Short Stories in [language] for Beginners

[aravinda]

The Short Stories for Beginners series by Olly Richards has been released as Short Stories in [language] for Beginners by Teach Yourself/ John Murray Learning. The audio version is also available from Audible.

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[Stefan]

I genuinely hope that they are better than the Kindle edition. Is there any info on how it differs? These seem quite thick, considering the length of the stories.

[rdearman]

Am I the only one who had to google to figure out who the hell Olly Richards is?

[CarlyD]

I heard about him by reading lots of language blogs--he is referred to often and has a nice website.

I checked Amazon and the books won't be released in the US until November. The German one is 262 pages for $10, so I'll probably be getting it.

[drmweaver2]

I checked Amazon and the books won't be released in the US until November. The German one is 262 pages for $10, so I'll probably be getting it.

I ordered it...will be waiting 'til November like you said. Amazon didn't indicate the late release when I ordered it... so my money's tied up and I have to wait for it...Very frustrating as a number of (in)famous polyglots have made "readings" on YouTube promoting this.

At this point, "frustrating" doesn't cover it for me. Disappointed is closer. That may change when I actually get ahold of the book.

[jeff_lindqvist]

I think Olly's presentation on Cantonese was the first one I attended at the first Polyglot Gathering in Berlin (2014). I was already reading his blog back then. Sure, in these days when many polyglots have their own blog or channel, you can't stay up to date with everyone (nor do you have to).

[Jaleel10]

I have the Spanish beginner books 1 & 2. Quality stuff.

[Xmmm]

The reviews on the Russian version are mixed, but reading them it sounds like the people who like the book are less informed than those who don't. Those who don't like it point to a large number of incorrect translations, as well as the fact the pages have more white space than text.

For Russian learners, there are already quality graded readers by Классное Чтение and Red Kalinka, but they are not necessarily either cheap or easy to find for people learning Russian, so maybe the inferior product is benefiting from this knowledge gap ...

I just wonder what need this product serves, because the FIGS certainly already have graded readers ... seems like marketing "I am a polyglot, trust me" etc.

[jeff_lindqvist]

I just wonder what need this product serves, because the FIGS certainly already have graded readers ... seems like marketing "I am a polyglot, trust me" etc.

There's probably no real need for say, experienced polyglots who have their methods, already know where to find resources and so on. But a beginner may find the material useful. Some learners never leave textbooks and readers, so there must be a market. There may be 99 other similar options, but you'll still sell yours even it's for the most common languages.

(Slightly related - Benny Lewis released a number of Language Hacking books under the Teach Yourself label. I wouldn't be surprised if he's sold a fair number of copies outside the "polyglot community" - and I also wouldn't be surprised if a rather low number has been sold within the same community.)

[iguanamon]

...There's probably no real need for say, experienced polyglots who have their methods, already know where to find resources and so on. But a beginner may find the material useful. Some learners never leave textbooks and readers, so there must be a market. There may be 99 other similar options, but you'll still sell yours even it's for the most common languages.

I agree. Well said, Jeff. Just because this kind of stuff is old hat to most of us who are experienced learners, well, we know what we're doing and how to find good resources. We even know how to make our own when they don't exist. True beginners don't. Some of them may find their way here to the forum. The vast majority don't and won't. If this series helps some of them to branch out beyond courses, that's a good thing. Maybe some of the folks who buy these will discover that they can learn by reading and may even branch out to real TL books.

As an analogy, I have been fascinated by sprachprofi and emk's use of subs2srs for language-learning... especially emk's use of Avatar. While I can make my own parallel texts and find my own "graded" reading for some of my less commonly studied languages, I do not have the programming skills to use subs2srs. Most explanations start with assuming programming knowledge and use of linux machines... which most of us just don't have a clue about. If a dumbed-down subs2srs were available for a language I was interested in- or even a diy "load program for windows and insert dvd and out comes subs2srs", I'd buy it. Same goes for folks who don't know how to start reading. This is easy, if they use TY, then the readers follow on from that. That's not my cup of tea, but to each their own.