Virginia Woolf´s books for foreign students

Question

Hello! I hope you are ok

I want to read very much Virginia Woolf´s books. However, the portuguese translations are a little bit expensive, each one between 15€ and 20€.
Although, I found out a english version with the more important 9 novels of Virginia, all of it only costs 9€.
But I would like to know if her english is easy for foreign speakers. Because I will only bought if i can read it fluency and understand at least 95% of the vocabulary.
My level of english is intermediate, I think. I have been studying at the CAE (C.1) level this year (I started last month).

So I would like to know if you think that I can read her books with no problems, or if it´s better save money for the portugues translations.

Thanks for your help,
Best regards,
Pedro

Dave_anon · Accepted Answer

Hi

You can get To the Lighthouse free on the web, so you could have a look at a few pages and see what you think

https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91t/

Dave

Anonymous · Answer

I would advise against Woolf for adult learners.  I'm a native English speaker in the US, and I have a hard time reading her.  As for translations, I'm skeptical.  How do you translate this stream-of-consciousness Edwardian chitchat into another language (it's difficult enough for modern English speakers to just wade through the 1920's syntax)?  Moreover, if you're trying to learn English, why read translations?

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousportuguese translations

No. You don't want to do that. Woolf's style, in my opinion, is so dependent on the rhythm of the English language that it's not worth it to read her works in translation, especially if you're learning English anyway.

I don't know if you'll be able to achieve 95% understanding as an intermediate student, but I suggest that you buy the collection now. It seems to me that it's a good price, and it's not going to get any less expensive as time goes on. You can save the difficult parts for when you're more advanced if it turns out that you aren't yet comfortable with it now.

Note that the language can get very impressionistic, however, and sometimes full of fantastic imagery, and that means that there are passages whose exact meaning is hard to grasp even if you know the meanings of the individual words. This aspect of Woolf's writing can be challenging for anybody, even for native speakers, so don't feel that a lack of understanding is just because of your level of English.

It seems to me that Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse are best to try first. You can even get the audio books for these and follow along in the text. That would be an excellent way for you to progress to the advanced level in English.

CJ

Virginia Woolf´s books for foreign students

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions