A language learners’ forum

I'm in on this challenge, as I have a small collection of short stories I plan to read/study through the year.

Languages

Bengali and German

Goals/Books to Read

For Bengali:

• গল্পগুচ্ছ - রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর (Short stories by Robindranath Thakur) - contains 13 short stories
• টুনটুনির বই - উপেন্দ্র কিশোর রায়চৌধুরী (Tailorbird stories by Upendra Kishore Raychaudhuri) - 12 short stories

Goal for Tailorbird is to reread the stories; for Thakur is to get through at least four [they are tough].

For German:

• German: Short stories 1 edited by Richard Newnham (Penguin Parallel Text) - contains 8 short stories
• Die richtige Taste: Johann Sebastian Bach, by Achim Seiffarth
• Schach Novelle, by Stefan Zweig - to reread

Goal is to read all of these.

Cèid Donn wrote:Are we expected to post reviews for this year's challenge?

no, this feels like overkill, especially if you read a 3-page story
but it's totally fine to post a review if you want, or just write 1-2 sentences about the story. it just isn't obligatory.

Languages and levels: Russian (reading level B1/B2)
Goal: I do not know, as many as I can
Books you plan to read: Anton Chekhov's short stories

Source: http://az.lib.ru/c/chehow_a_p/

I'm in. I have so many books that just sit as I keep chasing online programs and textbooks.

Languages and levels:
German A1 right now.
Goal: (how many stories)
Firm goal=12. Personal goal of 52. We'll see.
Books you plan to read:
I have a German classic mysteries book that I bought at Schoenhof's sale that hasn't arrived yet. That's definitely in.
I need to go through the rest of my books to decide what else.

Is there any minimum/maximum page limits? Does it have to be a stand-alone short story, or could a book with several chapters count?

CarlyD wrote:
Is there any minimum/maximum page limits? Does it have to be a stand-alone short story, or could a book with several chapters count?

I've been under the impression that there's some flexibility here depending on your level and ability, which makes sense, since for example, I can read 15 or so pages in Gaelic or French in the same time it'd take me to read 4 pages in Indonesian or 2 pages in Japanese. I think there needs to be some leeway there.

As for a chaptered book, I'll let Serpent answer that. Short stories technically can be chaptered, but they are different from novels in that they are short and concise story-telling. If it's like a fairy tale, a fable or a folk tale, just written in chapters, I think it likely could count as a short story as those tend to stick to the same idea of concise story-telling that doesn't wander from the main characters and plot.

Signing up for this challenge since it's one I will definitely be able to complete!

Languages and levels:
Korean, high beginner/low intermediate
Goal: at least 15
Books you plan to read:

Diary of Dana in Korea. It's a comic with 15 9 page chapters. It seems very good for vocabulary building so far so am using this as a stepping stone to more complicated stories.
Aesop's stories, if not too simple/boring.
Once upon a time in Korean. Fairy tales of about 3 pages each. I've read about half of the 23 stories already.
https://storybookscanada.ca/stories might read a few stories on this site I found, if the translations are actually well-written.

I have some more stories but am unsure if I will be able to read all of them.

Cèid Donn wrote:I've been under the impression that there's some flexibility here depending on your level and ability, which makes sense, since for example, I can read 15 or so pages in Gaelic or French in the same time it'd take me to read 4 pages in Indonesian or 2 pages in Japanese. I think there needs to be some leeway there.

As for a chaptered book, I'll let Serpent answer that. Short stories technically can be chaptered, but they are different from novels in that they are short and concise story-telling. If it's like a fairy tale, a fable or a folk tale, just written in chapters, I think it likely could count as a short story as those tend to stick to the same idea of concise story-telling that doesn't wander from the main characters and plot.

There are simply no requirements you can read very short stories in a language you know well, that's up to you.
It's optional to list your languages and levels, this is just for the sake of comparison.

The max length is about 40-50 pages. Generally each story should make sense on its own, though it's certainly fine if they're connected.
A story itself can be split into small chapters and that's fine, but a regular novel that has chapters is not a short story book.

Languages and levels: German (B2)
Goal: 10 stories
Books you plan to read: Grimm'sche Märchen u. A.
A link to your profile/shelf on Goodreads, LibraryThing etc: I have a Goodreads account, but I don't really use it. I'll try keep track of it in my signature.

Languages and levels: Chinese - intermediate B1~
Goal: 19
Books you plan to read: Short stories collection at Popup Chinese (with audio)
http://popupchinese.com/lessons/short-stories

A link to your profile/shelf on Goodreads, LibraryThing etc:
I read a blog post in Luca Lampariello's site and became intrigued with the method introduced. I'll probably do this with the said method.
https://www.lucalampariello.com/reading-out-loud/

samothin wrote:Languages and levels: Chinese - intermediate B1~
Goal: 19
Books you plan to read: Short stories collection at Popup Chinese (with audio)
http://popupchinese.com/lessons/short-stories

A link to your profile/shelf on Goodreads, LibraryThing etc:
I read a blog post in Luca Lampariello's site and became intrigued with the method introduced. I'll probably do this with the said method.
https://www.lucalampariello.com/reading-out-loud/

Tried doing 1 short story from Popup Chinese. Definitely way above my comprehension level. I'm replacing Popup Chinese with Learning Chinese through Stories podcast, similar approach.

Since the stories are shorter (below 10 minutes read) I'm aiming for 30 stories instead.