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Beginning to Read <the Lord of the Ring>
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In order to improve my English reading skill, I have decided to read some books in English.
I chose <the Lord of the Ring>, because I have watched the movies in the same name. I thought it would be easier to read a book with the story I had already known. And an exciting story would make me keep on reading it.
However, my thought was wrong. The book is very difficult for me to read.
Firstly, I come across lots of new words. Most of them are not very long, but they are strangers to me. For example, "brim" means "edge", "lade" means "load", and "outlandish" means "exotic and strange". I have to look them up in the dictionary, one by one.
Secondly, there are numerous specific names of places, races, and figures. They are invented by the writer, and don't exist in the real world. For instance, there are places like "Bag End", races like "Hobbits", and figures like "the Old Took".
What's more, the writer uses a lot of rhetoric figures and complex sentence structures. For native speakers, it is enjoyable to read them. However, it is a little painful for me, because it takes me a long time to understand even a single sentence.
Now I wonder whether I should keep reading it, or change the book to an easier one...
I chose <the Lord of the Ring>, because I have watched the movies in the same name. I thought it would be easier to read a book with the story I had already known. And an exciting story would make me keep on reading it.
However, my thought was wrong. The book is very difficult for me to read.
Firstly, I come across lots of new words. Most of them are not very long, but they are strangers to me. For example, "brim" means "edge", "lade" means "load", and "outlandish" means "exotic and strange". I have to look them up in the dictionary, one by one.
Secondly, there are numerous specific names of places, races, and figures. They are invented by the writer, and don't exist in the real world. For instance, there are places like "Bag End", races like "Hobbits", and figures like "the Old Took".
What's more, the writer uses a lot of rhetoric figures and complex sentence structures. For native speakers, it is enjoyable to read them. However, it is a little painful for me, because it takes me a long time to understand even a single sentence.
Now I wonder whether I should keep reading it, or change the book to an easier one...
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Beginning to Read 'The Lord of the Rings'
In order to improve my English reading skills, I have decided to read some books in English.
I chose 'the Lord of the Rings', because I have watched the movies already.
What you had written is ok, but sounds a bit strange :)
I thought it would be easier to read a book when I already know the story.
And, an exciting story would make me keep on reading it.
This is fine, but you shouldn't really start a sentence with 'and' (but don't worry, lots of people do!!) :D
However, I was wrong.
This book is very difficult for me to read.
This was fine, but this way sounds more natural :)
Firstly, I came across lots of new words.
Most of them are not very long, but they are strange to me.
'Strangers' only really refers to people
What's more, the writer uses a lot of rhetoric figures and complex sentence structures.
However, it is a little painful for me because it takes a long time to understand even a single sentence.
I think this sounds a bit more natural, but your sentence was correct :)
Your English is very good! I tried to read a book in the language I learn (Indonesian) and it took me two months to read an 80 page book aimed at children! But reading books is definitely a good way to improve language skills :)
The book is even difficult for native English speakers!? Oh, I'm thinking of reading other easier books.
Beginning to Read <The Lord of the Rings>
Ordinarily you'd put the book's title in italics if possible, or underline it if italics are unavailable for some reason. Of course, Lang-8 doesn't really support that, so I guess the angle brackets are as reasonable a stand-in as anything. Other options include /forward slashes/ (an old Usenet convention) or "quotation marks" (which are normally used for the titles of shorter works, like songs and magazine articles).
"Rings" is plural because there are twenty of them (3 + 7 + 9 + 1). The one ring is the most important, of course, but part of its importance comes from the fact that it is designed to control the other 19. Hence, the title refers as much to the one ring itself (which is master to the others) as to Sauron (who is -- or at least wants to be -- master of all the rings).
I chose <The Lord of the Rings> because I have watched the movies with the same name.
You could also call them "the movies by the same title" or "the corresponding movies" or even just "the movies" -- in context, it is obvious which movies you mean.
I thought it would be easier to read a book with a story I already knew.
What's more, the writer uses a lot of rhetorical questions and complex sentence structures.
I had to guess what you meant by "rhetoric figures", so I'm not sure if my correction really reflects what you are trying to say.
The LOTR movies, while they are fairly good movies, do not really do justice to the books, and they definitely don't cover all of the story. This is especially true of the first movie, which skips about 85% of Book I and rushes Book II so much that it feels like a two-day race instead of a long journey that takes place over many months. The other movies skip quite a bit as well. The bottom line is, the books contain way more action than could be crammed into three movies, even though they made them fairly long.
If you haven't read The Hobbit, you should probably read that before LOTR. It's easier, shorter, and has a lighter (more fun, less serious) tone. It also provides useful background information that makes certain parts of LOTR (especially near the beginning) easier to follow.
If you like epic fantasy but find Tolkien challenging, you might try Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles or C.S. Lewis' Narnia books. Both are written at at a somewhat easier reading level than LOTR. (A typical native speaker might be able to read the Narnia and Prydain books by third grade, The Hobbit in fourth grade, and LOTR in more like fifth or sixth grade. LOTR has the best story, but all three of these series are good enough to hold an adult's interest, if you like fantasy stories.)
Charlotte's Web is another good book that's easy to read.
I will have a try at the books you recommended.
Maybe I will read Charlotte's Web first, because I have already read the Chinese translation and I'm familiar with the story.