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 #2 (permalink) Thu Jun 08, 2006 22:56 pm Old English, Middle English and Shakespeare |
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| Englishuser wrote: |
| Have many of you read Old English or Middle English texts? How do you find reading such old texts? |
I don't find them problematic, because I could read German, French and Swedish before I tried Old English. I taught the history of English one semester and I did a good deal of reading with the students, especially of Old English, because unless I sat and helped them like that, they would have understood almost nothing. They said the practice helped them in their lit courses.
| Englishuser wrote: |
| Have you read texts from the Old English Period in translation into modern English? |
Yes, some are good, some are not. There is an interesting translation of Beowulf that was done in a similar split meter to the original.
One of the things I found was that some American country songs have what amounts to Old English meter.
| Englishuser wrote: |
| What kind of texts from these eras are you acquainted with (literary works or scientific texts [scientific texts especially from the Middle English period are widely available])? |
I prefer people's eyewitness accounts of things that were happening at the time. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 6552
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #3 (permalink) Thu Jun 08, 2006 23:20 pm Old and Middle English |
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Hi again, Jamie,
And thanks for your post. It's nice to know that you've taught the history of English: knowing this I can post a question concerning Old or Middle English should I have someting particularly tricky to reflect on.
I'm also very pleased to find a university professor like you here on an ESL forum. I dare say that very few professors, at least older ones, would bother to use forums like this: I would assume that most of them use forums that are targeted for academics.
Best wishes. |
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Englishuser
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 06 Jun 2006
Posts: 806
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| Learning to pronounce individual English words | Received Pronunciation |
