Hoy me gustaría retomar una de las claves para la mejora del inglés, la lectura. Como he mencionado otras veces a cualquiera le cuesta ponerse al principio, entiendes poco, tienes que buscar mucho en el diccionario y la lectura es muy pausada, sin embargo conforme vas cogiendo práctica es todo mucho más rápido.
Tras estar navegando un rato por la red he encontrado esta web, donde podemos leer de forma gratuita una gran cantidad de novelas clásicas.
He estado mirando unas cuantas y al final me he decantado por Arthur Conan Doyle y su Sherlock Holmes, por dos razones, está de moda con la película y me ha parecido más fácil de entender que otros. La primera aventura que aparece consta de 17 páginas, no os preocupés,son cortillas, y para amenizarlo un poco voy a poner la primera aquí junto a una lista de palabras que puedan resultar dificil de entender.
"I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go," said Holmes, as we sat down together to our breakfast one morning.
"Go! Where to?"
"To Dartmoor; to King's Pyland."
I was not surprised. Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not already been mixed upon this extraordinary case, which was the one topic of conversation through the length and breadth of England. For a whole day my companion had rambled about the room with his chin upon his chest and his brows knitted, charging and recharging his pipe with the strongest black tobacco, and absolutely deaf to any of my questions or remarks. Fresh editions of every paper had been sent up by our news agent, only to be glanced over and tossed down into a corner. Yet, silent as he was, I knew perfectly well what it was over which he was brooding. There was but one problem before the public which could challenge his powers of analysis, and that was the singular disappearance of the favorite for the Wessex Cup, and the tragic murder of its trainer. When, therefore, he suddenly announced his intention of setting out for the scene of the drama it was only what I had both expected and hoped for.
"I should be most happy to go down with you if I should not be in the way," said I.
"My dear Watson, you would confer a great favor upon me by coming. And I think that your time will not be misspent, for there are points about the case which promise to make it an absolutely unique one. We have, I think, just time to catch our train at Paddington, and I will go further into the matter upon our journey. You would oblige me by bringing with you your very excellent field-glass."
And so it happened that an hour or so later I found myself in the corner of a first-class carriage flying along en route for Exeter, while Sherlock Holmes, with his sharp, eager face framed in his ear-flapped travelling-cap, dipped rapidly into the bundle of fresh papers which he had procured at Paddington. We had left Reading far behind us before he thrust the last one of them under the seat, and offered me his cigar-case.
"We are going well," said he, looking out the window and glancing at his watch. "Our rate at present is fifty-three and a half miles an hour."
"I have not observed the quarter-mile posts," said I.
"Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one. I presume that you have looked into this matter of the murder of John Straker and the disappearance of Silver Blaze?"
"I have seen what the Telegraph and the Chronicle have to say."
"It is one of those cases where the art of the reasoner should be used rather for the sifting of details than for the acquiring of fresh evidence. The tragedy has been so uncommon, so complete and of such personal importance to so many people, that we are suffering from a plethora of surmise, conjecture, and hypothesis. The difficulty is to detach the framework of fact--of absolute undeniable fact--from the embellishments of theorists and reporters. Then, having established ourselves upon this sound basis, it is our duty to see what inferences may be drawn and what are the special points upon which the whole mystery turns. On Tuesday evening I received telegrams from both Colonel Ross, the owner of the horse, and from Inspector Gregory, who is looking after the case, inviting my cooperation.
Vocabulario:
Indeed: De hecho
Wonder: Asombro
One topic: El único tema
Through the length and breadth: A lo largo y ancho
Rambled about: Paseado
Chin: Barbilla
Chest: Pecho
Brows knitted: Fruncir el ceño
Deaf: Sordo
Glance over: Echar un vistazo
Tossed: Tirar
Brooding: Tramando
Therefore: Por eso
Field-glass: Prismáticos
Sharp, eager face framed in his ear-flapped travelling-cap: Afilada/Aguda, entusiasta cara enmarcada en su gorra de viajar con orejeras
Bundle: Paquete
Rate: Velocidad
Nor have I: Tampoco yo
Sifting: Escudriñamiento
Plethora: Plétora, significado según la RAE: "2. f. Gran abundancia de algo."
Surmise: Conjetura
Embellishments: Embellecimiento
Duty: Deber
Ante todo recomiendo calma y no desesperarse, lo importante no es entender el texto al 100% sino enterarse de la historia y poder seguirla aunque nos perdamos algunos detalles.
Creo que con las palabras que he puesto si le ponéis ganas e intentáis deducir alguna palabra que no entendáis no tendréis problema. De todas formas siempre podéis usar wordreference.com .
Un saludo
