Language Partners?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

We have other chats to discuss where we're from, funny things about our languages and cultures and so on, but I've heard from some people that they would really like to find book recommendations or language partners to practice their conversation skills in a friendly, fun way.

I am not sure how broad the interest is, but I thought maybe we could make a thread so that folks could convene for good materials, or potentially even make use of our wonderful global group to find people that are willing to help out from time to time.

A few disclaimers: this is something that is just for enrichment, so probably not for professional language tutors, and not for authors to get advice on translations for their books. Authors should always ask for help in the Author folder :)

[Penelope]

That is not a bad idea. I would like to brush up on my Spanish and Italian. Any good books recommended in the Romantica subgenre?

[Lost Planet Airman]

Out of time just now, but I'd support this!

In the meantime, for those leaning toward Spanish, I follow this group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[Beth]

Hello, little abandoned thread! Anyone out there who speaks Russian or Swedish and fancies talking about books in those languages?

[Kirsi]

Beth, my Swedish is fairly decent if a bit rusty - I don't read a lot in Swedish, but I've got the odd Lindgren, Jansson and Backman under my belt and have been on the lookout for more.

I myself could really use some pointers from people who read in French or German. I've several years of high school/university-level studies in both, but I've barely used them since. I'd love to get recommendations about books I might be able to read and enjoy without either feeling like a 5-year-old or falling into despair because I've overreached.

[DivaDiane]

Kirsi, I can and have read quite a bit in German (not my native language), but I’m not sure I have anything to recommend that is for adults.

There are so many wonderful children’s books for all ages, that I could recommend and those for younger kids might help you establish some good written German. Let me know if you want some recs.

For almost adults, I’d recommend Momo, and The Never-ending Story, both by Michael Ende. They are substantial books, but supposedly for young teenagers or YA.

[CBRetriever]

if you think you might have trouble with some words, I'd recommend a Kindle as they have built in translation dictionaries for quite a few languages and use Bing to translate phrases. My tendency, when trying to read French is to first use the French dictionary and then a translation dictionary and lastly the translation function (not perfect but it helps)

[Kirsi]

I'd love to get more recommendations, especially from authors who are native German/French speakers. Children's books are not an automatic no either, as long as they have elements a 40+ adult like me would enjoy. I think I'd be able to tackle middle grade level, too... I haven't used these languages in ages, but I think they'll come back to me quickly enough if I just keep at it.

Momo I know nothing about - will remedy that - but I must admit I was bored to tears by the Never-ending Story. That was a long time ago and I can't remember why, but it didn't work for me.

I don't have a Kindle (it's incompatible with libraries and many e-booksellers here) but I do have a Kobo e-reader and it has a similar dictionary function, which I've used and liked. I need to check if French and German dictionaries are available for it.

[Beth]

Kirsi wrote: "Beth, my Swedish is fairly decent if a bit rusty - I don't read a lot in Swedish, but I've got the odd Lindgren, Jansson and Backman under my belt and have been on the lookout for more."

Kirsi - vad kul! Trevlig att träffa någon här som kan svenska :)

I can recommend Jonas Jonasson if you fancy something amusing. Hundraåringen is by far his best but the others are quite entertaining too. I have a friend who says Svavelvinter by Erik Granström is great fantasy. I wasn't too taken with it but maybe I should give it another go? Also I was quite enjoying a Swedish translation of Nick Perumov's Diamantsvärdet och träsvardet - there were some cool worldbuilding concepts in there. Hopefully that gives you a few to check out and I would be super happy to talk about them if you want :)

[Kirsi]

Beth - definitely! I actually have Jonasson's Hundraåringen bookmarked on Bookbeat already, as I was looking for Backman's En man som heter Ove and it popped up in the recommendations. I've read Ove in Finnish before, absolutely LOVED it, and wanted to listen to the Swedish audiobook to see how much of it I could understand.

[Tiffany]

I'd love recommendations from native French speakers on some good fantasy, mystery or even literary/contemporary romance novels! I am pretty fluent but don't currently have many French books outside of Les Aventures de Tintin :)

I'm also currently learning Spanish and Portuguese, so if anyone has any recommendations for beginner/intermediate learners I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you/Merci beaucoup/Gracias/Obrigado :)

[Olga]

Beth, Russian is my native language, I'm always open for discussion. It could be a good reason for me to start reading more in Russian )))

Also I'd be grateful for a recommendation of a book in German with fairly easy language. I'm currently reading the first Harry Potter book in German, but I mostly get through because I know it almost by heart ))

[Beth]

Olga wrote: "Beth, Russian is my native language, I'm always open for discussion. It could be a good reason for me to start reading more in Russian )))

Привете Олга, отлично! Can I add you as a friend and we can talk Russian books? I'd be super happy for recommendations but they'll have to be easy ones at the moment!

[Olga]

Beth wrote: "Привете Олга, отлично! Can I add you as a friend and we can talk Russian books?"

Sent you a friend request ))
Hmmm... I maybe need to think a bit. But off the top of my head maybe Хроники Ехо (Макс Фрай) could be good for you... There are a few fantasy-world specific words, but other than that I think the language is pretty easy... I'll think some more ))

[Beth]

Olga - awesome, thank you! I will have to have a look and see if I can find that! :)

[DivaDiane]

Kirsi,

I enjoyed the Never-ending Story, but like Momo better (and it’s shorter). I’ve read it twice, most recently last year. I actually listened to it in German, which was quite easy.

[Beth]

Gunilla wrote: "I can always partner up for the Swedish as well"

Ja vad bra! Så kul att det finns svensktalande folk här! I'd love to talk Swedish books with you, Gunilla, and hear your recommendations :)