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Hi!
French being my first language, I nevertheless, chose to read the book in English. I was wondering if some people also chose to read the book in English even if it is not their first language and if so why did you chose to read it in English?

On the contrary, if you chose on purpose to read it in your own language, why so?

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Personally, I chose to read it in English to, of course, improve it but also because I feel closer to the author and to the story. I feel like reading in the original language is the only way to really stick with the author's ideas and writing. Plus, as this book is written in a dialect I am not sure that the french translation would have been very faithful to the South American accent.

Kodak wrote: "May I just say, your written English is ruddy good!!"

Why thank you :)

I would say i chose to read the books in english. I have two reasons, 1. I want to improve my english like you and 2. I hate to waite soooooo long for the books to come in danish! For an example i am currently reading the books of Pierce Brown, he has written 3 books, where only one of them has come out in danish last year. Book 3 came out these days, so if want to read them in danish i probably have to wait about 4 years!!!!!!! It feels long enough to wait for the books to come in english.

Hi!
I'm from Germany, and after reading some books in more than one language, I decided to read books in their original language as long as I understand that language myself. In my experience, many translations are sloppy, and usually the feeling for the story is lost in translation. In my experience, you have at most hlaf the fun of it if you read the translation.
That said, I understand that it is quite hard to read a book in a language you don't use everyday, so I think it's understandable if people read translations. But I think you can gain so much from reading the original, it's worth the effort.

Hey Salome.

I read it in French first, because I wanted to have a quick-read so I can discuss it if necessary in the FR thread. But I want to re-read it in English, so I can, as you say, feel closer of the message the author wanted to share.

In French, the translation is in a way you can understand it's someone not well educated who tell the story. It made me think of a kind of a peasant accent or way of speaking. There's a will to translate the dialect so, but I don't think it's as effective as in English.

Daniel wrote: "Hi!
I'm from Germany, and after reading some books in more than one language, I decided to read books in their original language as long as I understand that language myself. In my experience, many..."

Daniel, you have taken the words out of my mouth (is that the phrase in English?) I read books in English all the time, even more than in Croatian. My humble private library also has more books in English than it does in Croatian. I believe that reading in foreign language helps you improve your skills not only in terms of reading, but also speaking. Plus, the translations are getting more sloppy with each day and this way I can read books I want without having to wait for someone to translate them.

Hi, Salome!

I'm Brazilian and reading in English, because as Malene said, it takes forever for books to be translated and be brought abroad. Also lot is lost in translation because most words have really different meanings, depending on the setting, even if they seem equivalent. And some authors use puns, dialects and rhymes in their writing which almost never survives the translation.

I usually choose to read a book in english, because I think that (even the best) translation always takes something away from the original.

Sometimes, I even read it twice: once in my native language and the other time in english.

Samanta wrote: "Daniel, you have taken the words out of my mouth (is that the phrase in English?)"

I didn't know that people use this slang in Croatia!
We also use it in Greece :)

��ίζα wrote: "Samanta wrote: "Daniel, you have taken the words out of my mouth (is that the phrase in English?)"

I didn't know that people use this slang in Croatia!
We also use it in Greece :)"

And we also use it in France! :D

Salome wrote: "And we also use it in France! :D"

So, I suppose, the real question is if "mouth robbery" is a universal or European thing :D

��ίζα wrote: "Samanta wrote: "Daniel, you have taken the words out of my mouth (is that the phrase in English?)"

I didn't know that people use this slang in Croatia!
We also use it in Greece :)"

Yeah we do! In Croatian it's "Uzeo si mi riječi iz usta", which is a literal translation of what I said to Daniel. It sounded good in English too. :D

Hi Salome,i totally agree with you on the reason why people chose to read this book in English even if their first language isn't English. I am Chinese and yet i chose to read it in English,partly cause i can't find Chinese edition but more than that I feel closer to the author if i read books in the language author use.

Hi everyone! I'm from Uruguay, in South America, and I choose to read the books in English for the same reasons you have mentioned.
And in Spanish we also use the same expression "me sacaste las palabras de la boca" ;)

I started reading in English only few years ago, when I started reading fantasy and sci-fi. The publisher used to translate the first book and if it didn't sold well they didn't bother with the rest of the series which left me frustrated so I took my chances and tried to read in English. The first book (war breaker by Sanderson) took me more than a week but the next felt better and the next and so on.
Since I got my kindle I read mostly in English, it's cheaper and in one second it's on my kindle, there are always sales. I prefer to read in Hebrew but it doesn't bother me anymore. To the German and French its easier since its the same letters and the languages are close (FYI-English developed from Germany) but Hebrew it's very very different.
Luckily we start to learn English since we are very young and in college most of the articles are in English, with the music and film we manage not bad at all (don't laugh at my spelling, but feel free to correct me).
Thank god for google translate.

