Rediscover your childhood. In a new language

I have read the Harry Potter books, the first one especially, too many times to put a number to it. They took me through my childhood years and they remain something I return to when I am feeling a need for a nostalgia trip. The first line in particular evokes a certain feeling of safety and warmth in me that few other books can, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much". So it's only natural that sitting here feeling a little homesick in Paris, I pick up Harry Potter once more. Though this time, with a more practical purpose. You see, I am reading the whole series in French. Along with my other various goals for my year abroad, any spare moment I get, I am re immersing myself in the fantastical world of my childhood favourite. And I really think that it is just as useful as the university lectures I am attending, the classic French literature I have to read for my course and any other contact I have in the language. I know the books so well that it means I don't need to keep on routing through dictionaries for words I don't know because I can just guess, and in this way I have expanded my vocabulary. I also enjoy reading them, so it is making the language immersion a positive experience for me, I don't resent being completely cut off from English because I feel just at home in the French Harry Potter universe as I do the English one. 

All this sounds a bit childish, but I really recommend picking up that book you read countless times and trying it in a new language. Like Czech for example (something I plan to do next semester). Once you have got past the initial hurdles of grammar and vocabulary and decide you want to tackle an actual work in the language, then a children's book is often the best place to start. The Internet has a copy of the Little Prince in Czech you can access from your browser.