Reading books in a foreign language can be
quite a frustrating experience. You might think that you have quite a
decent vocabulary because you can communicate with people relatively well,
but then you open a book and you see all these words
that you don't know. If that has happened to you,
don't worry, it's very normal. In this video we're going to look at some books
that you can read, which could help you improve your
English and might also be enjoyable
or relaxing to read. Reading is a great way for you to
improve your vocabulary and it can also help you with your
grammar. In this video I'll give you a few
general recommendations and I'll also recommend several specific
books. If you're new to my channel, I just want to let you know that
I also send out free advanced English email lessons
every two weeks. If you want to subscribe to those, you'll find the link
in the description. You can also follow me on
social media if you want. I'll also put those links in the description.
Okay and now to books. I have heard some English teachers say
things like if you're a beginner you should read children's books, if you
have an intermediate level, you should read teenagers' books, and
if you have an advanced level, you should read books for
adults. This is just my opinion, but I don't entirely agree with that. To be
honest, I don't think you should try to read
books if you're still a beginner, in other
words if you have an A1 or A2 level. It's because a lot of
children's books have words which are actually a bit
advanced for non-native beginners.
Not all of them, obviously, but a lot of children's books have,
for example, names of animals that aren't very common or words that are
related to fantasy, like "enchanted castle".
That type of language is not only a bit advanced for
someone with an A2 level, but it's also not very useful at that level.
In summary, if you're a beginner, I think it's best just to
use textbooks or other material that's designed for your level. If you
have a low-intermediate to mid-intermediate level,
so about B1 to low B2, and you would like to read books
in English, I recommend choosing books which are
aimed at children aged between about 9
and 12. I'll give some specific examples later
in the video. If you have a high-intermediate to
low-advanced level, so about B2 to C1, my recommendation would be to
choose books that are aimed at teenagers. Again, I'll give you some specific
examples very soon. Once you have a very good advanced level,
so C2 in other words, I encourage you to
start reading any book you want that's aimed at
adult native speakers. It's unlikely that it will be
as relaxing as reading something in your native language,
but as I've said before about lots of things,
the more you practise, the easier it becomes.
Another general suggestion that I have is to perhaps
read books that you have already read in your
native language. It might be a book that was
originally written in your language and then translated into English,
or one that was originally written in English and then
translated into your language. It doesn't matter. The point is that
knowing the story and some of the main
vocabulary will probably help you with your
comprehension. That's why a lot of people read Harry Potter.
Another option is graded readers.
Graded readers are books that are specifically designed
for language learners. Some are based on well-known stories and some
are original stories. They exist for all
levels, so if you're a beginner and you really
want to read books, they might be a good option. There are
lots of companies that publish these, so if you Google 'graded readers'
or 'graded readers English', you'll find some. Finally you could look
at dual language books. These are books that usually have text
in one language on one side and then the translation on the opposite page.
I've personally never had a great desire to try these because I think I would be
tempted to constantly stop and compare, but some people like them, so it's an
option you could try. These are just my recommendations.
Obviously you can read whatever you want and it is good to
challenge yourself sometimes, but if you read something that's too
difficult, it will probably just be frustrating,
really not relaxing, and there's a good chance that you'll
just stop reading it. Okay and now some specific
recommendations. Firstly here are some books that I recommend
if you have a low-intermediate to mid-intermediate level. As I said,
these are books that are aimed at young native speakers
aged between about 9 and 12. I will warn you that these books are
a little old... It's because they're books that I read
when I was younger, but don't worry, they're not THAT old.
They were written in the 80s and the 90s. Firstly I recommend books by Paul Jennings.
He's an Australian author and he's well-known
for writing books with funny short stories. These include:
Unreal, Unbelievable, Uncanny and Unbearable.
When I was younger, I was also a big fan of The Baby-Sitters Club
books by Ann M. Martin.
I recently looked on Amazon (just to see if they were still available)
and it seems that now there are some graphic novels
based on the original stories. Those aren't the ones I'm talking about.
I'm just talking about regular novels that don't have pictures.
But hey, if graphic novels interest you, that's fine too.
Another series that was
popular when I was younger was Goosebumps by R. L. Stine.
I never actually read any of them, but I had a look at the language that
was used (I just read a couple of pages) and the
language is similar to what's used in
The Baby-Sitters Club. Another book that I quite liked was
Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein. Robin Klein is
another Australian author and I read several of her books
when I was younger. And now some books that are aimed at
slightly older readers. As I said, these books might be good if you have a
high-intermediate to low-advanced level. The first book
is Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta,
who is another Australian author. This book is
quite well-known in Australia, possibly because it was
also made into a popular movie. My second recommendation
is The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins,
which most of you have probably already heard of.
Like Harry Potter, I think this is a good option because lots of people have
already seen the movies or read the books in
their own language. The next book is one that I
actually read in my twenties. It's aimed at teenagers,
but I think it's a book that young adults
can enjoy as well. It's called The Perks of
Being a Wallflower and it's by Stephen Chbosky.
I think that's how you say his name. This one was also made into a movie.
Next I'd like to recommend a couple of books by Roald Dahl.
Roald Dahl mainly wrote stories that were
a bit fanciful, but he also wrote two autobiographies. The first one is called
Boy and it's about his early childhood, and the second one is called Going Solo
and it's about his early adulthood. Another good book by Roald Dahl is Danny
the Champion of the World. I'm recommending this book
in particular because it's a bit more realistic than
a lot of Roald Dahl's other books, and so the language is a bit easier. Finally I'd
like to mention a book by Sophie Kinsella called I've Got Your Number.
This book isn't aimed at teenagers, but
it's a book that teenagers could read. Sophie Kinsella
mainly writes what is known as "chick lit", which is fiction that tends to appeal to
young women. Her books are very light and when compared to other books
that are written for adult native speakers,
the language is relatively simple. That's it, guys.
I didn't go into lots of detail about the content of all these books, because I
I didn't want this video to be too long, but
nowadays with the internet that sort of thing is
very easy to find. I'll put a list of all the books that I mentioned
in the description. My final tip is to make the most of the "look inside"
function on websites like Amazon. That's where you can read a few pages of
the book for free. You don't necessarily need to
buy the book on Amazon, but that way you can
get an idea of the type of language that is used
in a book before you buy it. If for some reason the book that you're
looking at doesn't have that, it might be a good idea to look at the
American website (so amazon.com)
and also look at the Kindle section. Sometimes they might not have it for
the regular book (the paper book), but they might have it for
the Kindle book. Now if you've read any books in English,
please let me know in the comments and if you have any
suggestions for people who are learning English,
please write them there as well, because I'm sure that the other people
watching this video will appreciate them. Thanks very much for watching, guys.
I'll see you next time.