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Book Recommendations > HELP ME, especially if English isn't your first language! :(

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message 1: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments I'm an English learner, and I would like to read more books in English, any appropriate recommendations?

And if English isn't your mother tongue, how and where did you start reading English books?


message 2: by angeline (new)

angeline (ramblingdaydreams) | 0 comments hii so i'm from greece but i started learning english back when i was around 7-8 years old and i'm 17 now so i'm quite fluent but i'll recommend you some of my favorite books in english with very easy grammar so you can begin! :)

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire saenz
i'll give you the sun by jandy nelson
a good girl's guide to murder trilogy by holly jackson
anything by karen m. mcmanus
shatter me series by tahereh mafi
anything by john green
anything by rick riordan
anything by stephanie garber

i've always loved the english language, so when i decided to begin reading (back in late 2018, i was 13) i chose to read books in english. reading books in english has really helped improve my grammar and vocabulary, which is something i'm very happy about. because greece is a country that's very heavy on learning english, there is a good amount of bookstores that sell books in english (and other languages as well!) so they've always been accessible to me.

hope that helps! good luck :)


message 3: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments angie wrote: "hii so i'm from greece but i started learning english back when i was around 7-8 years old and i'm 17 now so i'm quite fluent but i'll recommend you some of my favorite books in english with very e..."

Hiiii, Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help for me :)


message 4: by Rae (new)

Rae | 57 comments so english is my 3rd lang but where I'm from, we learn english very young (around 1-2 years old, I'm 18 now). Reading english stories in school books has helped, plus all our textbooks are in english. What I would recommend is read anything in english that interests you, be it a book, short stories, articles, essays or news. Find someone to talk to in english. There's also a book called 5 Steps to learn a new language by Hung Q. Pham that's helped me learn other languages.
Some books I'd recommend:
Better Than The Movies by Lynn painter
Books by ana huang, lauren asher, John green, ali Hazelwood, My Sister's Keeper, Song Of Achilles. These books are super easy to get inton


message 5: by Chloé (last edited Dec 15, 2022 07:14AM) (new)

Chloé  PELTIER  | 1 comments Hi ! I'm an English learner too so I can help you (a little bit ok!) to choose an english book. My first english reading it was "How the King of Elfame learned to hate stories?", of the Folk of the Air saga. It's a bit complecated because we have to know the fantasy vocabulary but the commun vocabulary tit's easy to learn and to understand the story and to learn more vocabularly easily. So I recommand this, or other book of Holly Black, to read and to learn this language. I hope that I helped you.
XOXO


message 6: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Thank you guys! I really appreciate your help, it means a lot to me<3


message 7: by Isaac (new)

Isaac (httpsinstagramcoml0httpigs) | 56 comments Isaac wrote: "ok so i started learning english by reading childrens books, and then working my way up. after that i watched english tv shows (again meant for kids so it was easier) with jp subtitles"


message 8: by Olalla (new)

Olalla (Taylor’s Version) | 228 comments Well, my first books in English were by Colleen Hoover , but I recently read Icebreaker and is easy to read ( this is kinda spicy) and then there are the typical romance books as The Love Hypothesis, The Spanish Love Deception…
If you are younger maybe something like Percy Jackson


message 9: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Thank you! You really helped me :)


message 10: by Mpia (new)

Mpia  | 120 comments Greek is also my first language and I started reading books in English two years ago. We had English lessons in school but I couldn't understand a thing because of the teacher, so I also had English tutoring lessons. I first began to read books in English because some books I wanted to read weren't translated, so I decided to give it try. I first read "The Heroes of Olympus" series (it still isn't translated) and later on the "Keeper of the Lost Cities" series (the first 2 books have been translated some months ago).
I decided to challenge myself and read harder books. So I read the "Night Circus" , "The Invisible life of Addie LaRue" and "She Who Became The Sun". These books were hard to understand completely, but I could understand what was going on so it didn't really matter. I found easy "The Cruel Prince" and "Red Queen"


message 11: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Ολυμπία wrote: "Greek is also my first language and I started reading books in English two years ago. We had English lessons in school but I couldn't understand a thing because of the teacher, so I also had Englis..."

Thanks!


message 12: by Mana_reads (new)

Mana_reads (mana_read) | 31 comments Hi, French is my first language. But for me when I started to read in English it was on WEBTOON or mangas that I could read online. With the illustrations it was easier to understand the words,… The first real English book that I’ve read was the Spanish love deception it was easy to read. You can also read Rina Kent her writing is not really complicated and also Lauren Asher.


message 13: by Ricardo (new)

Ricardo Medina | 2 comments Hi! I'm from Spain and obviuosly english is not my native language.
I started reading english with small and easy books to finally, with the years, even being able to read Game of Thrones in english.

