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Clayton Davis's avatar

Children seem to do a lot of re-reading and rewatching material seemingly without getting bored. But adults are more easily bored with repetition. I often re-read shorter stuff like articles, but rarely re-read a full-length book.

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Shea Co's avatar

Hi Clayton! You're right about children being able to consume the same material over and over. I wish I had the will to do so. You make a fantastic point about rereading shorter stuff. I should try to incorporate shorter reads into my routine so that there'll be less resistance in picking them back up.

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Clayton Davis's avatar

Yes, I prefer short stories now because I can put the book down for a few months without worrying. I also like news articles

for similar reasons.

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Oleg's avatar

Personally, I don't mind rereading and relistening- I can't say I give it 100% of my attention on reruns, but there's something cosy about familiarity with the material.

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Shea Co's avatar

Ooooh, you just gave me an idea of listening to a book I've read instead of rereading it. I enjoy putting on shows I've previously seen on loop as well. If it's episodic, it makes good background play.

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Victoria's avatar

No part of me ever enjoys re-reading even if it was a 5 star read. Once I've done something once theres no more enjoyment so I don't want to do it again 😅

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Shea Co's avatar

I KNOW. I even thought I would enjoy Harry Potter in Japanese because I've read the book multiple times when I was younger. It wasn't magical at all. Clayton made a great point about rereading shorter stuff while Oleg gave me the idea of relistening instead. Life's too short to waste on tedious things, especially when L2 books take forever to consume.

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Oleg's avatar

One additional point to make -- there are books that are interesting to read in translation because you know the original is rather inventive and playful the language. That includes children's books. For example, Alice in Wonderland in a good translation reads maybe not like a completely different book, but it reads very fresh, especially if you're at a high level with the language and you can spot different puns and creative ways references that otherwise would be missed were translated and adapted. (but that's maybe the translator in me speaking). There's a lot of aha! moments basically that stick well with me.

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Victoria's avatar

Most of these well known books I've actually never read in English. I think Alice in Wonderland may be a good book for me to read in French!

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Victoria's avatar

Sometimes the magic is in the first time we experience something!

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Oleg's avatar

Now that's a hot take if there was one :)

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Shea Co's avatar

I wanna reread like Kato Lomb but my heart wont make me!

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