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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. Need book recommendations

Need book recommendations

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  • AxtremusA Axtremus

    @klaus said in Need book recommendations:

    I'll check out your suggestions, but I think you are overestimating the English capabilities of average 13yo Germans ๐Ÿ™‚ They'll maybe know a thousand words. They cannot construct an English sentence with more than five words that does not contain multiple errors. Reading books in a foreign language is really really hard.

    I applaud you and your son for taking this on. This is the first time I see anyone asking for book recommendations specifically to facilitate the learning of a second language. ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ‘

    The unfortunate thing is if I take your "1000 word vocabulary" assessment literally and try to map it to a native anglophone's age or grade level, this site maps it to below age five. I cannot think of any book written for five year olds that would have content that is interesting to a 13 year old. You may have to resort to graphic novels. :man-shrugging:

    KlausK Offline
    KlausK Offline
    Klaus
    wrote on last edited by
    #20

    @axtremus said in Need book recommendations:

    The unfortunate thing is if I take your "1000 word vocabulary" assessment literally and try to map it to a native anglophone's age or grade level, this site maps it to below age five.

    I found this mapping from grades to CEFR language levels:

    5th grade: A1
    6th grade: A1+
    7th grade: A2
    8th grade: A2+
    9th grade: B1
    10th grade: B1+
    12th grade: B2+

    My son is 7th grade, so level A2. According to this website A2 vocabulary is around 1500 words.

    I think it is in general a lot of work to speak a foreign language as good as a 5 year old native speaker.

    JollyJ 1 Reply Last reply
    • KlausK Klaus

      @axtremus said in Need book recommendations:

      The unfortunate thing is if I take your "1000 word vocabulary" assessment literally and try to map it to a native anglophone's age or grade level, this site maps it to below age five.

      I found this mapping from grades to CEFR language levels:

      5th grade: A1
      6th grade: A1+
      7th grade: A2
      8th grade: A2+
      9th grade: B1
      10th grade: B1+
      12th grade: B2+

      My son is 7th grade, so level A2. According to this website A2 vocabulary is around 1500 words.

      I think it is in general a lot of work to speak a foreign language as good as a 5 year old native speaker.

      JollyJ Offline
      JollyJ Offline
      Jolly
      wrote on last edited by
      #21

      @klaus said in Need book recommendations:

      @axtremus said in Need book recommendations:

      The unfortunate thing is if I take your "1000 word vocabulary" assessment literally and try to map it to a native anglophone's age or grade level, this site maps it to below age five.

      I found this mapping from grades to CEFR language levels:

      5th grade: A1
      6th grade: A1+
      7th grade: A2
      8th grade: A2+
      9th grade: B1
      10th grade: B1+
      12th grade: B2+

      My son is 7th grade, so level A2. According to this website A2 vocabulary is around 1500 words.

      I think it is in general a lot of work to speak a foreign language as good as a 5 year old native speaker.

      I think all the stuff I gave you was American 6th grade level, if that can work...

      โ€œCry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!โ€

      Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terroristsโ€™ "due process". โ€” Buck Sexton

      1 Reply Last reply
      • jon-nycJ Online
        jon-nycJ Online
        jon-nyc
        wrote on last edited by
        #22

        Percy Jackson is a good recommendation but could be beyond his English level. I can post a sample page or two.

        Only non-witches get due process.

        • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
        1 Reply Last reply
        • jon-nycJ Online
          jon-nycJ Online
          jon-nyc
          wrote on last edited by
          #23

          I could just send my boy over there for the summer.

          Only non-witches get due process.

          • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
          George KG KlausK 2 Replies Last reply
          • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

            I could just send my boy over there for the summer.

            George KG Offline
            George KG Offline
            George K
            wrote on last edited by
            #24

            @jon-nyc said in Need book recommendations:

            I could just send my boy over there for the summer.

            Partay at @jon-nyc 's house!

            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

            1 Reply Last reply
            • George KG George K

              Actually, what about some of the Tom Swift books?

              CopperC Offline
              CopperC Offline
              Copper
              wrote on last edited by Copper
              #25

              @george-k said in Need book recommendations:

              Actually, what about some of the Tom Swift books?

