Read a book you already know in the language you're learning

A lot of learners say their first book in a new language was one they'd already read in their own: Harry Potter, The Little Prince, a favourite childhood story. There's a good reason that works, and you don't need a copyrighted bestseller to do it. Plenty of famous stories exist in free, public-domain translations.

Why a familiar story is easier

When you already know the plot, you can predict what's coming. You know Jim Hawkins finds a map, that Alice falls down a hole, that Phileas Fogg has a bet to win. That knowledge does a lot of the work your vocabulary can't do yet: when you meet an unknown word, the story narrows down what it could mean.

It also takes the pressure off. You don't need to follow every sentence to keep up, so you can read for longer before you get tired, and reading longer is how vocabulary grows. For more on why volume matters, see extensive reading and comprehensible input.

What makes a good choice

• You know the story well, ideally from the book rather than only a film.
• It's short, or broken into chapters you can finish in one sitting.
• It's at or near your level. Knowing the plot helps, but it won't carry you through a book that's far too hard.

In Spanish

• La isla del tesoroRobert Louis StevensonBeginner

  Treasure Island. Pirates, a map, a one-legged cook. Easy to follow because you know where it's going.

• El caso extraño del Doctor JekyllRobert Louis StevensonIntermediate

  Short, and you already know the twist, which makes the Victorian atmosphere easier to enjoy.

• Cuentos de Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeIntermediate

  Short tales, many of them well known. Read the ones you remember first.

In French

• Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveillesLewis CarrollBeginner

  Some of Carroll's wordplay is lost or reinvented in translation, which is interesting in itself once you know the original.

• Le Livre de la jungleRudyard KiplingIntermediate

  Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera. The stories are separate, so you can read them in any order.

• L'île au trésorRobert Louis StevensonIntermediate

  Treasure Island again. Read it in Spanish and French and you'll notice how differently the two languages tell the same scene.

French readers also have the advantage that Jules Verne wrote in French. Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours and Vingt mille lieues sous les mers are originals, not translations, and you may well know the stories already.

In Italian

• Il fantasma di CantervilleOscar WildeBeginner

  The American family who refuse to be frightened by a ghost. Short and funny.

• Zanna BiancaJack LondonBeginner

  White Fang. Mostly action and description of the wild, with little dialogue to trip over.

• Le avventure d'Alice nel paese delle meraviglieLewis CarrollBeginner

  Alice, in Italian.

• Il giro del mondo in ottanta giorniJules VerneIntermediate

  Around the World in Eighty Days. A race against the clock that keeps you turning pages.

In Dutch

• De reis om de wereld in tachtig dagenJules VerneIntermediate

  Verne's race around the world, in Dutch.

• Onder moeders vleugelsLouisa May AlcottIntermediate

  Little Women. Domestic scenes and lots of conversation.

• De terugkeer van Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan DoyleIntermediate

  Short cases, each one complete. Detective stories are very readable in any language: the plot drags you forward.

If you're learning English

The same trick works the other way. If you grew up with a classic in Spanish, French or Russian, its English translation can be your way in: Passage's English shelf includes Don Quixote, The Count of Monte Cristo, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Crime and Punishment, alongside originals like Treasure Island and the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Then move to books written in the language

Translations are a good way in, but the goal is to read books written in the language, with their own rhythm and humour. After one or two familiar stories, try an original classic at a similar level. Our reading lists for Spanish, French and Italian sort them by level, and classics that are easier than you think covers six languages.

Browse the shelves: Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, English.

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