I'm middle aged and, despite being educated as an engineer, I work around mostly blue-collar types and don't get exposed to many educated people anymore. I feel like my English is getting worse, simpler. I've never been the psuedo-intellectual type, but I feel like I've been at a loss of words lately and unable to express myself and ideas. I think being around uneducated people all the time, is causing me to lose some of mine when it comes to the English language.
Does Veeky Forums have any recommended reading for an engineer who needs a brush up on English?
Herman Melville, only read Moby-Dick but I would guess that the rest are similar.
David Foster Wallace, Infinite jest, started a while back and put it down because there were so many words I didn't know. A lot of the words seem to me to never been used in real life but if you want quantity of words, try it.
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or maybe Dubliners ( Was a while now ).
Vladimir Nabokov, personal favorite and you will learn some French as well...
Charles Dickens, not a personal favorite but still worth checking out.
Andrei Bely's book Petersburg translated by Dacid McDuff.
Isaiah Gray
Read a Nabokov novel. He uses big words a lot but not so much that it feels like translating another language. Just write down all of the words you don't understand as flashcards and study them.
Oliver Harris
Thank you. Yeah, I'm not looking for it to be so advanced I have to put it down, so probably Wallace might not be the best for me. It's more just re-learning how to be well-spoken. I figure good literature is the best way.
I'll check out all these authors, thank you.
Which Nabokov novels do you recommend? Lolita? I read that a while back, is there another worth attempting?
Jayden Reed
Dictionary
Nathan Adams
Wallace Stevens. /thread
Leo Brooks
Read literally anything and look up words you don't know. It's that simple. I'd say it takes at least 1-2 years of dedicated reading to start noticing the effects of such a practice.
Ethan Long
My Nabokov list is in order
Lolita Pale Fire Speak, memory Pnin
Pale Fire is considered his masterpiece by a lot of people and if you have read Lolita go for it. Speak, memory is an autobiography but still a good read.
Ryan King
Kauppisen Petekö se siellä enklantia opettelee,,, kjeh kjeh ... Lontoon herratko,, maata haluaa siirtää ... kjeh kjeh ... Se on kuule Olovi kolmosella ja lihaksilla työ ukot töitä tekkee.... ei kIELILLÄ... KJEH HEH HEH HEH
Jaxson Rivera
Frank Herbert, Dune
Nathaniel Fisher
Read Veeky Forums and reddit. Srs. (I'm new here, what does Veeky Forums think of my advice?)
Nicholas Rodriguez
Cheers
Angel Stewart
Veeky Forums has done irreparable damage to my grammar
John Foster
>No response OP aren't you finnish? Would feel a right doofus if you weren't
Julian Roberts
I think that's part of my problem though. I work with uneducated, many of whom haven't graduated high school, and then I go home and shitpost on a Mongolian basket weaving forum.
Blake Martin
Not Finnish, but I love your memes. :o)
Jaxson Collins
Okay, the earlier post in english
Is it Pete Kauppinen there learning enklish,,, kjeh kjeh ... Do the lords of London,, want to move land .... kjeh kjeh ... Lissen here, it's Olvi 3 and muscle that the work man uses to get the job done.... not laNGUAGES... KJEH HEH HEH HEH
Jayden Reyes
...
Jeremiah Murphy
I just suggest to read a lot. But try to avoid pandering genre stuff, try to stick to unique works that also interest you and just read a lot.
Posting online can also help sometimes :)
Angel Gomez
Thanks user, sounds like I just need to get to reading. :o)
Yeah, posting online helps me write better. I try my best to write well on Veeky Forums even (with varying success).