If you want to start easy, I recommend you my graphic novel called DRAGON SWORD COMIC. It's written in a very easy to follow english and it's a quick and fun read (and a graphic novel is always better to start with than a huge novel, right?) :)
It's available on amazon!


monsee *ੈ✩‧₊˚ | 9 comments hey!! my first language is spanish and i started to learn english back in 2019 <3 i’d say that to read romance books u should have at least a B1 level - colleen hoover is great to start since her writing is not complex at all and u shouldn’t have any problems, actually my first book in english was it ends with us, then i tried with evelyn hugo and it was rlly simple as well :D
i’m currently reading the shatter me series and the books are easy to understand (pls take into consideration that i have a B2 english level) so i think you should be ok reading those too, however i have no idea about fantasy lmao i’m scared to read them because the world building, creatures and some invented words may confuse me HAHAHAHA
i also heard that a good girls guide to murder, the summer i turned pretty, the spanish love deception and the selection series are an amazing way to start!! hope this helps


message 15: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Mana_read wrote: "Hi, French is my first language. But for me when I started to read in English it was on WEBTOON or mangas that I could read online. With the illustrations it was easier to understand the words,… Th..."

Thank you!


message 16: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Ricardo wrote: "Hi! I'm from Spain and obviuosly english is not my native language.
I started reading english with small and easy books to finally, with the years, even being able to read Game of Thrones in englis..."


Hi! I didn't find it on Amazon Saudi Arabia, But I will look for it.
Thank you!


message 17: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments monsee *ੈ✩‧₊˚ wrote: "hey!! my first language is spanish and i started to learn english back in 2019 <3 i’d say that to read romance books u should have at least a B1 level - colleen hoover is great to start since her w..."

Heyy! My level currently is B2. Thank you so much! <3


message 18: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments You all helped me a lot. I really really appreciate that! <3


message 19: by Granada Dolores (new)

Granada Dolores Im not sure what should you read, but sometimes one start reading complicated books without knowing, so, i recommend you NOT to read the following (because they are confusing if you aren´t fluent and even if you are)
Ray Bradbury
Philip K Dick
Any Japanese book translated (Dazai, Soseko, Okuizumi, etc)

I reccomend Neil Gaiman, it's pretty fun and easy

Hope it helps!
Btw, what is your first language? mine are spanish and english


message 20: by Camila (new)

Camila  Manrique | 65 comments Not fantasy. There are too many made up or weird words and it just harder. Maybe a memoir. They are usually easier to read and you can learn one or two fancy new words.


message 21: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Future Supermodel wrote: "Im not sure what should you read, but sometimes one start reading complicated books without knowing, so, i recommend you NOT to read the following (because they are confusing if you aren´t fluent a..."

Thanks :)
My first language is Arabic, and I'm learning English, and trying to learn Spanish and Turkish!


message 22: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Susan wrote: "Not fantasy. There are too many made up or weird words and it just harder. Maybe a memoir. They are usually easier to read and you can learn one or two fancy new words."

Thank you :)


message 23: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments I'll follow your advice, and see all your recommendations!


message 24: by Granada Dolores (new)

Granada Dolores SEEN wrote: "Future Supermodel wrote: "Im not sure what should you read, but sometimes one start reading complicated books without knowing, so, i recommend you NOT to read the following (because they are confus..."

Oh thats awesome! I was trying to learn Arabic, but it was to difficult so I started learning an other language, anyway, i´ll try it again soon... and if you want to practice your english or your spanish I can help! I also speak other few languages, but since you didn't mention them, i imagine you dont speak them yet

Si quieres platicar puedes escribirme, saludos!


message 25: by Julie ♡ (new)

Julie ♡ (julie_16) | 14 comments Hi! I speak French and started studying English at school, it didn’t really helped me but when I started reading books in English, I quickly started understanding more and more! The books that helped me were any ya books, they usually are easy to read! But the book that helped me the most was Diary of a wimpy kid, it has images and words that are a little complicated.
( my English is not the best, sorry if there is some mistakes )


message 26: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Future Supermodel wrote: "SEEN wrote: "Future Supermodel wrote: "Im not sure what should you read, but sometimes one start reading complicated books without knowing, so, i recommend you NOT to read the following (because th..."

Oh :( Arabic is harder than English, But you can do it!
That's great, I'll talk to you soon <3

Muchas gracias!


message 27: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Julie ♡ wrote: "Hi! I speak French and started studying English at school, it didn’t really helped me but when I started reading books in English, I quickly started understanding more and more! The books that help..."

Hey! Thank you so much.
I read the first book in the Diary of a wimpy kid, I'll read more books from this series, and I'll read YA books!


message 28: by Sarina (new)

Sarina | 6 comments I recommend reading YA books! they’re overall very easy reads if you’re not an English native :)


message 29: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Sarina wrote: "I recommend reading YA books! they’re overall very easy reads if you’re not an English native :)"

Thank you! :)


message 30: by Ramona (new)

Ramona | 35 comments hi! Italian is my first language and I started studying English in school. I loved it so much I ended it up majoring in it!
I started reading books in english (with real commitment) at university and I decided to begin with the Harry Potter series that I had already read in my language! So this is my tip for you: start with somethig you already read and loved in your language. In this way you already know what's going on, so it is easier to follow and understand and you can focus on building a vocabulary!


message 31: by ✨ Noura ✨ (new)

✨ Noura ✨ (nouraread) | 68 comments I can relate. Arabic is my first language. I also ended up majoring in it. First I've started reading with a dictionary.. I used to search for every word (during my college years) ... now I can read chapters with a few amount of new words.


message 32: by Ramona (new)

Ramona | 35 comments yes, the vocabulary was a must at the beginning! now, after many many tv series in english, books and youtube videos I have a fairly big vocabulary! but it's a process!


message 33: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Thank you, Ramona, and Noura!


message 34: by Dani (new)

Dani (danidelsolar) | 7 comments Spanish is my first language. I started reading books in english at school and now I do it for pleasure. My biggest recommendation is to start with contemporary books that you really want to read. Don't read historical novels first because the language can be a bit difficult.
Also I think graphic novels is a great way to start.