My first language is German. But I always will choose english books over german books (except the book is originally written in german).

Translations often miss many important phrases, or are translated way too long. Like an english sentence can become three in an german translation.

I also prefer english books to become better with my english. After all german is my mother tongue and I 'mastered' it a long time ago.

And for anyone who is at Uni or college: pick up english books because half of the literatures you'll have to read is english! ;)

P.S. I think that the most important loss in translation are all those wonderful puns and inside jokes that the author makes and can only be interpreted in their original language.

Hi ! I'm French as well and I chose to read the book in English after reading an article about how important the dialect was to understand Celie's way of viewing and considering the world. In addition, knowing how a "bad" translation can ruin a book (for instance I hated reading "The Catcher in the Rye" in French because of how how the 50s' slang was translated, but really appreciated it in English) I chose to give it a try in English and then switch to French if ever I found the reading too difficult. I'm really glad I did it, because I just finished the book and loved it, and didn't find the way it was written difficult at all. If anything, it really made me feel closer to the characters, author and story in general !

I'm from Spain, and I read mostly in English. Actually, I prefer to read in the original language, when possible.

First of all: Du hast mir die Wörter aus dem Mund genommen is the German translation for: you have taken the words out of my mouth.
I'm currently not sure whether we use it in German (I'm reading too much in English and sometimes we also speak English at home.)

I wanted to read it in German, but the library didn't have the English copy to borrow and I know that I can't read a book in English in two days. Furthermore, I would have had my battle with the South American accent.

But I normally prefer to read in the original language, it's just a fact that I have a lots of German editions from back when my English sucked really bad.

Btw, English is a mix of German, Latin, Greek, and French mostly. Some grammar (especially vocabulary) is very easy for especially German speaking Austrians, while others are really hard to understand.

I'm French and I try to read as much in English as I can. The first main reason especially being part of a foreign book club is because the translations don't exist yet or are hard to find. The other important reason is to stay as close as possible to what the author wanted to tell and how he tells his story. Writers chose their words with care and we lose that with the translation. But I must say some authors have such refined styles with so much vocabulary that sometimes looking up every other word in a dictionary kills the joy of reading and I switch to a French edition when available.

Hi! I'm mexican and lately I've tried to read much more in English. This is for two reasons, first of all I want to keep improving my dominion in this language, although reading material in English it's an everyday necessity for me because of my occupation, what I read it's really technical so I look for novels and articles that can help me to learn more vocabulary and to practice my grammar skills. The second reason is that the translations sometimes happen to be a little disappointing or inaccurate so I pretend to take advantage of all these years studying English to enjoy even more my favorite hobby.

My original idea was to read the translation in Spanish but, oh my God, is awful (at least the version I got). I studied and read Alice Walker stories in my degree, but I had the guidance of the professor and I had forgotten how difficult it was to understand its dialect at the beginning. So I had decided to read the book in English and in Spanish at the same time XD

I'm Danish but prefer to read books in the original language if possible - simply because reading to me is so much more than enjoying a good story. Language, tone, voice is crucial to me. Thus I read alot in english.
When I choose a translation it can be for several reasons. Eg I am currently reading Ulysses by Joyce. In danish. First of all I think the novel is so complex that I probably would give up if I tried to read it in english. Secondly, my version is a new translation, one that has had alot of praise for being beautiful and in the spirit of Joyce.

I'm reading TCP in danish, though. I read it in english years ago and my local library had three copies in danish and none in english, so I went with the danish version. It doesn't do the language justice, but since I've already read it in english I'll manage.

I chose to read in Portuguese (my first language) because I was afraid I wouldn't understand the regionalisms or the writing, since she writes the spoken language; I couldn't be more wrong, but next time I'll try, it's a great opportunity to gain new vocabulary! Anyway, I'm really enjoying the book.

Currently reading in German I'm eager to reread it in English. Welcome, south-US-slang.

I love reading in foreign languages, but I also read a lot of translations. Mostly because lots of books I want to read were originally written in English, but I have no interest in reading so many books in English (nor in my native Russian). I'd rather read in Portuguese, Italian, Croatian, Finnish, German, Spanish ;))) Also, translated books are generally easier to read in a new language.

