I fail at reading

[X5N]

I recently discovered, while attempting to read A Vindication on the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft (from the Marxist Internet Archive), that my reading skills may not be as good as I'd want them to be.

I have trouble understanding a lot of written works. I feel like I read at a lower level than I should be able to read at, at the age of twenty. I didn't grow up reading an awful lot.

So...I was wondering:

-How can I improve my reading, so that I can, say, read Das Kapital and understand it?

-Are there any kind of simply-worded far-leftist texts that I could read?

I'm not sure how to really pinpoint my reading level. I could read Into The Wild and understand everything, I can read the book I'm trying to read just fine aside from all the weird philosophy junk I don't understand, and I can read and sort of digest an Al-Jazeera opinion article.

[Blanquist]

I'm only able to read if I am deeply interested in the subject matter.

[Deicide]

The only way of improving your reading ability is by.. reading. If you don't understand a word or concept, write its definition down and learn it (I actually have two text books full of definitions that I've wrote down...). My English (and reading ability) improved tremendously, within a space of several months, by doing so. It's a laborious process, but hey, it works.

[L.A.P.]

Just discovering Wikipedia in 6th grade made my reading level jump from 5th grade to 12th grade level that year.

[Bostana]

Like Broseph Stalin said, just read and practice

[Railyon]

Some texts are just willful intellectual obscurantism really, regardless of content.

I like Broseph's approach but have only done so with Marx' Capital Vol1 to have a concise summary of his concepts.

[NorwegianCommunist]

I have the same problem. I am not from a country with English as a mother tongue so understanding certain words or even entire texts can sometime be a big problem.
Broseph Stalin and Blanquist also have good points =)

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I learned english by watching the tv a lot. South Park is the reason I speak english really.

[NorwegianCommunist]

Which country are you from RebRebel =) ?

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

the Netherlands.

[Deicide]

I too learned English by watching American tv shows :cool:

[Pretty Flaco]

shit i could hardly understand the communist manifesto when i read that. :(

[X5N]

Thanks all.

I kinda did what Broseph Stalin suggested, when I was reading the thing I was reading. Maybe I'll keep doing that.

[piet11111]

I also learned English from movies.

The problem with marxist works is that usually you would need to spend a lot of time reading a few chapter and recall everything and how they correlate and i rarely have the time to sit down and read several chapters of a book so that everything is fresh and sensible to me.
Also the use of a lot of obscure words and the expected prior knowledge on a subject doesn't make for easy reading either.

[Luc]

shit i could hardly understand the communist manifesto when i read that. :(

I read that shit 4 times and then was finally like "oh! now I get this... one part!"

[BE_]

Just read more and more. That's all really. I have read more books this year than i have read in the past five years, and it has helped me with reading comprehension so much.

[citizen of industry]

Malcolm X was completely illiterate when he went to prison. The man actually read the dictionary, painstakingly writing out and reciting every single word. He wrote that he fell in love with the dictionary, and it opened up new worlds for him.

I certainly would not recommend that, but it reinforces the point that the more you read, the more you can read. So just read. The internet is your friend, too. Generally you can grasp the meaning of a word through context, but if you want the details a quick tapping of the keys and you've got it.

[Zav]

Malcolm X was completely illiterate when he went to prison. The man actually read the dictionary, painstakingly writing out and reciting every single word. He wrote that he fell in love with the dictionary, and it opened up new worlds for him.

Damn. I didn't know that. That's quite inspiring really. I'm going to try that.

---

I would suggest reading poetry. It will help you learn figurative speech and will give you a little culture.

[Misanthrope]

If you're in high school try to take advanced English classes.. help tremendously

[X5N]

Malcolm X was completely illiterate when he went to prison. The man actually read the dictionary, painstakingly writing out and reciting every single word. He wrote that he fell in love with the dictionary, and it opened up new worlds for him.

I certainly would not recommend that, but it reinforces the point that the more you read, the more you can read. So just read. The internet is your friend, too. Generally you can grasp the meaning of a word through context, but if you want the details a quick tapping of the keys and you've got it.

That's interesting, particularly since I'll be teaching an adult how to read through a volunteer thing at the library. I could bring that up if he happens to get sort of down on himself.

Anyways...

I got kind of bored with Bakunin: The Creative Passion, so I'm going to take a break from it and get another book to read. I was thinking of getting The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, but, might anyone else have some suggestions?

[Per Levy]

I too learned English by watching American tv shows :cool:

me too, to an extent that is. but shows like daria, kim possible and scrubs really helped a lot in learning english.

@X5N: cant give you any advice that wasnt allready posted, i only would say read something you know you'll like and that you'll get through easy and then work mayb read something more heavy. btw i really like you twilight avatar^^

[ColonelCossack]

i only understood the communist manifesto the second time I read it. to be fair, i was 10 or something the first time I read it but still.

<insert "lolol you still don't understand it cos ur a stalinoid lolololol here">