Hallo there,
I wonder if to read Agatha Christie, as a learner of English, would be a good idea. Is her style old-fashioned?
What do you think?
agatha christie is one of the most successful english authors of all the time it’s definitely not old fashioned.i don’t know your level of english but i would recommend it if you like it .you should read things you are interested in
I believe that reading is always very useful.
I remember my reading Agatha Cristie was enjoyable for me because of her very clear British English.
Of course, some words can be old-fashioned, however, all works of great writers even from 19th century give a lot for the learners.
It is stupid to search only for the texts with modern style and vocabulary because already in 2-3 years some words can be old-fashioned.
And in any case, the most words and structures keep to be used.
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Thank you, josephtk! My level isn’t bad, I think. What is intersting in this case is that I can easly find her books with audios. I’ll take your recommendation, indeed.
I enjoy reading your comments, evgueny40, and this is a good one! I’ll read Her for sure. Thank you for your time, I appreciate!
I think I’ve only read one book of Agatha Christie in English as I had already read a ton of them in French. Anyway, I personally don’t think it’s bad to read “old-fashioned” books. Sure, you’re unlikely to have to speak like Shakespeare or O.Wilde, but what I’ve found is that old-fashioned or more complex books help you understand better how the language works. If you keep on reading, say, John Grisham, your English never gets challenged. What’s really made me love English is litterature. English is more than a language used by anybody, it’s more than 5-word sentences and some slang in songs and series.
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In my opinion, old-fashioned is not an issue at all.
What might be an issue though, is that her books rarely deal with any deeper thoughts and ideas. It is always a murder case and how a detective closes in on the culprit through reasoning.
So I think her books are good for beginners (A1 and A2) but not for someone already at B1 or higher. And when I say this, I mean reading the book with an aid - like, I always read such books side-by-side with a translation so I can get over difficult parts easier by checking the translation. This way you can read much higher level books than your comprehension level otherwise allows - and for me this seems to work well.
Anyway, my point is, if you’re already at B1 or higher level, why not aim for greater works with deeper insights as well as wider vocabulary and better constructed sentences than AC might offer. AC is unfortunately too much of a pastime catering to the simplest kind of curiosity in my opinion. I was reading the French version of Murder on the Orient Express and I dropped it two thirds of a way into it. I felt I was reading the same kind of dull sentences over and over (it might be partly because of poor translation too, I suppose), and the murder mystery was not my main interest anyway. After switching to a Michel Houllebecq book I feel like my time is much better spent as everything seems better written with wider vocabulary.
Thanks @userstk.I have to read one book of hers to find out what you’re saying. I’ve already bought “Elephants Can Remember”, and very soon I’ll start reading it.