What to read in English if you just started learning the language

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

"Coraline", "Charlotte's Web", "The Old Man and the Sea" and 10 more excellent unadapted works.

1. "Charlotte's Web", E. B. White

Charlotte's Web is part of the elementary school curriculum in many English-speaking countries. This means that the vocabulary and grammar are simple and perfect for learning English. And don't let the fact that the book is written for children repel you: some adults call it one of their favorites.

The protagonist of the story is Wilbur the piglet, who one day finds out that he, like other pigs on the farm, is threatened with slaughter. His new girlfriend, the clever spider Charlotte, is trying to save the character from this fate. She is preparing a cunning plan that will help Wilbor not only not become a dish on the festive table, but also make him famous throughout the district.

2. "Mieko and the Fifth Treasure" by Eleanor Coerr

What is great about this book for beginners is its very small volume and the fact that it is intended for school age. In addition, from this work you can learn a lot about Japan and its culture.

This is the story of Miyoko, a schoolgirl with a passion for calligraphy. During the explosion in Nagasaki, she injures her hand and can now barely hold her hand. The girl's parents send her to live with her grandparents, where it is safer. A new school, unpleasant classmates and the inability to practice her favorite art - Miyoko thinks that her life is ruined. But meeting a new friend helps the girl to realize that the most important thing for her now is time and patience.

3. "The Outsiders", S. E. Hinton

This little novel, although not for young children, is still pretty easy to understand. The author uses short sentences without complex phrases and simple modern vocabulary.

USA, 60s. At the center of the story is a conflict between two gangs of teenagers, muddlers and wobbs. The protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis, belongs to the muddler, and he is sure that the rich vobs will never understand the guys from the poor neighborhoods. But another terrible skirmish with them completely changes his life, and over time the boy realizes that the abyss separating the two gangs is not so big.

4. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" by Haddon Mark

The story is told from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy, so the language in the book is simple and very lively. Thanks to the simplest grammar and colloquial vocabulary, the novel is quite suitable for the role of the first book that you will read in the original.

Christopher Boone, who suffers from autism, once finds the body of a dead neighbor's dog in the yard, pierced with a pitchfork. Despite the prohibitions of his father, the boy decides to investigate the murder and even begins to write a book about it, in which he sets out all his thoughts. During the investigation, Christopher has to meet neighbors and learn a lot about his family.

5. "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman

The language in Coraline is a little more complicated, but it is still quite easy to read, even at the beginning levels. There are no lengthy descriptions here, but a lot of actions and dialogues. Moreover, the Russian reader already knows the story from the film "Coraline in the Land of Nightmares."

This is a story about a girl who moved to a new home with her family. Coraline suffers greatly from a lack of attention from her parents, who are constantly busy. She soon finds another apartment behind a secret door, just like her own. There even live her other mum and dad, who want Coraline to stay with them. And they get very angry when the girl decides to leave.

6. "The House On Mango Street", Sandra Cisneros

This book will be a little more difficult to read at the beginner level, with complex words and rich descriptions. But on the other hand, the author does not use complex grammar, and the meaning of many words can be understood intuitively. Plus, you can learn a lot about the life of Hispanics in the United States.

The novel follows a Mexican teenage girl named Esperanza, whose family buys a house in the Hispanic neighborhood of Chicago. At first, she is very happy with the new place, but very soon she begins to dream of running away from there.

7. "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher

What's great about this book for beginners is that the grammar is as simple as possible. However, the novel raises some rather difficult questions, so if you want to read something light and light, this book is not the best choice.

This is the story of a schoolgirl, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide due to bullying and betrayal. Thirteen reasons that led her to suicide, the girl recorded on audio. A box with notes is found at his doorstep by her classmate Clay, who turns out to be one of the culprits of the incident. And he must deliver the package to 12 more people, one way or another involved in Hannah's death.

8. "Peter Pan" by J. M. Barrie

The story about Peter Pan is known to almost everyone - this makes the story easy to read in the original. Although written for children, it is adored by adults all over the world.

Peter Pan is a boy who doesn't want to grow up. And so he runs away from home. Every night, Peter flies into the Darling family home and listens to his mother tell her children bedtime stories. One day he persuades Wendy Darling and her brothers to go with him to Neverland Island, where children never grow up. There they will meet many interesting and magical characters and fight evil pirates led by Captain Hook.

9. "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson

Despite the fact that "The Bridge to Terabithia" is a story for children, the plot in it is rather tragic. Therefore, some critics consider this book, rather, an adult.

The main character, ten-year-old Jess Aarons, is a boy from a poor family who is bullied by everyone. One day he meets Leslie, a girl who has recently settled in the neighborhood, and a friendship develops between them. Together they come up with the country of Terabithia, mentally traveling through which they have to become stronger and more self-confident.

10. "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

In some places, this book can be difficult to understand, but the story itself is short, and you can master it quite quickly, even with a dictionary. In addition, it is a classic, and in almost all English-speaking schools the work is included in the curriculum.

This is the story of the Cuban fisherman Santiago, who, as everyone in the area knows, has long been unlucky to catch. One day he decides to go further into the open sea in order to put an end to the ridicule of his acquaintances. There, Santiago is suddenly hooked on a huge five-meter marlin, and the fisherman is struggling to swim to the shore to show everyone the biggest catch of his life.

11. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

If you are familiar with the times of Past Simple and Past Perfect, then you should not have problems with grammar when reading this book. The novel is quite voluminous, but easy to read. And the story is so exciting that you really don't want to be distracted by the dictionary - the understanding of unfamiliar words emerges from the context.

Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy, lives in a community where each resident strictly fulfills his role. Soon he gets his own - to be the Receiver of Memories. This is how the hero learns how people lived before: in a bright world filled with feelings and emotions. The boy realizes that the life that the community is living now is wrong and unfair, and decides to return people to their memories.

12. "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry uses a fairly simple language in this work, written for children. However, if you had little interest in the topic of World War II, reading the book can be difficult: you will have to deal not only with unfamiliar words, but also with unknown facts.

The heroine of the novel is ten-year-old Anne-Marie Johansen. She helps her friend and her Jewish parents to escape the Holocaust and flee occupied Copenhagen. After that, Anne-Marie joins the Danish resistance, which eventually succeeds in transporting more than 7,000 Jews from Denmark to neutral Sweden.

13. "A Wrinkle In Time," Madeline L'engle

This book is more likely for those who already have some experience of reading works in English. It will definitely appeal to those who like to write out new words as they read - there is a huge amount of interesting vocabulary in it. However, the novel is nevertheless written quite simply and interestingly and reads in one breath.

This is a story about a girl Meg and her brother Charles - children of famous scientists, whose family everyone considers a little strange. Their father disappeared long ago, allegedly due to some secret project. But one day, an eccentric old woman named Mrs. What appears on the doorstep of their house. And from her, the guys learn that their father is lost somewhere in the Universe, and you can find him with the help of a mysterious break in time.