How should I learn English literature?

I think it is a good idea to read English literature to understand English once you have a basic vocabulary. I would start with novels, such as The House on Mango Street, Sadako and the Thousand Cranes, The Outsiders (also a film), Shiloh, and other novels for young adults. These are usually written at a level that is easier for people speaking English because the meaning is more concrete, that is, they are not abstract ideas.

Good luck! It may also help to get a novel to read and also on CD to listen to it at the same time...maybe from a library.

Learning English Literature and passing the SAT are two very different things. The best way to learn English Literature is to read it. That means everything from the campy Harry Potter, to the excruciatingly formal Jane Austen. It means detective stories by authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, and Dorothy Sayers. It means reading fantasy like Lord of the Rings, and the Tales of King Arthur. It means reading children's stories like Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, or Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. It means exploring some classic science fiction by HG Wells and Jules Verne. It means reading at least one example of Chaucer, Shakespeare, John Milton, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, CS Lewis, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Wilde, Thomas Hardy, and Samuel Johnson. It means sampling the Romantic Era poetry of Wordsworth, Keats, Yeats, Blake, Coleridge, Byron, and PB Shelley. Shelley's wife wrote Frankenstein, and that is another one to read. You should also read a good translation of Beowulf. Beowulf was written in old English, but it is still considered British Literature. And more... To pass the SAT, get a study guide. Ten years ago, my advice would have been very different, but with the way that NCLB has changed the views of testing, buy a study guide or use the online study resources.

I have a friend from Taiwan living and working in LA. He has been in business classes and working for his family here in the US. I would start by watching some DVDs of Shakespearean plays. If the Americans are easier to understand than the English, rent a DVD with American actors. Some of these DVDs actually follow the script of the play and you could find a copy of that anywhere. My degree is in English, and I think the most required upper level English course is one on Shakespear. He is arguably the greatest of English speaking authors, and if you can understand him you can get any other writer of English. Good luck and thanks for wanting to learn our language so well, even though people in England don't think americans speak their language.