Language Barrier

One of the greatest challenges that comes with studying historic grimoires and occult texts is being able to comprehend what is being read. There are three variations to this challenge; the first would be that most are in languages that are not only foreign, but very different from any modern language. Even if you speak Modern French fluently, it would be difficult to get much out of a text in Old French, as language evolves drastically over hundreds of years. The second challenge is that of reading a text that is translated loosely, though is still written in a style more Shakespearean than modern; it is still readable, but is still trying. The third, and probably the worst, is trying to read a text that has been translated very poorly. Most older translations are translated word for word. This brings up several problems; grammar is often horrible or nonexistent, and hardly any of the "translated" text makes sense. Obviously, this is all quite problematic. With the exception of poorly translated texts (in which case one can find a better edition of the text), the only way to cope with such dilemmas is to practice, practice, practice. I recommend reading Shakespeare plays, old poems, pretty much anything from that era. Doing so is guaranteed to make studying easier and enjoyable.