was a total mess.

I can't remember my first English book... I 'm pretty sure it was an Agatha Christie's one but can't say whether it was "Ten Little Indians" (aka "And Then There Were None") or "Sleeping Murder".

The first book in another language than Swedish was The story of language, by C.L. Barber, a mid-twentieth century beginners description of the history of the English language, that I read in my early teens (or perhaps before that). I liked that one, and still remember some of it.

lumiel wrote:I really can't remember what is the first book I read in a foreign language. It must have been in Englisht, though... However the first book I read in French was Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Correction to this. I was going through stuff that I could throw away and I found the very first book I ever read in English: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. My dad bought it to me when me and my parents were in Stockholm a long time ago. It must have been the first English book that I read inside out.

It's my first post and I'd say hello to all of you!

Honestly, I have never read any foreign language book. A copule years ago, i bought one. It called 'Fever Pitch' by Nick Hornby. Every time, when i finished other book, i wanted to take it, but always i though, my english is too weak and I wouldnt manage it. Hmm.. now, I think the same. It would get too much time to search some of words in one sentence.

As a language enthusiast, my first book in a foreign language was a collection of some Sherlock Holmes stories, simplified for foreigners. It helped me getting a lot of new words for my english vocabulary. Sadly, there aren't many Sherlock books here in my town, especially in english.

Probably the first book I read in a foreign language was either a simplified version of 'The Railway Children' by Edith Nesbit or 'Money to Burn' by John Escott. Both of them are Penguin Readers (level Elementary - 600 words) and I read them for school when I was twelve. One thing I remember learning from them was that signs actually say things in English.. The first 'real' book I read in English was probably 'The Boy in the Bubble' by Ian Strachan, also for school, about two years later. I was very proud of myself for being able to read it without a dictionary, even though I didn't know all the words - I still remember now that I learned 'to nod' all by myself from that book
I don't remember my very first book in German, but the first 'real' book was probably 'Momo' by Michael Ende. I was surprised by how easy it was, although that's probably mostly because it's a children's book
I never actually managed to read a book in French. We read some chapters of 'Le petit Nicolas et les copains' at school when I was 16, but most of us (including me ) couldn't really understand it without the teacher explaining it. And that for a book that says 'à partir de 8 ans' on the cover.. Actually I think I would be able to somewhat follow the story if I really tried, maybe with a little help from my dictionary, but it just takes too long, I get bored. Besides, I'm not really focused on learning French right now.

My very first book in English was of course one of Pinguin Classics, but honestly, I have no idea what it was about First book which plot I vaguely remember was one of Longmans Originals, about some boy who broke his back but regaind his passion for life through horseriding or something I quite liked it and actually developed a passion for reading in English The first book I actually remember was Mansfield Park, and I have to admit that I have been harvesting my secret love for Jane Austen ever since.
In French I've read all 'Le petit Nicolas' series but I pretty much ended there ^__^" I don't really like French, but I still adore mon petit Nicolas

algorrém wrote:The very first was 'The Long Walk', by Stephen King

I'd love to read it in original, the best of the bests by Stephen King

My first book in foreign language was "The complete works" by Oscar Wilde in English of course. I didn't get through the whole book...no wonder, it consists of over 1000 pages not mention I was around 11 at that time so it wasn't the best choice for the beginning of my adventure with English.

As far as I can see from the posts most of the people start their French with "The little prince". I had the same idea for practicing my Spanish with "El principito".

I would really like to read something in Russian and I think I'll start soon. Could anyone reccomend something very easy for the beginners? Maybe "Маленький Принц" as well? Does it make a sense to read the same book in Polish, then Spanish and now Russian? I almost know it by heart...

karolinab5 wrote:I would really like to read something in Russian and I think I'll start soon. Could anyone reccomend something very easy for the beginners? Maybe "Маленький Принц" as well? Does it make a sense to read the same book in Polish, then Spanish and now Russian? I almost know it by heart...

Of course it makes sense, but you just need to be careful to pay attention to what is actually said, and not to read over it because you already know the meaning.

I can recommend "Денискины расскзаы", it's also a book for children, but I thought it was fun and you can learn many everyday words and expressions from it, so in that respect it's more useful than the average "real literature" book. And of course also easier. There even is an English translation online (but the chapters are in a different order) and you can listen to some of the chapters.

As for my first books in foreign languages, for English I don't remember.
For French the only book I remember having read (in school) was "Le chapeau rouge" (The red hat), but I'm not sure it was the first, cause I think I read a couple of those little books for beginners.
For German I may also have read some books like that in school, but I don't remember. After finishing school I think I only listened to the audio version of "Dschungelkind" (Jungle child) in German, which I really liked, by the way. I finished it in just two or three days.
In Russian my first complete book was probably "Русские народные сказки" (Russian folk tales), or else "Спасибо за внимание" (Thank you for your attention) (a simplified version for learners) by Борис Ласкин.
In Ukrainian my first book was "Риба під парасолем" (A fish under a parasol) by Василь Слапчук, a book for children which was somehow funny but also a bit boring.
And I just started my first Polish book "Talki w wielkim mieście" (The Talkos in the big city) by Monika Piątkowska and Leszek K. Talko, which so far seems to be nice.

karolinab5 wrote:

algorrém wrote:The very first was 'The Long Walk', by Stephen King

I'd love to read it in original, the best of the bests by Stephen King

My first book in foreign language was "The complete works" by Oscar Wilde in English of course. I didn't get through the whole book...no wonder, it consists of over 1000 pages not mention I was around 11 at that time so it wasn't the best choice for the beginning of my adventure with English.

As far as I can see from the posts most of the people start their French with "The little prince". I had the same idea for practicing my Spanish with "El principito".

I would really like to read something in Russian and I think I'll start soon. Could anyone reccomend something very easy for the beginners? Maybe "Маленький Принц" as well? Does it make a sense to read the same book in Polish, then Spanish and now Russian? I almost know it by heart...

I have "The Little Prince" in about 10 different languages, and I think it's a great book to learn a language with. Not the most practical for everyday stuff, but pretty easy and an interesting story.

Sean of the Dead wrote:I have "The Little Prince" in about 10 different languages, and I think it's a great book to learn a language with. Not the most practical for everyday stuff, but pretty easy and an interesting story.

That's really cool, I only have it in French, but I want to buy it in some other languages too .

Sean of the Dead wrote:I have "The Little Prince" in about 10 different languages, and I think it's a great book to learn a language with. Not the most practical for everyday stuff, but pretty easy and an interesting story.

Me too I have it in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek whenever I go abroad I buy a copy of it in the local language, the only place where I couldn't find it is Amstrdam so no Dutch copy (yet )