| A témához tartozó oldalak: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you read more literature in your acquired language(s) or in your native one(s)? Téma indítója: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you read more literature in your acquired language(s) or in your native one(s)?".
View the poll results »
| | | | | mostly native | Nov 1, 2013 |
When I first moved to Germany in 2001, I read everything in German (to improve my German, of course!) but then I slowly realised that my English was suffering and I was having to look up ever more words! So I had to stop and go back mainly to English. I read various journals and magazines in German, like PM, Welt der Wunder, Geo and so on. In English I read New Scientist, IEEE, etc. The rest is 90% English novels.
I'm not sure this happens to other translators as well as my history is a bi... See more When I first moved to Germany in 2001, I read everything in German (to improve my German, of course!) but then I slowly realised that my English was suffering and I was having to look up ever more words! So I had to stop and go back mainly to English. I read various journals and magazines in German, like PM, Welt der Wunder, Geo and so on. In English I read New Scientist, IEEE, etc. The rest is 90% English novels.
I'm not sure this happens to other translators as well as my history is a bit different, I did not grow up in England, but in a circus/variete environment where we travelled all the time and had contact with lots of languages, so English was never really the root language for me. I spoke bits of around 5-10 languages at some point and English was only really spoken with my parents. So, I tend to gain and lose fluency in languages very easily.
And that is why I read mainly in English!
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I used to read a lot of fiction novels in my native language, on paper.
Since last year, when I got my iPad, I switched to e-books and read mostly in English (my main source language).
@ Heather, WOW, you grew up in a circus!! that is so exotic and must have been so much fun!
[Edited at 2013-11-01 08:49 GMT]
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I read mostly in English, because there is not enough books to read in my sci-fi field in Czech. I guess, I will have to translate them to improve the score... But in Czech I read every day some scientific websites and news websites, so I won't lose touch with it.
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I am a German living in the UK and I use both languages approximately equally. I have both English and German friends here, so I switch the spoken language a lot throughout the day and regarding written language, I read about as many books in German as in English. I often have a look at the website of the German magazine Der Spiegel before I read the news on the site of the BBC or another British news provider.
| | | | Ty Kendall 
Egyesült Királyság
Local time: 23:05
héber - angol
| Native - English | Nov 1, 2013 |
Mostly because access to literature in Hebrew isn't exactly easy for me living in rural England. Every so often I order in a new haul from Israel and occasionally find a book or two on ebay/amazon/other sites and sometimes I "borrow" some from friends, but it's not like I can just pop to the local town centre and run into the bookshop when I've exhausted my supply.
I read what I can in Hebrew on the internet though, although how this fits into the description of "literature" is deba... See more Mostly because access to literature in Hebrew isn't exactly easy for me living in rural England. Every so often I order in a new haul from Israel and occasionally find a book or two on ebay/amazon/other sites and sometimes I "borrow" some from friends, but it's not like I can just pop to the local town centre and run into the bookshop when I've exhausted my supply.
I read what I can in Hebrew on the internet though, although how this fits into the description of "literature" is debatable.
@Heather
Growing up in a circus - every kid's dream. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | hebrew resources? | Nov 1, 2013 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
Mostly because access to literature in Hebrew isn't exactly easy for me living in rural England. Every so often I order in a new haul from Israel and occasionally find a book or two on ebay/amazon/other sites and sometimes I "borrow" some from friends, but it's not like I can just pop to the local town centre and run into the bookshop when I've exhausted my supply.
I read what I can in Hebrew on the internet though, although how this fits into the description of "literature" is debatable.
@Heather
Growing up in a circus - every kid's dream.
yes, trouble was, that was the normal reality for me, so nothing unusual. I only really appreciate the experiences I had back then the older I get. Looking back, I had a fantastic life, still do, but just in a totally different way
@ Ty: do you know this link: http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/resources/
| | | | Helen Hagon
Local time: 23:05
Tag (2011 óta)
orosz - angol
+ ...
I do read in my source and target languages and usually have several books on the go at once, in a variety of languages. However, at the end of a busy day spent deciphering cyrillic texts, I am more inclined to curl up with a good book in English, so that the brain cells don't have to work quite as hard.
