Okay, this thread is neither about writing, nor is it about English. At least it is has to do with books. Last summer I completed my 6th year of Spanish studies at school, but since then I have neglected it completely, thus I am slowly loosing all the skill I once had. Now I seek to prevent this and start reading in Spanish. However, since I would not count myself as being on an advanced level of Spanish, nor have particularly big vocabulary I can't just grab any book in Spanish and fling myself onto the couch. It would mean too much looking up words, verb conjugations, expressions, etc. So what I'm looking for is some light, readable fiction in Spanish. My main genres of interest is fantasy and sci-fi, but crime and thrillers work as well. I'd prefer that the author is Spanish-speaking, but it is not a necessity. I hope we have at least someone here who can come up with something , it's much easier to find good books when someone is there to recommend and discuss them. //Komposten
The only book I can think of is "Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude)," but it's far from light reading.
If the idea is to keep your Spanish skills honed without getting clobbered by obscure vocabulary and arcane syntax, I would suggest Spanish language magazines. I know that's not what you're looking for, but the "register" is much more approachable. Literary Spanish can be almost masturbatory in how self involved the language becomes as each word and clause tries to outdo the last in flowery convolution.
Could be an interesting read, though I don't think I'd call that "light" reading. What's a "dual language book"? Could you give an example of one, just so I know what kind of magazine you are referring to?
It has both the original Spanish version and an English translation, usually on opposing pages. So if you ever get stuck on a particular phrase, you can just check the English translation.
There are tons. I guess it would depend on subject matter that interests you. I find that National Geographic is usually pretty well written in Spanish. It rarely suffers from translation syndrome (clearly translated from an original other language), at least in its Spanish version. And the material is interesting, at least to me. Seeing that you hail from Sweden, I'm going make the assumption that the Spanish you have been taught is Castellano* as spoken in Spain. National Geographic is usually written in "New World" Castellano. * In the Americas, Castellano is a word that is often used to mean Spanish as it is spoken in Spain, but the reality is that all speakers of "Spanish", New and Old World, speak Castellano. That is the actual name of the language. There are a number of native languages spoken in Spain, of which Castellano is just one. No different to, say, the U.K., where there are a number of native languages of which English is just one. </linguist rant>
Never heard of that... Must be damn confusing every time you change page (since you usually read both pages in the opening and not only the right/left). Oh, you mean magazines written in Spanish, and not Spanish language magazines as I first read it... I actually bought a magazine (Cómo Funciona?) during a visit to Canary Islands a couple of years ago, and even though it treated technology and medicine I could understand almost everything and the rest I figured out based on the context. This idea is wonderful, now I only need to find a magazine that suits me and somewhere do buy it. Preferably before my birthday... PS. Spanish as spoken in Spain.
One option, though it may not appeal to you, is to read something you've already read in English/Swedish. One of the first Spanish books I read was Animal Farm (Rebelión en la Granja!), because the language was fairly simple and my knowledge of the story meant I didn't get lost. The same applies to films. Dubbed movies are generally hideous, but a useful tool in learning another language. Pick a film you know really, really well, and you'll know what each character is saying all the way through, so you'll have a huge advantage when you hear the Spanish. Steer well clear of Gabriel Garcia Marquez until your level is a lot more advanced.
Well, again, that is how the word tends to get used over here, so its perfectly understandable you would think this. Castellano (or Castilian in English, but most commonly simply Spanish), has brothers and sisters alive and well today in Spain, to include: Aranese, Catalan, Galician, Aragonese, Austurian, Leonese and our adopted brother, Basque. He's an orphan and we've had a storied history, but he is robust and proud, as well he should be.