              Yes, obviously, no question

              This is number one on the list

              Maybe the Hardy Boys after this

              And Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer

              Edit

              And now I just noticed that there is a long line of new Tom Swift books written in the 80s, 90s and beyond. I am not familiar with these. The books from the 1950s are terrific.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • Catseye3C Catseye3

                Oo! Oo! I just thought of something! The Hardy Boys!

                "The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens."

                Go here: https://www.google.com/search?q="hardy+boys"&sxsrf=ALeKk02EN4Wa3RsCKc7Z7xK6S8SgBrsfgw%3A1623876662826&source=hp&ei=NmTKYOvkL4PD0PEP3_mlqAw&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYMpyRmhcWhW-RwA4wLDDBPyWrxh81rBr&oq="hardy+boys"&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBAgjECcyBAgAEEMyBAguEEMyBAgAEEMyBwgAEIcCEBQyBAgAEEMyAggAMgIILjICCAAyAgguOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQrwE6BQgAEMkDOgUIABCSAzoICC4QsQMQgwE6CwguEMcBEKMCEJMCOgUILhCxAzoFCAAQsQM6BwguEIcCEBRQ1jVY7oMBYLiHAWgBcAB4AYAByAOIAcEOkgEIMS4xMS40LTGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjr15P9g53xAhWDITQIHd98CcUQ4dUDCAk&uact=5

                brendaB Offline
                brendaB Offline
                brenda
                wrote on last edited by
                #26

                @catseye3 said in Need book recommendations:

                Oo! Oo! I just thought of something! The Hardy Boys!

                "The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens."

                Go here: https://www.google.com/search?q="hardy+boys"&sxsrf=ALeKk02EN4Wa3RsCKc7Z7xK6S8SgBrsfgw%3A1623876662826&source=hp&ei=NmTKYOvkL4PD0PEP3_mlqAw&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYMpyRmhcWhW-RwA4wLDDBPyWrxh81rBr&oq="hardy+boys"&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBAgjECcyBAgAEEMyBAguEEMyBAgAEEMyBwgAEIcCEBQyBAgAEEMyAggAMgIILjICCAAyAgguOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQrwE6BQgAEMkDOgUIABCSAzoICC4QsQMQgwE6CwguEMcBEKMCEJMCOgUILhCxAzoFCAAQsQM6BwguEIcCEBRQ1jVY7oMBYLiHAWgBcAB4AYAByAOIAcEOkgEIMS4xMS40LTGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjr15P9g53xAhWDITQIHd98CcUQ4dUDCAk&uact=5

                Darn! Cats beat me to this. Good job, Cats. ๐Ÿ™‚

                Yes, this series could be fun for your kiddo.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • jon-nycJ Online
                  jon-nycJ Online
                  jon-nyc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #27

                  Here's a sample of Percy Jackson writing:

                  Screen Shot 2021-06-16 at 11.07.56 PM.png

                  If you think that's too advanced, I have other suggestions of adventure stories but one problem you could find is that the books written at a reading level he'd be good with won't interest him because they're aimed at younger kids.

                  Only non-witches get due process.

                  • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                  KlausK 1 Reply Last reply
                  • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                    I could just send my boy over there for the summer.

                    KlausK Offline
                    KlausK Offline
                    Klaus
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #28

                    @jon-nyc said in Need book recommendations:

                    I could just send my boy over there for the summer.

                    Well, send him over, he'd be very welcome. But I'm afraid he'd learn more German than my boys would learn English ๐Ÿ™‚

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

                      Here's a sample of Percy Jackson writing:

                      Screen Shot 2021-06-16 at 11.07.56 PM.png

                      If you think that's too advanced, I have other suggestions of adventure stories but one problem you could find is that the books written at a reading level he'd be good with won't interest him because they're aimed at younger kids.

                      KlausK Offline
                      KlausK Offline
                      Klaus
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #29

                      @jon-nyc said in Need book recommendations:

                      If you think that's too advanced, I have other suggestions of adventure stories but one problem you could find is that the books written at a reading level he'd be good with won't interest him because they're aimed at younger kids.

                      That's a good suggestion. If it's a very well-known book or story, then there's a non-zero probability that I'll find specially prepared versions of the book that would contain footnotes and vocabulary lists for more advanced words.

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