The bigger branches are pretty, but my local branch is just a regular municipal building. Also, if you're a legal resident in Paris (which I'm guessing Jack is not since he's staying in Airbnbs), the public library is 100% free. You can pay a membership fee to the (private) American Library and it will pay for itself quite quickly.
french learning tip!! I’ve been learning french for the last 6 months or so but the thing that actually propelled me to understanding french the best was just diving into a book in french. I started with Twilight because I was familiar with that ( due to unfortunate childhood reading tastes from long ago). I was probably at the level you are now or just slightly ahead, and the first 50 pages I did a lot of written translating, but after that, words started repeating and grammar and different tenses became easier to grasp. I also read out loud to myself to help with speech. It became surprisingly easy to understand it written down. I am just now getting into a new, actual french poetry book “Les fleurs du mal” and that’s a little harder since I am not familiar with the writing.
I did this too , but with Roald Dahl at first, comics as well, then found a Percy Jackson novel, slowly going through them even if the story is a bit harsh because of the translation you definitely learn quickly . I also take notes when I find something new that I need to know. It makes reading part of the fun of learning which is great !
oh that's so funny, I'm French and I learnt English by reading Twilight ! "Les fleurs du mal" is not an easy book, congratulations ! Plus I always thought that poetry is harder to understand in a foreign language because you don't have as much context to understand the words you don't know. Maybe you should read books that you don't know cause it keeps you gooing to know what happens. I definitely started with fiction to learn English. But I'm curious to know how Jack is learning French too !
I've learned french for a few years (stopped for a few years, and I'm beginning to pick it up again for the past few weeks) and I have to agree! I used to attend a French embassy-sponsored French language institute and they have a cute little library filled with French books (from upper beginner level to advanced) so I sometimes borrowed books from there. I wasn't that familiar with french literature other than the difficult classics so i just read popular English books translated into French, including Hunger Games :) if I don't understand the words, I just translate them using google translate, and for better understanding of the context, i just search it on google and read online dictionaries I know there are better translation apps out there but google translate is so handy for quickly discovering the meaning of a word!
@@delphinegras1423 Yeah “les fleurs du mal” is still quite challenging for me, but it is so heartening how much I am able understand. Do you have any french fiction recs?
@@elisabethjmusic maybe L'étranger by Camus (which Jack likes), I would maybe recommend Marguerite Duras, she write with short sentences, but that's also kind of classic, a more contemporary author would be Eric Emmanuel Schmitt, he's very popular and maybe as @A Happy French Toast said read popular English books in French.
Shakespeare and Co is definitely expensive because of its fame... And don't even get me started on the Abbey bookshop...! I think you would definitely like Gibert Joseph (a 10min walk from Shakespeare, you go towards the Abbey bookshop but instead of turning in the little street, you pass the Sorbonne and go towards Odéon). On the 2nd floor there is a great selection of English books. Some of them are 2nd hand (but most of the time in pristine condition) and are wayyyy cheaper. The new ones are also way cheaper than at Shakespeare. They have everything from classics to new releases, from sci-fi to romance etc. It's not as pretty as Shakespeare or the Abbey bookshop, but the price and the selection are on point! Hope I'll get to see you in one of those bookshops one day! Enjoy parisian bookstores 😊
I’m French and as soon as I learned that you were in Paris I was like “he absolutely needs to go to Shakespeare and Co” soooo yeah glad you liked it It really is lovely, I loved it :))
I love this sm! Paris has always been a literary city to me and this only stimulates that thought. The video gives a very lovely vibe and it’s a great motivation to read books!
So glad you went here ! As a parisianer, I am always disappointed when people only mention the Shakespeare and Co, because the guy from the Abbey Bookshop is soo nice, he offers cups of tea sometimes, and he has an impressive knowledge of the exact location of his books in all this messy organization. And the lady from The Redwheelbarrow is a gem !
This reminds me of when I was living in Czech Republic, and there was ONE English bookshop - the Big Ben Bookshop. I was a teen and devouring books way too quickly. Also you saw Detransition Baby! twice in those bookshops so I think it's a sign to do a Trans Literature Read
The fact that you were 10 meters away from my flat drives me crazy but at the same time makes me realise how lucky i am to live there thanks for this. Amazing edits ❤️❤️ bisous
Amazing! When I was in Paris I didn't have room in my backpack to bring any books with me. One day I'll go back and spend the entire trip book shopping.
The Master and Margarita is on my Russian Literature syllabus this year at uni (haven't covered it yet though) so it'll be interesting to hear your thoughts once you've read it! For a quick lil Russian read, I'd recommend The Government Inspector, a play by Gogol :)
MaM is an absolute masterpiece, really easy to read and still difficult to understand all of the details. Especially when you realise that this book was banned in USSR and Mikhail Bulgakov got absolutely nothing from this mind-changing story
@@dsshbrd I listened to it as an "audiobook" on public radio in the US, while I was working in a darkroom, back in the 1980s. It took many 1 or 2-hour daily broadcasts to finish but I remember enjoying listening to it.