As for this book, I admit I gave it a try but found the dialect jarring. I know that's kinda the point, but well nope. I have too many other books in progress.

Beatriz wrote: "So I had decided to read the book in English and in Spanish at the same time XD"
That's a perfectly legitimate technique. Many language learners do that. Sometimes you can find a parallel text with two languages side by side, but it's not always available.

Marina wrote: "Beatriz wrote: "So I had decided to read the book in English and in Spanish at the same time XD"
That's a perfectly legitimate technique. Many language learners do that. Sometimes you can find a pa..."

That would be the perfect way to learn a language. What is also funny though is a text in modern High German and medieval High German. It's so funny to read medieval High German. You can see how the language developed much more.

french is my native language, but if english is the original language of the book, then I'll always choose to read it in english. Like it was written in previous comments it takes time for books to be translated, if I read it in english, no need to wait! Plus now it became an habit to read most of my books in english, I like it.

My first language is Japanese but I often choose to read books in their original language (when its English)
Because of Japanese publishing system, it takes quite a long time (like 2-3 years very often) to publish Japanese traslated version or many of the great books never be introduced in Japan. (So sad)
So most of the time, I just can't wait that long. And also, Japanese translation often ruins the original atmosphere and its unnatural Japanese expressions make me feel uneasy that's why I choose to read in original language.

On the other hand, there's some great translater whose works makes me feel the original atmosphere. I like reading their translation comparing the original language.

I found an audiobook and now I'm enjoying it :) I'm not put off by AAVE itself, just by how it comes out in my head.

Marina wrote: "Beatriz wrote: "So I had decided to read the book in English and in Spanish at the same time XD"
That's a perfectly legitimate technique. Many language learners do that. Sometimes you can find a pa..."

I know :D Here in Spain, three years ago, a newspaper published classical English books in bilingual editions. I love that kind of book because you can see everything change directly on both texts.

My method it's slower because I read the Spanish version in a Kindle and the English version in my computer and I'm going to lose my eyes, hahahahah XD

My native tongue is Spanish tough I read most of my books in English, as many here, first it was to improve my English and because it takes months and years, if ever, to a book to be translated in Spanish, and then because I feel you get the full experience and what the author really wanted to express. However, I also think that reading so much in English has beginning to interfere with my Spanish, as often I caught myself thinking in English way too much and forgetting how to say some things in my mother tongue (things that I absolutely know how to say in English) so, in conclusion I decided to read more in Spanish, (preferably written originally in Spanish) so I can balance things xD
Does this also happen to you? :)

Silvana wrote: "My native tongue is Spanish tough I read most of my books in English, as many here, first it was to improve my English and because it takes months and years, if ever, to a book to be translated in ..."

I know what you mean!
I also try to read books in the original version to improve my language skills, but it can sometimes mix up all the other languages I speak. My mother tongue is Italian and I speak with my boyfriend in English while we live in a french speaking city. Especially after a tiering Day I have to concentrate a lot more to speak properly Italian or English and not fall in the trap to mix the two languages. So I try to balance it out too read in intervals a language per time

I have a mix, sometimes I want to read in English, sometimes I feel lazy and prefer the translated version. Here I didn't had a choice, I couldn't find the Portuguese edition. But it has been an easy read, I got no problems with her way of writing. I just remember Celia, from the movie, talking and it's fine.

I met the same dilemma when I started reading The Help in English some years ago and struggled enjoying reading in itself because I would stop all the time to look for words or words that I knew but couldn’t recognize, and kept asking english native speakers about the slang.

Now that my English improved, that I had more opportunities to hear less standard english accents and that reading got more comfortable, I chose to seize the opportunity this bookclub offers me to read more books in English, which was among my motivations to join.

Besides, and most importantly, it seems to me that the way a character speaks, accent and slang, are deeply connected with her/his situation, and I was afraid that translating the language (as the speech) would have designed a different background for her/him. For The Color Purple, I am sure that the first picture that would have come to mind would have been someone from the French deep countryside, and therefore probably white. So, no ^^

However, it would be very interesting to check the translation to see how the translator got by with it! :) It's a very hard job, often underpreshate.

In France, the book was translated by Mimi Perrin, firstly a jazz musician who also translated the works of John Le Carré and biographies of other musicians, such as Quincy Jones, with whom she was very close. If I am not mistaken, she also translated jazz songs and composed others in French. I find it very interesting to draw a parallel between the difficulties of writing in a musical genre whose "first language" wasn't her mother tongue, and difficulties encountered by translating Celie's story, while making sure to translate the world her speech depicts.