Report from Harry Potter Translator Conference in France

Translations

Posted by: sue

September 15, 2009, 08:54 AM

Last week we told you about a special gathering of translators for the Harry Potter novels due to take place in France as part of the UNESCO International Literacy day celebration. Today, there is a marvelous audio report online from the conference that includes interviews with professors and several of the translators of the novels. Notable are comments from the Thai translator and her remarks on the huge impact the Harry Potter novels made on the amount of reading done in her country. Also of interest are thoughts and reflections from those who translate the books in Hebrew, Africaans, the hurdles the Georgian translators faced (where burning of the books was being encouraged), as well as a audio sample of the first Harry Potter book translated in Ancient Greek. Enjoy!

Thanks much to Gili Bar-Hillel!

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32 Comments

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789 Points

That report was very interesting and made me feel even more proud of Jo than I was before.

Posted by Graymayne on September 15, 2009, 09:09 AM report to moderator

370 Points

very cool

Posted by **Holly** on September 15, 2009, 09:27 AM report to moderator

652 Points

That was a really interesting look into Harry Potter from around the world! Thanks for sharing!

Posted by Noble Birth Descending on September 15, 2009, 09:33 AM report to moderator

652 Points

That was a really interesting look in Harry Potter around the world! Thanks for sharing!

Posted by Noble Birth Descending on September 15, 2009, 09:33 AM report to moderator

280 Points

That was a cool report. I think the Ancient Greek one would be interesting to have even if I couldn’t read it.

Posted by AleraofRavenclaw on September 15, 2009, 09:38 AM report to moderator

1408 Points

Wow that is so cool. I would love to have an HP book in a different language, even if I couldn’t understand a bit of if :D. The Ancient Greek one would be pretty much awesome.

Posted by da_member0808 on September 15, 2009, 09:56 AM report to moderator

355 Points

It’s so great to see further what Harry Potter has done in this world in the form of inspiring reading to kids all around the world. So cool.

Posted by Lisbry on September 15, 2009, 09:57 AM report to moderator

77392 Points

Oh good! Now Homer can read HP…

Posted by Won_Two on September 15, 2009, 11:30 AM report to moderator

169 Points

Ancient Greek? That’s really amazing. I can only imagine how hard it would be to translate something as monumental as Harry Potter, just imagine the pressure? Kuddos to the translators!

Posted by zephy_stephy *SQUEE* on September 15, 2009, 12:00 PM report to moderator

3805 Points

JK Rowling is just awesome.

Posted by Calum Wilson (RuneDream54) on September 15, 2009, 01:23 PM report to moderator

1397 Points

HP is awesome, now in many,many languages!

Posted by Blatcher(ROAR) on September 15, 2009, 02:42 PM report to moderator

620 Points

Alien language one of these days xD

Posted by humbert0 on September 15, 2009, 03:10 PM report to moderator

3048 Points

It is just marvelous that so many people around the world have been able to enjoy these books, and we must thank these translators for enabling this through their efforts!

Posted by Kirk on September 15, 2009, 04:04 PM report to moderator