Good luck! <3


message 35: by Dev (new)

Dev (devyadav) | 25 comments binge a lot of Netflix with subtitles you'll learn eventually.


message 36: by amy .⋆。୭ (last edited Dec 23, 2022 05:59AM) (new)

amy .⋆。୭ (keatingslvr) | 8 comments hey!! english is my 2nd language too, but i consider myself fully fluent once i'm 12ish bc i moved overseas where i had to speak & study in english like a local. i started learning when i was 5-6 in school as a subject, and during childhood i began reading children's books like dork diaries and wimpy kids in english.

i'm now 17, and when it comes to english level in books, i think that fluffy romance novels are the easiest in terms of improving your familiarity with the slangs and casualty of english.

if you want to read more complex & academic texts, try reading memoirs and biographies, as well as books on fields like economics, philosophy, ect. (but of course the downside is that you need to have somewhat of a grasp on the topic/field itself), so it's more challenging.

once you're comfortable and want to explore more of the english language, start reading classics from authors like the bronte sisters, jane austen, louisa may alcott, ect. reading children's books (like the anne of green gables series, with pretty simple old english) is great too. there are tiers when it comes to old english, so start slow first~

from a girl who does english literature, i hope this helps!!


message 37: by Mariska (new)

Mariska | 20 comments I literally learned all of my English from youtube videos.


message 38: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Thank you! I really appreciate your help guys <3
I'll follow all your advice :)


message 39: by Iuliana (new)

Iuliana (iuliana_a) | 7 comments one true loves by taylor jenkins reid


message 40: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Iuliana wrote: "one true loves by taylor jenkins reid"

Thanks!


message 41: by luci ☆ (new)

luci ☆  | 13 comments I think that contemporary or romcom books may be the best choice since they're usually very easy to read! If you want some pretty easy ones you could try looking for some middle grade books too. I also find Colleen Hoover's books to have a very easy english so you could maybe try her.


message 42: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments lucy ⁠✿ wrote: "I think that contemporary or romcom books may be the best choice since they're usually very easy to read! If you want some pretty easy ones you could try looking for some middle grade books too. I ..."

Thank you!


message 43: by ❀ Jil ❀ (new)

❀ Jil ❀ | 53 comments hii, authors with easy english are for example sarah adams, colleen hoover and some christina lauren books like the unhoneymooners for example

for me i feel like it’s also easier if it’s NOT written in third person because that can get confusing sometimes

hope i could help :)


message 44: by TJ (new)

TJ | 12 comments I always tell my tutoring kids to start with something they’ve already read in their mother tongue - a childhood favorite, the most recent book they’ve read for a school project, a book that’s been made into a movie which they know and love, anything really. That way it’s easier to follow the plot even if you don’t know all the words. Or you could start simple by reading English children’s books and see how it goes from there


message 45: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments jxxreads wrote: "hii, authors with easy english are for example sarah adams, colleen hoover and some christina lauren books like the unhoneymooners for example

for me i feel like it’s also easier if it’s NOT writt..."


That's helped. Thank you!


message 46: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments Tina wrote: "I always tell my tutoring kids to start with something they’ve already read in their mother tongue - a childhood favorite, the most recent book they’ve read for a school project, a book that’s been..."

Thank you! I will follow your advice :)


message 47: by J.K. (new)

J.K. Keane | 3 comments Hi there,
I would recoomend english language children books if you are OK with reading those as the language used will be easier to understand.
Any book aimed at 7-10 year olds should work well or books you have read in your mother language, but that can be tricky if the language used is quite rich.
We have a Ukranian family staying with us at the moment and she enjoyed reading my children's book chapter by chapter and looking up words she didn't know as she went along. It is not for sale yet, but I could email you a free pdf of the book if you want to try it. It is about a kitten that gets lost in a forest.


message 48: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments JK wrote: "Hi there,
I would recoomend english language children books if you are OK with reading those as the language used will be easier to understand.
Any book aimed at 7-10 year olds should work well or ..."


Thank you. That's helped.
I'd like to try it! :)


message 49: by cloud ッ (new)

cloud ッ | 3 comments hey, English is my 2nd language and I started off with books from Enid Blyton and Judy Blume. Hope this helps in some way :))


message 50: by SEEN (new)

SEEN | 75 comments cla wrote: "hey, English is my 2nd language and I started off with books from Enid Blyton and Judy Blume. Hope this helps in some way :))"

Thank you :)


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