Read literature in translation or simplified? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 week ago by schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@sh.itjust.works

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I'm interested in reading Borges. My spanish is good enough for conversation & podcasts, but in my experience, literature often requires an additional vocabulary that I, as an only occasional reader, will gain at high cost but benefit from little.

So the question is: is it better to read a translation that maybe mimics the lexical richness of the original in a different language, or is it better to read a simplified version in the native language? I don't mind grammatical complexity--which can be applied in conversation--it's mostly the vocabulary that's the problem.

Assume an actually advanced book that can be simplified.

Edit: Or maybe an e-reader with the original text and a built-in dictionary would be best? I just jailbroke my kindle.

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[-] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

For Borges specifically, I’ve only read it in translation (as someone who can only read English), but I feel like there’s enough nuance there that I’d prefer a translation. Maybe start by picking up a translation and a simplified version of a book in each language and see how it compares?

[-] teft@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

I do what you say in your edit. Read in Spanish on a kindle and just look up the words you don’t know. If you’re conversational it should be fine. If you can’t figure out a word’s meaning from context and a dictionary entry you might have to only read the translation.

Personally I always go for reading it in the native language because translations usually suck butt.

this post was submitted on 18 May 2026

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