A person who cannot learn seforim

Me in a nutshell… I do understand a little… But it’s not worth the trouble

English seforim are everywhere nowadays, so I do not believe it is entirely necessary

As well as some interesting articles on Chabad.org

Is this thread a back hand swipe at yeshivos?

I would recommend buying a sefer such as kitzur shulchan aruch with a Hebrew-English dictionary. Try going through a few halachos using the dictionary. Another sefer which may help you pick up basic Hebrew necessary to learn is Shaalos Rav ,questions of asked to Rav Chaim Kaniefsky. Each question is very short and is easy enough to pick up key words that are used in all seforim. You are correct that many seforim are translated but there are many amazing seforim which arent translated which are amazing. So it is worth the effort to try picking up basic Hebrew.

Slonimer this is very much me. I listen to or go to shiurim I find interesting and basic. I used to listen to shiurim that were so complicated I never walked away with anything. Now I only listen to simple digestible shiurim, usually on tikkun hamiddos. It is not a good feeling doing homework with my gemara learning son but with an English translation I get by and BH he’s getting good report cards.
“What should he do?” well if you really earnestly want to learn from seforim (in original) the only answer is not to get discouraged that it isn’t going at the rate and speed you want and little by little with yegiya and hasmada continue working at it. what else is there to do?
I sense you have a similar feeling to me that if you aren’t a gaon olam that knows shas, shulchan aruch with the nosei keilim, Rambam and all halacha/mussar sforim you’re basically an oisvorf and its all futile. If you read that sentence out loud though you’ll see you disagree with it and it answers your questions.
Hatzlacha and may we all go m’chayil l’chayil

This is me too. I went to Yeshiva from kindergarten thru high school but was taught ivrit b’ivrit in elementary school. I guess I missed the basics in the early grades and it was a snowball effect. I learned to read and pronounce the language properly but never really learned to understand or speak it well. Also back in my day, the rebbeim were old men who didn’t really motivate the kids to learn. BH the yeshivas today are much better in that respect.

Some people have a very hard time with language. This only gets worse as you grow older. There are plenty of Shiurim of all types. Find the right flavor of Halacha Shiurim to follow and within a few months you’ll be able to out-maneuver most of your peers. That’ll do away with the Am Haaretz feelings.

But parallel to this it is still worthwhile to make a steady effort in learning real Sefarim. Start with Chumash. If you are comfortable with Chumash it shouldn’t be a big deal to move to Mishnayos with Rav/Tiferes Yisroel.

However, you should desperate these two distinct efforts. Don’t let the slow progress of one get in the way of the other.

Slominer,
If I may be so bold as to recommend Nachman Marcuson’s Guide to Lashon Hakodesh, both books. One book is subtitled Mastering the Basics, and the 2nd book is subtitled Mastering Hebrew Verbs. It’s a do it yourself program and may be helpful to you.

In terms of actual learning from a sefer, I find it helpful to use a good hebrew english dictionary. Yes, it’s tedious to look up so many words at first, but eventually the ones that I looked up several times eventually stuck.

The most important thing is to be patient with yourself and maintain a positive attitude. Fluency in translation will not happen overnight, but you’ll be surprised how much you can absorb by looking up words in a dictionary. True, sometimes modern dictionaries don’t have the biblical and/or mishnaic terminology, but in those cases where they don’t, you can use an English translation of that sefer to help you out.
Gemara learning is challenging for many of us, and Understanding The Talmud by Rabbi Feigenbaum, as well as the Practical Talmud Dictionary by Rabbi Frank are excellent resources for learning the terminology and translations of key words and phrases in the Gemara.

Don’t be concerned with “how you look” or “how you rate” compared to others’ level of learning. Just keep your eye on your goal of improving, and keep yourself headed toward growth in learning, no matter how slow it may seem. You’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish.

B’Hatzlacha!