I want to ask the person who thought of this---have you ever READ a book? Do you know WHY people read books? I don't need my life turned into cliffs notes FFS
I read books in French to help improve my French (and because I enjoy it). I do this by choosing books with straightforward language, or often by reading a book I know well in English translated into French. I do not look for a dumbed-down version of A La Recherceh Du Temp Perdu.
Literally said the same thing.
Purpose of my comment was to point out that MANY people do this. I don't judge bc many don't read at all, and rely on apps. I found copies of Maigret in "francais facile" but Simenon's language is already so Hemingway-like in it's simplicity, it seemed pointless.
Yes, and it's better to read a book originally written in the target language that has been simplified than one written in your native language. Because the idioms and style should still be there (if NOT written by AI but by human being).
The best option is to find writers who use simple language.
People read books to learn many languages. The method of "comprehensible input" requires reading books where 90% of the words are known.
Many adults get children's books to accomplish this.
And children's books are great for that, because a good children's book tells a complete, compelling story using the vocabulary and syntax chosen for that purpose. A more complex novel stripped down just becomes a boring and opaque string of incidents.
As someone who prefers to read Young Readers Edition nonfiction, I will say that conveying complex ideas simply is a skill and an art and best left in the hands of humans not robots.
