Silmarillion Reader's Guide

Honestly, I would recommend the audiobook over the book; having someone else figure out how to say the special names makes it much easier to keep track of them in your mind, I find

Same, that's how I listened to it. Andy Serkis does a great job!
- According to my huge Tolkien nerd mom serkis completely botches the elvish pronunciations. Can't corroborate that personally but she's been neck deep in LOTR shit for as long as I can remember
I did both.

Audiobook+real book+map and family tree on my PC.
But you can never know if they pronounce them right :(

Then again, Tolkien does describe the pronunciations in enough detail in the Appendix to LOTR (I don't know if it's in every edition though).
The audiobook names are mispronounced at times, but I generally understand the sentiment here.

What if my English isn't amazing but it is my native language?

Sorry brother, there is no cure for being Texan
Maybe read it in it's original quenya?
You can try reading more easy books to make youre english gooder.
- Thanks foe the tip! You're the goodest!

Damn, have to install Windows Vista and try this

That's seven though. Vista had a black 3d cylinder as a taskbar. This one here is flat but translucent.
- Ah yes, you're absolutely right. It's been a while since I've used either version.

Fingolfin, Finarfin, Finrod Felagund etc van indeed be confusing

So names like John, Jonathan, Jason, James, Jared, Jermaine, Jonas, & Jackson.

Unfamiliar names indeed be confusing.
- Only Jonathan and Jonas have common first three letters.

This is a great idea. I've always thought it'd be cool to have books include provided soundtracks. Not like an audiobook, just a soundtrack divided by chapters that you can play as you read.

Like a teddy ruxpin for ambiance
I am on the lookout for audiobooks with music. Best I've found are podcasts (Magnus archives) and the 'SCP exploring' series on YouTube.

Just some BGM to fall asleep to, and some words not too important to listen to. I guess creepy helps too.

Always remember that our sweet Fëanor did nothing wrong

You trying to pick a fight?
- What are you? Some kind of morgoth loving manling? Edit: I’m sorry that was terrible of me to make that assumption. You could be a limp wristed teleri

The book in the image is in Persian, btw, which caught me completely off guard

Windows 7 also checks

I rate this picture 8/10 pure Iranian energy (not enough aviator mustaches for 9/10)

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think having artwork hinders your imagination a lot, if you have pictures. You can't really make up your own images in your head that way.

~~Arabic~~ Persian is a gorgeous language for folklore. I hope that translation is a delight to read.

e: Neither my Persian nor Arabic is amazing, so...

It's Persian ffs :'(
- Edited, apologies.

I would highly recommend having the atlas of middle earth with you when you read it. It's how I did it recently and it was a pretty incredible experience.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlas_of_Middle-earth

I have a version from the 80s that has a map and an appendix with all the names. I felt like that was enough for me. Whatever it takes though. My biggest recommendation to people is to just stick with it. The first part reads like the Bible or something but after that it becomes much easier.