Your First Book in English.

[deyvion]

So, if you are not a native speaker of English - when did you start reading books in English?

For me, it was when I was about 12 years old. Like I have said in other threads on this forum, I developed and interest in learning English early and much has been through self-learning. In my school we also had the local library, and whenever I had a break between classes, I went there to read. I started reading books for adults very early, and the books in English fascinated me for some reason, so as I said, I started reading them at around 12. It did not only help me with developing my English vocabulary (I used a dictionary for words I did not know), but it introduced me to a whole other world of authors and stories other than the Swedish contributers.

So, again, when did you first pick up and read a book in English?

[Topcho]

To be honest, I don't remember the title of my first book in English. It was thin tho,  It was about some team of kids saving the world. I must have been about 11 years old.

Later I remember reading the HP books in English first, since I just couldn't wait for them to get translated.

[sos]

I cannot really  remeber the books title however it was one of the Famous five books by Eluid Bryton. I love the series and almost read all of them. That was the time that i fell in love with English. In high school that was really the only subject that i studied.

[SpiralArchitect]

I cannot really  remeber the books title however it was one of the Famous five books by Eluid Bryton. I love the series and almost read all of them. That was the time that i fell in love with English. In high school that was really the only subject that i studied.

ME TOO. Although in my case it was the Secret Seven series. I remember I used to read those like a maniac when I was a kid. I think I used a lot of gosh, blimey, dunno and golly when I was a kid.  :grin:

[asiong123]

My first book in English, aside from the standard classroom textbook was the novel The Testament by John Grisham. It was too heavy a book for a non-native speaker to start with, but I didn't find it very difficult to read. It was very conversational, and most words used are standard day-to-day vocabulary.

After that, I went for a lighter series, the Harry Potter collection. This series helped me improve on my vocabulary and with everyday conversations as well. I was also able to compare the standard way of speaking English in Great Britain and in the US by reading Harry Potter.

[Adobo]

If my memory serves me right, it’s either The Princess and the Pea or Cinderella fairytale book (that and the English textbooks in first grade) since that’s what really interests me as child. I think my cousin lend that book to me since I didn’t know where else to get it or any story book that time.

[Beverly]

My first English novel that was translated to my language that I read was 'Absolute Power' by David Baldacci. My first English novel written in English was 'Bloodline' by Sydney Sheldon. We had to pick something from our drama class and then had to write about the moral story that we could get from the novel and something else.I  remember that novel was what got me hooked in reading every English written story in English. It was so good,so easy to understand, the humor and the love story suddenly felt a lot more complex and interesting to read compare to when it got translated to my language.

[Alfonso]

The first thing I actually read cover to cover, if I remember correctly, was a early set of X-Men comics. The first English book I read has to be one of the Hardy Boys books.

[SpiralArchitect]

The first thing I actually read cover to cover, if I remember correctly, was a early set of X-Men comics.

Out of curiosity, which story line was it?

[ejazu]

My first book was one in the Hardy Boys series, I don't even remember the title. I had read it back in fourth grade. My main aim at that time, I remember, was just completing the book cover to cover without actually understanding much of the story. I used to keep counting the number of pages remaining to complete the book. Funny me. I can say that was the stepping stone to the many, many books I have read till date.

[Oakster]

The first books I read in English I think was the Harry Potter series, I already had a good understanding of the language from watching many movies, but the first book was The Philosopher's Stone.

[Baburra]

People in my country are usually taught English from a very young age, so fortunately, I never really had to struggle that much with learning the language since I practically grew up with it. The first English books I ever read were text books, but the first "real" book I read was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe back in high school. Up until that point, I honestly never got what made people love books so much, but I had to read a book for a book report, and after I picked up the book I couldn't stop myself from reading it. Suffice to say I enjoyed reading that immensely, although, I never read many fantasy books after that, and I usually just picked up and read business books from then on.