Please advice about how to understand Novels better!:(

"Strange" in what respect?

If you read a novel written over a hundred years ago its style will be different from novels written now, so can be hard to follow. Readers in the 19C would have said the same about novels written in the 18C.

What may help you is making notes as you go along.

Write down in a notebook the name of each character as you first meet them, their relationship to others (spouse, sister, parent, employer or employee etc.).

Then each important incident, in just a few words ("Mary met John - fell in love", or "Sam now employed by Smith & Sons".)


Most words in English mean the same now as they did two hundred years ago. A few words have changed their meanings, and realistic dialogue will show slang and colloquial language of its time.

The real changes are in the style: the way sentences are put together, so you need break them down to see their key words. Something like this....

Nineteenth-Century writers loved to be prolix, creating very long sentences that may be hard to follow even though their messages are quite straightforwards upon close examination.

Or, the same message in modern, lighter style:

Nineteenth-Century writers loved long sentences that look difficult but say simple things.

.

I hope this helps!

Me again... short for, "here I am again."

Learning a foreign language usually means learning to read and write it. That usually means learning it in a formal and correct way, the way most graduates of humanities at university would write and speak.
If it included learning to understand it aurally and speak it, the syllabus would rarely include updates in the latest colloquial usage, unless it were already widely used in the media and, even then, it would never be complete because living languages are always evolving.

I'm 68 years old. Within my lifetime, it's become more common to say, "I'm 68," and leave off the defining "years old". In English grammar, this dropping of a phase is called an elision, and occurs most often when the absent words are understood from the context.

Hardly anyone talks of finding a "parking place" anymore; they speak of finding a "park". The first time I heard it, I thought they meant a public place full of grass and trees - which would have indicated a major change of plan.

Some phrases are changed by political design, for instance, it was the rightwing think tanks that changed "global warming" to "climate change" - a shift of emphasis that denies the direction of mean global temperatures significantly rising. It's intended to deflect from the reality of what's really happening.

I've noticed a tendency for some people to drop personal pronouns where the person is known to the listener. So a text might read, "have a migraine, stayed home today," where it's understood that the writer is "I".

Language is amazing: a system of coding that enables us to understand fine nuances of meaning; be exact, ambiguous or deceptive; diplomatic or deliberately offensive; resolve issues, problems or disagreements; teach facts; trigger laugher; express feelings, values, culture, spirituality; draft constitutions and legislation, or conduct legal battles. The human brain itself is amazing that it can manage all this.

But because it's so complex and we are fallible, language is forever an imperfect medium. A person can test 100% perfect on a test of English vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and creativity, and still have trouble understanding others. One of the reasons is that very few native speakers ever reach 100% fluency in their own language.

So at least half the struggle in understanding others amounts to understanding context, tone of voice, gesture, facial expressions, and the peculiarities of the speaker or author. When these fail, there's no harm in asking, "sorry, what do you mean?"

Or, sending the question to the publisher...

Try reading any novel written by Joseph Conrad.
Born Polish, he learned to read and write English far better than most native speakers.
Though a little old fashioned now, his language is still clear and brilliant.

Contemporary novels frequently use the latest idioms and slang. I myself find this frustrating because I'm 68 and don't understand most of it.
I far prefer novels that use classic language that bears the test of time. These can often use idiom in the speech of characters to add realism (verisimilitude), but the context makes the meaning clear. Charles Dickens is the exemplar.

Alternatively, try dipping into many books in a library, or sampling first chapters online.
You'll eventually find writers whose style matches your well developed English.

I'd be curious to know what you're reading now.
What are some example of the strange words, or "sentences" in a strange order?

If you are having difficulty understanding historical novels because of the vocabulary or word order, there are plenty of study aids to help. The best advice I guess is to read lots by a particular author, or in a particular genre, to increase your familiarity and understanding of the literary style.

Or you could post things you don't understand here for discussion. It's always good to share ideas 🙂

I used to keep a dictionary close by, to look up new words. As for the word structure? I'd get used to it after 60 pages or so.

Strange words: that's the domain of a good dictionary.

If you read 19th cent British novels, the words are often either marked "archaic" or "obsolescent" in American dictionaries, AND the English tend to keep distinct shades of meaning (rather than claiming a set of words are all synonyms).

Some writers actually strive to use words which you have to look up, as a conceit / matter of pretentious pride...

An Author normally provides a synopsis of what they wrote to the publisher. If you aren’t afraid of spoilers to the plot then Blinkist provides summaries in bullet points, and GetAbstract offers summaries with articles and videos. Goodreads also provides brief summaries.
They will help you fill what you read into understandable “containers/summaries” that the synopsis provides.

Can you give us an example because I can’t think of any words or sentences put in a strange order in a published novel. I think that the problem it’s just that you need a better translator app