do you read books in english or do you read translations to your native language? if you answer the former, do you also do this for books where the english version is itself a translation and not the original?
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A question for ESLs
ESLs aren't tranime homosexuals nice try cracker
>do you read books in english or do you read translations to your native language?
If the book was originally written in English, then yes, I read in English; otherwise, in my native language.
>if you answer the former, do you also do this for books where the english version is itself a translation and not the original?
Rarely. Only if the book is cheaper than in my native language. For example, Russian literature, for some reason, is cheaper for me to buy from Oxford World Classics than from the publisher in my country.
>sage
I din't sage, forgot to clear my name field.
Samw as this anon. Also a lot of japanese books are cheaper in english than in spanish, i guess the spanish translation is newer and so it is more expensive?
Not ESL but I've been reading Japanese books and mangos for over 20 years so kinda similar.
Back in the day I'd generally read anything I could and search if I didn't know the kanji but if I was doing super casual reading I'd sometimes read a translation then re-read the original work. Did the same for German.
Nowadays I just read and watch everything raw.
As for my partner, she consumed her media mostly in English to learn too but will go for a translation for other (lesser) languages.
The ESL yurofriends I have, only 1 of the french fries is autistic about needing stuff in French and the others generally used English translations to better themselves but will read official FR translations over fan translations.
English, not in English if I can read it in the original language in a somewhat acceptable manner
seconded, English is a great language
Mostly translations, but sometimes in English when the book is not translated or the book is easy so I can practice my english on it. Also reading every manga in english (I don't have a choice anyway)
>do you read books in english or do you read translations to your native language?
Mostly translations. Up until the e-commerce boom originals were harder to get and comparatively more expensive. I still read mostly translations out of habit, but I try to read some books in english if the author is known for his prose.
I've read some books both in the original and in my language and while I can't really complain about the translations, thete's always some nuance that's lost in them.
>if you answer the former, do you also do this for books where the english version is itself a translation and not the original?
No, if I'm gonna read a translation I might aswell do that in my own language.
Both, whatever is easier to get on my kindle. I will go out of my way to read it in (insert whatever language) if I'm going to talk about it in (insert whatever language). So if it is for a class, or someone that I know irl recommended to me, I would rather read in Portuguese. If it is something that I don't want anyone to talk to, I would rather read in English because I can always look for people here or somewhere else on the internet.
>do you read books in english or do you read translations to your native language?
I read in English, I haven't read a translation in ten years.
>if you answer the former, do you also do this for books where the english version is itself a translation and not the original?
Whichever is more accessible
Honestly I'm so proficient in English that I just don't care. Even if the original is English, I'll read a translation if that's cheaper to buy. If the original is, say, in German, I'll just buy a French translation and read that: at least I get to enlarge my French vocabulary. I would learn less if I were reading in English because I can already read English very well.
I spent 4 years learning German specifically to read Mein Kampf.
Mostly English because it's easier to find. But Polish books in Polish ofc
I am reading Russian so I can read some Vladimir Ilyich.
Always english when that’s the original language. Otherwise either english or my own language depending on the quality of translation.
I read everything in my own language. I refuse to get cucked by english.
First I find english version of the book and translated one. I read first 3 pages of both, and if I like they way the start was translated, I read the rest translated. If I see that translation is not accurate or coherent, I read the english version.
I know it's kinda moronic or tryhard, but I really care about how I'll experience the rest of the book
>I know it's kinda moronic or tryhard
Not really, some translations deviate a lot from the original.
I read mostly in native Serbian, and if I can get it, the Cyrillic version. If the work was originally in English, I would try reaging it in English if I can get the English version. I plan on learning some other languages so I can read some works in original form.
My mother tongue is spanish.
In spanish, I read spanish, portuguese, italian, french, greek and latin books
In english, I read english and german books
If the books is in any other languages (say russian, polish, chinese, "indian"...), I don't care. Just read it in whatever language I have found it, half of the times in english and the other half in spanish
I read every single book either in the original language or in the language that's closest to it, unless there is a truly good translation in another one of the languages that I can read.
My native language is Portuguese.
If I wish to read Camões, I read him in Portuguese.
If I wish to read Shakespeare, I read him in English.
If I wish to read Norse sagas, I read them in English, because English is closer to the original.
If I wish to read Seneca and am too lazy to try the original, I read him in Italian, because Italian is closer to Latin.
If I wish to read Goethe, I'd read him in English, but do so in French (checking the German now and then), because de Nerval's translation was highly admired by Goethe himself.
If I wish to read Tolstoy, I read him in the Maude translation, because Tolstoy himself approved of it. The author's approval doesn't determine the merits, but at least lets me know the translator didn't botch the book.
If I wish to read the Greeks, my preference is for Romance translations, and in the case of Homer I just read lots of them in all the languages I know -- I must have some ten or so translations of his works. Poetically, the Italians (Monti for Iliad, Pindemonte for Odyssey) did it best, but Lattimore is more similar to the original, as far as my knowledge of it goes (it doesn't go far at all).
Also, if the author is from some non-Western country I usually just pick some old Penguin translation because I assume the guy doing it must have been a true scholar and had the best research material available to him, unless we are talking about highly specific versions such as Pound's translations of the Chinese or Fitzgerald's Omar Khayyam.
Note that every single one of the above considerations is subject to overarching considerations of price, availability, and edition. Most of the Latin works in my library are actually in French translations, not Italian ones, because the French did the cheapest bilingual editions back in the 30's (Garnier, Hachette, etc.), and I go for bilingual whenever possible. (Loeb is out of the question. Too expensive -- abusive, even.)
I know 4 languages so i try to read in the language it was written in
If it's in something I don't know like german or russian I try to go for a french translation since english is quite limited for certain concepts
I'd rather shoot my brains out than read something translated INTO english of all the soulless tourist languages.