HP Translations

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 34072

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Alexander <lav at t...> wrote:
>   Now that I can only live by hope to read HP series in
> English original, I have a question - has anybody here read
> the books in different languages (English included, of
> course)? Was there any difference (emotional, subjects
> stressed differently, all those stuff)?
> 
>   It is especially interesting if someone has read HP in
> English FIRST and only then in some other language (that is,
> original first, copy second), because as my experience with
> English originals shows, if you have read copy first, it
> influences your reading of the original a lot.

Yes, I've read HP in English and in Spanish. You see, my mother went 
to Spain last year, and she bought me the books there, as I was 
taking Spanish. My Spanish is not all that good, but my familiarity 
with the original books was very helpful in figuring out all the 
vocabulary, and I tried not to think too hard about the grammar.

What immediately struck me with the Spanish translation was that I'd 
notice things that I did not notice in English, particularly in the 
translation's phrasing was a bit awkward. The biggest example of this 
was someone saying that Lily and James lived in "Valle de Godric". 
That just does not ring true to the original "Godric's Hollow". So, 
because it was such an alien version of an English-feeling place-
name, I noticed it as I hadn't before. Godric, I thought. Godric 
Gryffindor? 

The decidely English tone of the books also seemed to evaporate, 
especially where that tone was extremely colloquial. 

> Sincerely yours,
> Alexander Lomski,
> (Gryffindor/Slytherin crossbreed),
> who is now in "books must be read in their authors language"
> camp for the rest of his life...

As a big fan of Russian authors, you are dooming me to a terrible 
life without them, I'll have you know. :-) Unless I add Russian to 
the list of languages I'm learning: French, Spanish, Latin, and 
German.

Eileen