How to start reading in English and not give up on the 3rd page

I have a friend. He is Hungarian, and he is learning Russian for professional reasons. When we first met, he proudly showed me the first book he had started reading in Russian. It was… (drum roll!) a fairy tale about a little fox.

I don't remember the plot, but the words he translated and wrote down have remained in my memory forever – stove, well, broom, bucket and verbs like “to flood”. Very useful vocabulary, isn't it?

I don't know who came up with the idea that adults who have just started learning a language should read children's books. Well, the language is simple (the prince, the frog, the tower), and the plot is exciting – you really want to reread “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” at 30, right?

In fact, you'll have to suffer a lot with children's books – usually quite complex grammar, and a bunch of words that are usually taught at high levels. And the benefit of all these squirrels and frogs is questionable.

Some desperate heads immediately take up Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. As if American, British, Australian authors have not written anything worthy since the end of the 19th century. Native speakers themselves consider Dickens a difficult author, and it is clear that no one speaks such a language anymore.

DISCLAIMER: everything I say next is written for those who once started reading in the original, translated the first page and ingloriously deserted. If you enjoy English classics, you will not learn anything useful from this post.

What to read if

YOU HAVE JUST STARTED LEARNING THE LANGUAGE…

Skip Graded Readers and a new, exciting world will open up for you. Graded Readers are thin books, especially for those who are just starting to learn a language. They are called graded because they are divided into levels.

At level 1, the authors use only 400 (!) most basic words and the simplest grammar. When reading books at this level is already easy, you can move on to the next one (700 words), and gradually you will reach the Advanced level – 2500 words.

Graded Readers are published by all British publishers that print textbooks – Penguin Books, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Macmillan. My favorite series is Oxford Bookworms, and this same publisher has an excellent series for teenagers – Dominos. The choice of topics and plots is huge.

If you really want an English classic, Dickens will be yours in a condensed form – 80 pages instead of 600, written in a modern (this is important!) language. Since the venerable classic passed away, the language has changed a lot. However, Graded Readers will also have original plots – stories specially written for those who are learning the language. I remember the thriller “He Knows Too Much” from Cambridge University Press. At the end of the book there is usually a dictionary and tasks to check how well you understood the text.

I don't like adapted literature from domestic producers. It seems to me that their authors have a poor command of the language and at low levels there are words that shouldn't be there. However, I haven't lived in Russia for a long time. Perhaps a lot has changed since then.

I WANT TO READ IN THE ORIGINAL…

The first book I read in the original was written by Sophie Kinsella. This British writer writes in the chick lit genre (literature for girls), and she has an endless and very funny series about a shopaholic. The plot is simple, the language is simple, but I really enjoyed it and put a tick in the column “I can read in the original”.

If you like detective stories, you can start with Agatha Christie. The language is simple, the stories are short and the ending is pleasantly predictable. Excellent detective stories in the style of “old Agatha” are written by the modern British writer Lucy Foley. With the book club where I teach, we read her novel “The Guest List” – and it is a great source of conversational English.

I am an English teacher. 15 years in the profession. I work with adults who need the language for emigration, career or business abroad. For students who have recently changed countries or are going to work in international teams, I recommend “The Culture Map” by Erin Meyer (in Russian it was published under the title “Map of Cultural Differences”). It puts the brain in its place and helps to accept the new environment in which you have replicated. Plus, it has simple language, many witty stories from life. “The Culture Map” is great as the first book in English.

AND FINALLY…

If reading in your native language doesn't bring you much pleasure, it's hardly the coolest tool for learning a foreign language. There's music, TV series, stand-up comedies, games, podcasts, travel vlogs, and a million other options. Reading is considered the most respectable way, so it's highly recommended by teachers. But remember: teachers are bookworms themselves, and of course they're convinced that sitting in a cozy place with Dickens is the best pastime ever.