Do British people understand Hamlet without using any special dictionary?

Answer 1

"To understand his work I would look into studying old english." Shakespeare is not written in Old, Olde, or Archaic English. If you took a course on Old English, you would never study Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote in Early Modern English or Renaissance English.

No, British people don't understand Hamlet any better because many of the words are hundreds of years old and not in the current vocabulary. Also, Shakespeare's works are very artistic, meaning that most people need help deciphering the double entendres, the meanings of phrases (nothing to do with language, but rather intent of the author), and seeing the artistic license and where it leads.

There are the Barrons versions of Shakespeare's books that have the original text on one side of the page and the 'translation' on the other side. You should read the regular version first and then go back through and compare them side to side.

Good luck to you! : )

Answer 2

I take it you are not British, but Hamlet is very definitely written in modern English, as opposed to Middle or Old English. Granted there are a few words and phrases in Shakespeare that are unfamiliar, but seriously you shouldn't need a dictionary to understand it if you have a reasonably good grasp of proper English to start with.

Answer 3

Modern British people speak pretty much the same english as americans so probably not. The English used by Shakespeare isnt really used regularly by anyone anymore. To understand his work I would look into studying old english. Mostly its just learning a few core words and then reading it slowly until you know you understand it. Skakespeare' work are not quick reads for the average reader.

Answer 4

Not neccessarily.

Shakespeare uses some words that archaic English whether you are American or British. You can often understand what he means, however, because of the context of the sentence.

I have found that as you listen to Shakespeare, in a few minutes your ear will adapt and less effort is required to understand and enjoy, keeping in mind that Shakespeare was meant to be seen and heard, not just read.

Answer 5

I'm American and I understand Shakespeare just fine, the reason being that I make an effort to look things up if I don't understand them, and otherwise, I just wade through it patiently. Most people today do not have the patience for the older works, which need to be savored over an extended period of time. Do not pick up the Aenid for example if you are trying to kill half an hour. You need to have a good eight hours or more to devote to such things.

Answer 6

Yes, well I'm not British but my English is quite good so it's OK i can understand it. Of course is far better if you use a dictionary but if you can't equally you'll understand.
Try reading the old manuscripts of Beowulf, you'll be totally shocked, only experts can read that!

Answer 7

I'm ENGLISH, same as that sod everyone goes on about. Just listen to how it sounds, don't worry about the meaning. It'll sink in after a while. even if it doesn't, it doesn't matter, because shakespeare is old old old dusty stuff. try some 20th century british stuff. it's still relelvant. 1984 is the obvious one, horse's mouth by joyce cary (filmed btw) is less obvious. & really bloody good. forget shakespeare, he was an idiot and a thief.

Answer 8

Do American people understand Tom Sawyer without using any special dictionary?

Answer 9

if people had any serious difficulty understanding shakespeare then every time a company put on one of his plays nobody would come.

in fact shakespeare is still by far the most popular playwright in the british isles.

a few people have trouble understanding shakespeare - but such people can't really manage anything more challenging than the cartoon channel - so we needn't worry about them.

Answer 10

Did Shakespeare understand Hamlet? He was Danish after all and Dansk is one mother of a language, though not as bad as Finnish which is half norwegian, half dolphin I believe.