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| All languages, are acquired. | Nov 1, 2013 |
I am not sure really what you mean by "acquired languages" . All the languages you speak are acquired -- sometimes the time of acquisition may vary, but you are not born with a Language.
I read specialized literature in English only (related to language and linguistics). I read law related articles in English and Russian, mostly I read some other literature and poetry in a few other language as well. 90% of what I read is in English.
90% of what I have read in my lif... See more I am not sure really what you mean by "acquired languages" . All the languages you speak are acquired -- sometimes the time of acquisition may vary, but you are not born with a Language.
I read specialized literature in English only (related to language and linguistics). I read law related articles in English and Russian, mostly I read some other literature and poetry in a few other language as well. 90% of what I read is in English.
90% of what I have read in my life has been in English, the rest in Swedish, Russian, Polish and a few things in Lithuanian and Spanish (2 short novels and some poetry). some literature in Old English, Middle English and poetry in German as well. I think interest in the particular types of literature is the deciding factor. Also the alphabet might have something to do with it -- although I love russian literature it has taken me thirty years to read in Russian with almost the same speed as in English. I still read maybe 20% slower if something is written in the Cyrillic, although I learned both alphabets at almost the same time.
[Edited at 2013-11-01 11:21 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Because that's the language of the country I live in
I suspect it generally boils down to availability
| | | | Evans (X)
Local time: 23:05
spanyol - angol
+ ...
| Native mainly, | Nov 1, 2013 |
except when I've just been in the country of one of my source languages and come home with a new haul of novels and poetry (like now).
| | | | Ellen Soors
Local time: 17:05
Tag (2012 óta)
angol - holland
+ ...
| Since I live abroad, my native language | Nov 1, 2013 |
I used to love reading books as much as possible in their original language (usually English or French), but since I've been living abroad I really prefer reading in Dutch. I think it's important to not lose touch with my own language.
So my mom has been sending me packages with books and magazines every once in a while (and yes, Belgian chocolates too), but because that's expensive I recently decided to buy a Kindle. Too bad it turns out to be a hassle to get non-English books on i... See more I used to love reading books as much as possible in their original language (usually English or French), but since I've been living abroad I really prefer reading in Dutch. I think it's important to not lose touch with my own language.
So my mom has been sending me packages with books and magazines every once in a while (and yes, Belgian chocolates too), but because that's expensive I recently decided to buy a Kindle. Too bad it turns out to be a hassle to get non-English books on it... ▲ Collapse
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I'm Italian but much prefer reading in English. I fell in love with the English language when I was 12 and it's still going strong!
I find Italian too convoluted and ornate and I have to force myself to read a book in my native language.
And I live in London, so it doesn't help!
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Chris S wrote:
Because that's the language of the country I live in
I suspect it generally boils down to availability
That's why I read much more in French or English than in Portuguese (except for a few newspapers and magazines I subscribe to and for some books I buy when I go to Lisbon - there is a good Portuguese bookshop in Brussels but unfortunately it's not close to my home and I seldom go that way)
| | | | R. Alex Jenkins
Brazília
Local time: 19:05
Tag (2006 óta)
portugál - angol
+ ...
| Native, but a question of availability | Nov 1, 2013 |
I'm native English and am reading and writing native English right here on this poll/site, in fact I was just reading the news on the BBC in English, so I guess I live and breathe, especially in my dreams, in English.
However, I live in Brasil and talk to everyone in Portuguese. In fact, pretty much everything is in Portuguese, so when I casually pick up a book, let's say 'Game of Thrones', it's already translated into Portuguese. So the choice is; read it in Portuguese and suffer a... See more I'm native English and am reading and writing native English right here on this poll/site, in fact I was just reading the news on the BBC in English, so I guess I live and breathe, especially in my dreams, in English.
However, I live in Brasil and talk to everyone in Portuguese. In fact, pretty much everything is in Portuguese, so when I casually pick up a book, let's say 'Game of Thrones', it's already translated into Portuguese. So the choice is; read it in Portuguese and suffer a little, or try and get hold of a copy in English, which may not be immediately available.
It's a question of availability, but if I have a choice I would always prefer to read in native English. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | A témához tartozó oldalak: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Do you read more literature in your acquired language(s) or in your native one(s)? | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
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