Past Shakespeare experience

So far in my life I have not been the best of friends with Shakespeare. I have always wanted to read some of his popular works because they are so famous, but I usually have trouble understanding his writing style. I have read some Shakespeare throughout high school because it has been part of my English classes. I like the story idea's behind his works and I enjoyed reviewing the books in class, but I do not like reading his books because I have a hard time following the text. I liked reading Othello and Hamlet because my English classes always reviewed the plot during class which helped me follow the story. I think it is mainly the vocabulary and the sentence structure that I have a hard time following sometimes, but when the stories are in plain English I enjoy the story.
One of the reasons I am taking this Shakespeare class is so I can get better at understanding Shakespeare's plays. I figure that if I read more of his works and get some practice translating his works to regular English in my head, then his works will be easier for me to read in the future. It is also good to be able to say that you have read Shakespeare and know a lot about his popular plays.
Overall in the past my experience with Shakespeare has not been the best and that is why I am taking this class. If i can further my knowledge and ability related to Shakespeare then I will be happy that I took the class.
Another experience related to Shakespeare is that when I went to London I went to the new globe theater. I did not see a play, but I went on a tour. I thought it was kinda cool and would have been better if I knew more about Shakespeare. I think Shakespeare produced some good plays and I think it is important that I learn something about them.