ah yes, but i'm a huge dork

I think younger students maybe should read the modernized versions (with some explanations for anything quirky that got lost), but the older ones should be trying to go through the original English. There's just so much to absorb on even a first run through if Shakespeare's plays (I'm always saddened when I try to reference stuff and almost none of my friends read or remember any Shakespeare), just the historical connections alone are really great/important. I've wanted to suggest watching HBOs Rome so many times to people but they never went through the Shakespeare plays and it's a much harder sell