- Lankiveil
- Feb 23, 2001
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Forums Minimalist
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As someone who speaks English as a second language, I recommend not reading Shakespeare but watching a (movie of a) play instead. I prefer having subtitles too, so I can learn both the spelling and pronunciation of some of the weirder words.
Another tip is to spoil the ending and maybe read a summary. This way, even if you miss a few lines here and there, you won't lose track of the story and you know which characters are important and which are not. Having a play subtitled "A tragedy" means you know it'll end badly, and some of them, such as Romeo and Juliet, outright give away the ending in the first minute. If you want to watch a play again, you can probably find a different edition on youtube or something, just to keep things interesting and see what different interpretations are possible.
If you actually want to try reading, get one of those "The Oxford Shakespeare" editions. Half the book is analysis, I skipped that. But the other half is the text of the play with 50% footnotes explaining the meaning of various words. I found that pretty helpful.
Middle English is difficult for most native speakers of English too. It makes a lot more sense watching it performed; a lot of the disdain for Shakespeare IMHO comes from making kids learn it through reading rather than seeing it performed.
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Apr 24, 2016 09:55
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May 16, 2024 23:20
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- Lankiveil
- Feb 23, 2001
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Forums Minimalist
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Shakespeare was not writing in Middle English.
Early Modern English then. Point still stands.
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Apr 27, 2016 10:42
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