Que puedo hacer?

Question

This fall, I'm entering advanced study in spanish literature. I want to do well in this course, so I've been reading different spanish stories here and there. Does it help to read a novel with joint spanish and english? Also, do you guys have any more suggestions of what to do?

Thanks,

Answer 1

I've had good success reading books concurrently in two languages. However, I would caution that it helps a LOT if you are already familiar with the book you choose. I did this when I began German classes again after 10 years of non-speaking, and I'm doing it now with Spanish (and my friend in Argentina thought this was a great idea for getting the feel of how language is actually used, for what it's worth!)

The book I'm using is The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, and I chose it because the narrative isn't Perfectly Classical Literature. The lead character speaks in a loose sort of street-speech, lots of slang and some idle swearing, so it's closer to conversational use. If you hate this book, or have a different favorite, by all means choose what you love! But, I think that either you're on the right track to adopt this tactic, or else we're at least wrong together!

Cheers!

thank you for the suggestion! I will add it to my Spanish/English library. - Echoline, Aug 10, 2010

Answer 2

Does anyone here have any experience reading Isabel Allende side by side? How are the translations?

I am not advanced enough to be in advanced study in Spanish literature, but at my level I have had a wonderful time reading Harry Potter books side by side along with the NIV/NVI translation of the Bible.