I don’t know if you already know or if someone else already mentioned it but there are two other bookstores that I know of that have a nice variety of books in English and they’re both close to each other. They’re called Galignani and WHSmith. They’re next to les Tuileries! Loved this video!
the reason why books in Europe are more expensive is that most countries have „Fixed Book Price“ which means, that if a book is published and for sale it has the same price in ALL shops. and you mostly can't even apply coupon codes on books. that‘s why they’re always “so expensive“ i hope i explained it right haha. Great Britain does not have a Fixed Book Price (FCB)
I think books are also more expensive (in France) because they’re printed in France most of the time whereas it’s not always the case for English books. For instance when I went to England I bought books which had all been printed in China which I think explains why it was quite cheap (£9) since the cost of production probably wasn’t very high considering how little Chinese workers are paid compared to European standards I don’t think if it’s the case for all books in England but I suppose that can account for the difference of price 🧐
True, the basic book price in the Netherlands is €20. The price is lower when a book has many reprints after a number of years. I believe most books are printed in China, because that's indeed cheaper, like everything else that's manufactured in China.
I get very upset when I buy a book that has seen several hands,be sold quite steeply in Greece.And when I point out that it has been read several times and should lower the price,the sellers give me the stink eye and say don’t buy it then.Charity shops in England have been my saving grace.
I love the different world view your videos bring! It seems like everyone that vlogs in the US lives in NYC or LA which have a totally different culture and history from Paris. So cool!!♥️♥️♥️
This is an old vlog no? From your first appartment in Paris I think. Wish I could go on book hauls. I was so jealous of your Instagram stories. You've been planning your book for so long? Woah!! I love your editing. Always!!💖💖
I recently read "no modernism without lesbians" by diana souhami and it was super interesting especially because the first part focuses on sylvia beach who was the founder of shakespeare and company so you read a lot about her and the bookshop and its origins
Book shopping is like having a fuzzy blanket on whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea and having some Sufjan Stevens softly playing in the back when it’s raining and it’s 5 degrees outside and you know you don’t have anything important to do the entire day✨ The abbey bookshop looked magical Jack😍 I am so going there when I do visit Paris
My top recommendation for a French book for a learner is Le Petit Prince. Most books are written in the past historic (le passé simple), which is quite difficult if you're new to French. Le Petit Prince, being a children's book, is written in le passé composé, so is much more accesible.
me going to a bookstore and saying, I'll not buy a book. never comes true haha. but i love to shop books secondhand, it's better for the environment and it's cheaper haha:) great video as always!!
Buying english books in France is so darn expensive 😭 they add a tax on books here and since it's not included in the production planing in foreign countries, it just gets added on and they cost like 25€ instead of 12€-15€ (which is the typical price of a newly released book in France, btw)
Hahaha "in the fifteenth and in the sixteenth arrondissement", for a parisianer this is so cute, no Jack, those are the 5th and 6th arrondissement ! The 15th and 16th are far away from the center of Paris and much less touristic ! Where you've been, the 5th and 6th, os the "quartier latin" where there are some of the major universities in Paris like la Sorbonne, thus, where all of the students go, thus, where all the bookshops are ! You have a ratio of bookshops per meter as nowhere in Paris !
Hi Jack! Two more English bookstores for you : the Galignani bookstore (my favourite) and Smith&Son, which are on the same street in the 1st arrondissement the Rivoli Street. I was so nice watching you discover my favorite parts of Paris lol
In the opening scene I was so confused. You - British, apartament - Parisian, that red movie poster - Polish. Love the diversity and randomness of my language appearing. I'm wondering what's the movie full title, tho.
Very good video! There are two other good bookstores with books in English in Paris, la Librairie Galignani and the other one isSmith and Son. These two are really nearby each other, you can take metro 1.
I just finished Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, which is about a young America boy who also moved to Paris. I hope that your time there is nothing like his at all!! It's a sad read but I would recommend it and would like to see what you think if you haven't read it yet
Oops, you haven't quite got your head round the arrondissements yet 😉 (Im sure soon you'll soon be associating the 16th with the leathery bourgeoisie of the city) 👍
Just added The Master and Margarita: 50th Anniversary Edition to the book order I'm going to put in on Friday! lol I am ordering the books for the course I'm teaching next term but I needed one book just for me so this video came at the perfect time lol
I live in Aix-en-Provence and we have a really nice Eng bookstore here, Book in Bar. It sounds like the books are more expensive in Paris, atl some of them.
I have all this energy and happiness currently and I just wanted to document it somewhere. I hate those cringy comments like have an amazing day but to whomever sees this, I wish you a wonderful life. Savour every moment - good and bad.
'Shakespeare and Company' was also in film 'Before Sunset' so maybe that's also why some of the tourists go there. Great film, btw - the whole trilogy.
I’d just like to say, I’ve been really struggling with motivation and confidence really and watching Jack achieve what he has, knowing that we’re from the same town in the UK, went to the same Secondary School, and both studying English degrees at uni. It’s been really inspirational and just from these blogs have been really helpful to me. So thank you for that
Books are even more expensive in Finland. 21€? I WISH. I really enjoyed my little trip to Paris, aka this video. Only one problem. WE DIDN’T SEE THE CAT?! Or did we?
THE NOTE ON THE PIANO 😭😭 "did you sing the Italian national anthem with a friend playing the piano at 16:30 on 20th November? If so, come to the poetry clash, someone is trying to find you" I DON'T WANT ROMANCE IF IT ISN'T THIS
As Soon as you mentioned the master and margarita I was like I hope your doing a video on Joe from “You” and then u got desperate characters I got even more exited. Would be cool if you include books “Beck” and “Love” read also cause I believe Joe recommended books to Beck so he read them and Love recommended books to Joe so he read them also.
In France, books are really expensive. Sometimes, i'm a bit surprised when I buy english books and paying just 10 euros. Most of the books i've bought was around 16/18 euros.
