Harry Potter Worldwide

[Beluka]

Hi!

I'm doing research about Harry Potter and the translations.

All of you who aren't English, if you have read the english version AND/OR the version in your language:
Do you think they're equally funny/acceptable/understandable?
Don't you think it's harder to understand by those who don't know much about the British culture?

Anything you wanna tell me about the translation you've read, i'd love it!

I honestly think the French version is a good one, but the Spanish sucks (really sucks).

Many hugs!

[Gower]

I am english but i am quite fluent in french, and I have read the french versions. They are just as good, very well translated

[Plep]

Hi!

Cool research you're doing! Is it something for school or just for fun?

Anyway, i'm Dutch, but i read the English version of Harry Potter.
I read a little bit in the Dutch translation, but i didn't like the translation of the names.
Furthermore i think that the only way to really understand what the author means i by reading it in the original language. Translations can be really good, but it is always an interpretation by the translator you're reading and not the words of the author.

Reading it in English wasn't hard at all. True, i had to use the dictionary a few times for a few words, but overall the English used is really easy to understand.

Cheers,
Pleph

[Plep]

Oh, i must add that i didn't read the entire translation, only a few pages.

I hope i was of some help!

[Won Wheezy]

Awww, Plep. I felt the same way about the German translation. I only read a few pages and thought, damn this is yuk!
But I suppose that's just cause I read the English one first and was used to the names. Also I just love the English language, so I prefer the original version.

[Beluka]

Hi!
Actually i'm doing a critic of the galician translation (i'm a translator, btw).

It's funny that what you dislike is the translation of the names... That's something that hasn't been done in spanish and galician and it's kinda important for people who don't speak english 'cause otherwise they don't know what the names mean! And names in rowling's books are sometimes funny, or have great meaning hidden!

Plep: you're right, translations are always an interpretation of the actual words of the author... but imagine people not being able to read these or other books because they don't understand the language!

Of course i liked best the english versions... and i am working to convince people that the spanish and galician ones should be better so that people could enjoy them just the same!

Thanx you all! It's really helpful to know what's the deal with the other translations.

BTW, why am i a muggle??? how can i change that? [/quote]

[Plep]

Plep: you're right, translations are always an interpretation of the actual words of the author... but imagine people not being able to read these or other books because they don't understand the language!

You are absolutely right! I'm not at all against translations! On the contrary i think it's a really good thing that the Harry Potter books, but also any other book is translated in other languages, so that as many people as possible can enjoy them. However, i will try to read it in the original language if i have the choice for the reasons stated above.

Btw, you are a muggle if you have less then 10 posts. As soon as you get over 10 posts you will become a 1st year student and so on.

[Jotomicron]

Btw, you are a muggle if you have less then 10 posts. As soon as you get over 10 posts you will become a 1st year student and so on.

...Until you achieve 125, when you will become a fully-grown wizard. Only then you can choose what title you'd like to have.

Anyway: I read the first four books when I didn't understand the English language very well. I like those translations up till then, but then, I didn0t read the english versions...

After that, I was so anxious for the 5th book that I decided I'd read it in English: I had had english lessons for so many year that I thought I'd be able to read it... and I was indeed able to read it. JKR uses a simple language, and although I has to use the dictionary some times, I found it very funny to read in it english, cause it was the first time I did it.
I enjoy it so much cause it improved my english and prepared me to write in english... I joined this forum and those 4 days of lecture made my english a lot better than it was!

About the portuguese translation of the 5th book, I think it was made in a hurry cause people where expecting it so much, that the translators (4 of them) did it a little wrong: some words are not equally translated in all the 5 books (as for squib, hey used to translate into "busca-pé" and now it's "cepatorta", and some genders (sp) have changed, as prof. sprout has once been a man, now a woman...)

