Reading in different languages.

I can understand a little Spanish, Italian, and French. Cannot speak those languages well, but can get understand a bit of the conversation. I have to learn a bit more, but I am bad at translating. Here in Canada, they want us to learn French. I am not good at that. I think in Europe they learn two or three languages automatically, but in Canada, if one does not have contact with other languages that much, it is hard.

Most Malaysian need to learn at least 2 languages. For most Chinese in Malaysia, they need to learn 3 languages, including the Mandarin. Therefore, we are able to converse, read and write in these 3 languages. However, I usually read books in Mandarin and English. I very seldom read Malay books because the books in Malay which match my interest is very little.

Most of the time I read Danish or English books, but I have read books in German and Italian as well. Some of the books that I am interested in haven't been translated to Danish so I usually buy the English version instead. It is quite easy for me to read German books, it is a lot harder for me to speak or write German, because I haven't studied German for years. It is not easy to find books in Italian in my country, and there are few books to choose from compared to books in Danish and English, but I still like to read Italian sometimes so that I don't forget everything.

well i know only three languages!but i am thinking to learn german and french

I'm currently studying Japanese. I know how to speak a little Japanese having learned from the Pimsleur audio lessons. But now, I'd like to be able to read Japanese characters and understand the grammar proficiently because the proficiency exam involves a lot of reading. I will know that I'm getting good when I'm able to read the news on the Japanese cable channel. Anyway, it's an on-going project.

I've been reading English books ever since I learned to read even though I'm not a native English speaker. It's probably because English books are more popular here than those that were written in our own language. Lol.

I personally read books in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian (the latter being my native language). I've read some kid's books in German too (which, to be honest I'm not mastering at a decent level, despite being the mother tongue of my father and grandfather). Actually I think that reading a book in a foreign language makes sense if that particular book was written in that language. Because there are subtle aspects and issues which the translators aren't always able to properly transmit into another language. There is also the local slang, the cultural limitations and symbols, etc which cannot be conceptually exported into another culture.

in my country there are writers that write in a combination of tagalog our national language and english. i find it sometimes hard to read with this kinds of combinations. i am more fluent in reading english than our national language so english is it for me

I normally read English books, but since last year, I started immersing myself to German books as well (latest I am reading is The Lost Symbol in German edition). At first it seems hard, I hardly leave the first page, but as I go on, I am already improving, I can already flip 3-5 pages a day of that book, though, you should not ask me to translate it, I just understand the story in a way my mind only knows. It helps a lot in improving my language proficiency of German language. Funny though, I have only read 1 book written in my native language (Filipino).

it is very hard

i read books in english and malay.i knew some words in japanese and mandarin but i'm still not very good.i hope to master japanese soon..but it's fun to know many languages as it make you easier in communication with others

i read books in english and malay..i know japanese and a little bit mandarin but i'm not that good to the extent that i can read the books.but my twin brothers are learning japanese now and i think they can read the book in japanese sooner but it's fun to know many languages..arasso?

I am a native English speaker and I am learning German. I love to read books in German as a fun way to pick up new vocabulary and comprehension. Soon I will move to Germany where I expect to read half and half English and German - German to take advantage of the better availability and improve my skills, English to escape and give my brain a rest sometimes, and simply enjoy reading. I do prefer to read books in the language they have been written, however. I've read some German books which have been translated from English and find it a little awkward-sounding. I also know one lady who is an author and a German native speaker, who now writes in English because she feels you can simply express yourself much better in English than German.

Nowadays most people learn languages for practical reasons, indeed. They need to communicate, make friendship, perform their jobs in their new homelands and reading books for learning or fun comes only later on. I grew up in Central Europe, behind the "iron curtain" having very little chance to travel to Western countries. Learning other languages than German and Russian was just an interest in the arts,literature or philosophy. Few people earned their living from their language abilities. At secondary school Russian was compulsory and one could select another language, like German (the usual option at that time), Italian, French, Latin and sometimes English. My selected language was French then I started learning English for hobby at the age of 17. Some years later I took up Swedish and Norwegian, again only for fun. And I am planning to learn a bit of Chinese when I'll be retired. You see, as I did not learn languages for practical reasons, reading in French and Italian was a great fun. It took me to different lands, people, eras and cultures. I already could read fluently when I first traveled to France and Italy and uttered the first words in French and Italian when I was on tourist trips to these countries. In the 80s I frequented the French & Italian Cultural Institutes as well as the British Council's Library in Budapest and I cherish very nice memories of those occasions. Today English is prevailing, so I mostly read in English. One of my New Year's resolutions was to restart reading in French and Italian. So far I have failed do so. Perhaps tonight I will not switch on my PC or TV, but it's not a promise.