Postby garyb » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:09 pm
Which language to read Harry Potter in?
I've finished the 5th book in Spanish, which is the last of the ones that I read when I was a teenager, although as I said I remembered very little. The 6th is completely new territory, and I was wondering about whether to continue in Spanish now that I'm used to the language of the series, switch to Italian just for some variety, or go for the original English. I initially decided on Italian, thinking that having read three of them in Spanish I'm probably at the point of diminishing returns and I'd get more bang for my buck with Italian. Even if my level is much higher, it could fill in some gaps with action vocabulary and so on.
After a chapter in Italian however, I'm a little disappointed for the same reason I wasn't keen on them in French: the translator has changed a lot of names. Maybe I'm too fussy but it's just not the same when major characters like Snape and Dumbledore have different names. Plus it just adds confusion, especially if I've not already read it in English. In the Spanish translations at least the major characters' names stay the same, even if they might sound awkward. At least the Italian translator didn't go as far as changing the name of Hogwarts like the French one did! I can't understand the logic; are they trying to make us forget that we're reading a translation?
Between this and a recent post in Brun Ugle's log saying that some of the details of the plot have been mistranslated in the Spanish versions (and that could well apply to other translations too!), the only sensible choice seems to be English. Afterwards I can always go back and read them in other languages if I feel like it. I do prefer to read literature in the original language if I can, and I suppose that also applies to something like HP even if it's not exactly of literary merit; if I'm reading for enjoyment over language learning then I might as well enjoy it properly first.
So, has reading these three books helped my Spanish? I don't know, as I've still not had a chance to speak it!
For now I'm putting my Spanish focus back onto listening comprehension. I was listening to a recent episode of the podcast I love to hate, Español Automatico. In between adverts and a "challenge" where the participant who does the most of their advertising for them wins one free lesson where they'll no doubt be encouraged to pay for more, they were talking about how to learn effectively and one tip was to stay focused on one thing at a time rather than trying to work on everything at once. I suppose that gives me further justification to stay in my listening comprehension comfort zone rather than go out and speak, as if I needed it...
7 x