[Phinea Rogue]

Beluka, I can give you some information about the Slovak translation, although I've read only OotP in both English and Slovak. I think that for most kids the books are more funny in translation, because they understand it much better than in English and I have to say that, despite some little errors, the Slovak translation is well done. What I don't like is the Czech translation, although I've never read the whole book, I just don't like the way they translated the names - not only Hogwarth's houses, but also people's name and the name of school itself, it's ugly. In Slovak not all the names are translated, only some of them and most of places/things names like Hogwarth's houses, Hogsmeade, Three Broomsticks...

Don't you think it's harder to understand by those who don't know much about the British culture? Did you mean the original text or the translation? I'm not sure, I study English at university and therefore British culture isn't foreign to me, and nowadays more and more kids study English from as early as kindergarten, so they would know quite a lot about Britain, there shouldn't be a problem. Problem may only be with those word JKR invented (when they read it in original).

However, I always like reading the originals as there are slight differencies between it and the translation, e.g. Snape's silky voice - 'silky' means something slightly different in English and in Slovak, or Dumbledore's auburn hair which is auburn in English, but simply brown in Slovak translation. And there're some mistakes, but nothing major, I like the Slovak translation.

[Beluka]

About the portuguese translation of the 5th book, I think it was made in a hurry cause people where expecting it so much, that the translators (4 of them) did it a little wrong: some words are not equally translated in all the 5 books (as for squib, hey used to translate into "busca-pé" and now it's "cepatorta", and some genders (sp) have changed, as prof. sprout has once been a man, now a woman...)

It's funny... same thing happened in Spanish and in Galician (but i'm pretty sure they used the spanish version to translate into galician, maybe they also used the portuguese one).
"busca-pé" meaning what? I understand "cepatorta", would be better if it had been that way since the beginning...

Phinea: what i meand about the british culture is not about the words, but about the things that are so common in britain, and therefore rowling uses them to give familiarity to the text, but not in other countries... E.g., the way students address the teachers (in Spain we never use the family name), the food they eat, the times at which they eat... or, more simply, the house the Dursleys live in: it is a stereotype of a middle-class english family. For me, as for you, it is no problem as i've always study english language and culture, but i don't think kids get that that easy.

Wow, i'm getting so many interesting views!

[Jotomicron]

Well, I don't know what made the translators use the words busca-pé or cepatorta...
Busca-pé, as far as I know, comes from "buscar" (meaning "to search") and "pé" (foot). I actually didn't understand why they used this word.

Cepatorta is another one I don't understand: I don't know the word "cepa" in portuguese, and "torta" means not straight...

As for the culture, I think people are aware that English is a differnt country, and that there are differences. Houses in Portugal are way to different of the Dursley's, and there are not such thing as a milkman... But the world is becoming more and more a global village, and the movies, the books, and the stories for children reprwesent it very well, I think...

[Liquid Ice]

Awww, Plep. I felt the same way about the German translation. I only read a few pages and thought, damn this is yuk!
But I suppose that's just cause I read the English one first and was used to the names. Also I just love the English language, so I prefer the original version.

The german translation is rubbish? Really? Oh dear. Im taking my germam exchnage partner CoS in english when I go to germany, so I hope she doesnt give me a german one if theyre that bad!

[Beluka]

Hi, Joto!

You said you don't understand "cepa". In spanish it is the vine (a vide?), so it may be comparing it to a tree that doesn't grow the way it should. Don't know

[Broccoli]

It's funny that what you dislike is the translation of the names... That's something that hasn't been done in spanish and galician and it's kinda important for people who don't speak english 'cause otherwise they don't know what the names mean! And names in rowling's books are sometimes funny, or have great meaning hidden!

What annoys me is that, when translated, the names sometimes sound really stupid and a lot of meaning gets losts anyway. What I always propose is leaving the name as it is and give a comment in a footnote.

[Jotomicron]

Yeah... in Portugal, they never translate the names of people, and even the other terms Rowling uses are rarely translated (Skele-Gro is not translated, even tjough it's easy to understand it's meaning).

I know that, for instance, in Italia, they translated the name Dumbledore into something related to Silence, because of the "dumb"... I think there is an italian member here... Don't remeber who he is, though!